Video: Iowa loses without a Cedar Rapids casino, Ron Corbett tells IPTV

JOHNSTON - Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett on Friday said that the Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission's denial last month of a state gaming license for a Cedar Rapids casino hurts all of Iowa, not just Cedar Rapids.

Speaking on Iowa Public Television's 'Iowa Press” show,” Corbett said the state of Iowa has evolved in a way that the state depends on 'hub” economies like Des Moines and Central Iowa and Cedar Rapids and the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City Corridor.

'… (T) he future is going to be these hub economies … and supporting Iowa's second largest city (Cedar Rapids) is important not just for the second largest city, but the state of Iowa,” Corbett said. 'We generate a lot of tax revenue for the legislature and the governor to divvy up every year whether that's for schools or … human service programs, roads and bridges.”

'So a lot of people think this is just a Cedar Rapids issue,” he said. 'Cedar Rapids, Linn County didn't get their casino, no big deal. But you know, … it's a statewide issue.”

Corbett said he was 'extremely disappointed” that the Racing & Gaming Commission turned down the Cedar Rapids proposal for a state gaming license. He said the Cedar Rapids 'urban” casino was a 'newer product” than 'the standard traditional cornfield casinos that Iowa has approved” and would have provided a 'shot in the arm” to a state casino industry where revenues have become 'stagnant.”

He said the state commission has done a good job of regulating Iowa's casinos to protect against corruption as it has worked to promote the casino industry in the state.

'I think they lost sight of that promotion of the industry and took more of a promotion of a particular operator (stance),”Corbett said.

He was referring to the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort, which stood to lose significant business to a Cedar Rapids casino, according to two studies conducted for the commission.

Corbett, former speaker of the Iowa House, said the commission has suggested that Cedar Rapids look to the Iowa Legislature for help on the casino project, and he said that was a 'possibility.” He said, too, that Gov. Terry Branstad said a week ago that he might be open to legislative efforts and that he liked Corbett's idea of a smoke-free casino.

Corbett said a smoke-free casino in Cedar Rapids 'would be a completely different product” for Iowa's casino industry, and he suggested that the state commission consider allowing Cedar Rapids to reapply as a first-in-the state, smokeless casino.

Corbett appeared on the IPTV interview show with Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie.

Both mayors agreed that the Iowa Legislature and the governor needed to increase the state gas tax to better support street projects in Iowa's cities. Both also said they were watching to see what the ramifications might yet be to local property-tax revenues based on state-mandated tax breaks for commercial property owners.

Corbett said he was confident that Cedar Rapids would be allowed to keep its traffic-enforcement cameras and the revenue from them. He said the city has filed a newly required report with the Iowa Department of Transportation that shows the cameras increase public safety.

'Right now we feel very confident in our data and do not feel we are at risk of losing our cameras,” he said.

Corbett told the TV show's statewide audience that the city's flood recovery is about complete and that the city now is seeing significant new private-sector investment following on the public dollars that fueled the city's flood recovery.

'So there is confidence in Cedar Rapids,” he said.

He estimated that the city would have its flood protection system in place in about 10 years.

In a final question to him, Corbett was asked about his political future.

'Well, if you follow the trends nationally, where things are at is at the cities as people become frustrated and disenchanted with Washington ... and (with) state legislators,” he said. 'They're actually looking to mayors ... to solve problems. So if you really want to impact people's lives, being a mayor is where you really want to be.”

Cownie said, 'You know, at the moment, I'd absolutely agree with Mayor Corbett.”