Local Officials Call for Public Input as Casino Deadline Looms

Sen’s. Inhofe & Coburn, Rep. Mary Fallin, and Mayor Mick Cornett sign letter opposing casino. Where’s the Governor?

With a critical deadline approaching, Oklahoma City residents in the vicinity of a proposed casino are rallying their neighbors to voice their opposition. Friday is the last business day that the Bureau of Indian Affairs will take public input regarding the controversial casino proposed by the Shawnee Tribe to be located just 1.7 miles away from Remington Park. The comment period officially ends Sunday, June 8th, so local leaders are urging those who wish to participate in the public comment to get their messages to the BIA by Friday.

State Rep. Mike Shelton, whose district contains Remington Park, will help lead a community meeting Tuesday night to raise awareness of the casino’s enormous negative influence to the area and to remind residents that their opinion won’t matter after Friday when the BIA’s 30 day public comment period ends. While local, state and federal officials are publicly opposing the casino, local leaders like Shelton, say input from citizens in the immediate area is crucial. (Click here to view a letter signed by Sen’s. Inhofe & Coburn, Rep. Mary Fallin, and Mayor Mick Cornett)

“The BIA must consider the will of the people, and we must clearly communicate that will, but we have only until Friday for that message to count. There will be so many people, businesses, schools injured by this casino that is incomprehensible that the BIA would for even one moment consider allowing this proposal. They have a job to do, but so do the people who live and work here. That is why we must send a perceptible and unambiguous message to the BIA, the Department of the Interior and even the President: do no harm to northeast Oklahoma City.”

The public meeting will be held at Millwood Arts Academy at 6700 Martin Luther King. Millwood is one of the school districts whose tax base would be devastated if the BIA allows the casino and the subsequent demise of Remington Park. The meeting begins at 6:30 PM.