Add my name to the growing list of supporters of a casino in Linn County.

Voters should be reminded that we are not voting on gambling in Iowa, as many opponents have expressed on these pages.

This is my 29th year in the local construction industry, and I am grateful to our community for providing jobs to families such as mine. Through growth and major construction projects, I have been able to reinvest my earnings back into our economy. I buy locally. And the construction of a new casino would mean a great boost to local building trades.

I don’t gamble much. However, I have visited almost every casino in Iowa for shows, hotels and restaurants. It’s fun and if you’re worried what bad things will happen to us if we decide yes, look at Dubuque and Waterloo. You wouldn’t even recognize those towns compared with 30 years ago.

I love this place and I want better for us.

Jim Meis

Cedar Rapids