The Catawba Indian Casino would bring over 4,000 jobs to the area, but Adam Forcade says the business would prey on lower income players.
The Catawba Indian Nation continues in its bid to build a casino in the southwest part of the state near the border of North Carolina. The proposed Catawba casino would draw on gamblers from nearby Charlotte. The Native Americans’ representatives say the casino would bring 4,000 to 5,000 jobs to the area, but an organization named Kings Mountain Awareness Group (KMAG) has formed to block their drive towards a North Carolina casino.
In 2014, the Catawba Indian Nation submitted an application to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). That application is still under consideration. BIA received a petition from the community of Kings Mountain, a town of 2,000 people near Glastonia. Six of seven members of the Kings Mountain city council signed the petition, indicating they wanted BIA to approve a land-to-trust application for a plot of 16 acres for the casino.
The Kings Mountain Awareness Group
Adam Forcade, a resident of Kings Mountain, is the leader of the opposition. Mr. Forcade formed KMAG after the city council sent their petition to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. His contention is the city council is not voicing the will of the town’s people, but their own selfish goals.
Forbade say the city council did not guage local public support, nor did they educate the residents of the pros and cons of having a casino nearby. There was no public debate — only a decision made behind closed doors.
Forcade: “Not the Community’s Desires and Wishes”
Mr. Forcade indicated his goal is to crystalize local opinion against the Catawba casino. He told the regional online publication Creative Loafing Charlotte, “One of the biggest factors that the BIA bases their decision on is local support and right now they have a false impression of local support. They’ve gotten a letter from the county commission and a letter from the city council, but that’s not the community’s desires and wishes.”
KMGA appears to be building support. The organization’s Facebook page now has 1,700 likes — a significant number for a town of 2,000. Also, one of the 6 city councilman who signed the original petition has withdrawn his support, after realizing local residents are against the proposal.
Neisler: Casino Debate Is a “Dead Issue”
Mayor Scott Neisler says the petition is a “dead issue”. Neisler, who became mayor after the letter was sent, says the decision is made and the majority of council members are not going to retract their support. He spoke of the Catawba Indian Nation’s support of the city’s energy grid and reminded residents their leaders were looking at the larger picture.
Mayor Neisler said, “We’ve got much more important things to discuss and much more important issues to tackle, so why would we take on issues that we have no control over?. I’d much rather spend my time on things that affect Kings Mountain that we have a hand in.”
Catawba Casino Doubles City’s Energy Revenues
The mayor was referring to the fact Kings Mountain owns the power supply for the proposed Catawba casino. A large part of the city’s revenue comes from the energy it supplies to residents and businesses. The casino will double the city’s energy usage, which should be a boon for Kings Mountain and its residents.
While the details are slightly changed, the debate between the leaders of Kings Mountain and KMGA have been made in a hundreds of communities across the United States. On the one side, a tribal casino brings thousands of permanent jobs to a community, often in a rural area which has little year-to-year jobs growth. On the other side, residents argue that the casino is going to bring financial ruin to gamblers and their families, often on the low end of the economic spectrum. One side focuses on the big picture and the other on the little picture, and each can argue their vision is best for the community.
