By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – As quickly as a host of confusing potential scenarios surfaced last week in the legal challenges to the Dec. 11 election involving a proposed casino for Slidell, the Louisiana Supreme Court put them all on the backburner when the court overruled an appeals court on Monday and said the election will take place as scheduled.
The proposal by Peninsula Pacific Entertainment (P2E) to build a casino off the Oak Harbor exit off I-10 in Slidell has turned into one of the most controversial issues in the history of the city, as well as St. Tammany Parish.
Since first announced in February of this year, opposition has grown after the Parish Council agreed with a legally questioned election for all parish voters to decide about whether the casino would be in Slidell alone.
Three lawsuits quickly surfaced when Act 362 was pushed through the Louisiana Legislature by Rep. Mary DuBuisson, a bill that called for a vote only about a casino in Slidell. The lawsuits claimed the Louisiana Constitution requires that first there is a vote for gaming parishwide, not in a specific location.
Two of those suits came before 22nd Judicial District Court Judge John Keller, however, his initial decision was to make no ruling, stating the suits were premature since no damage would occur until after the election was held.
The First Appeals Court of Louisiana overruled Keller two weeks ago and ordered the 22nd District judge to hear the merits of the case and rule, all needing to occur before the Dec. 11 election.
However, St. Tammany Parish filed a motion with the Louisiana Supreme Court asking for the Dec. 11 election to go forward, something the court agreed with by overruling the appeals court decision and taking the decision out of Keller’s hands again.
Slidell Pastor John Raymond was one of the three residents who filed the suits and said that while he is disappointed the case won’t be heard before the election, he was happy the Supreme Court left open his right to go forward with his challenge after the Dec. 11 vote.
“I expected the Supreme Court to expedite their ruling since we are running out of time before the Dec. 11 election,” he said. “They made it clear they did not want to get in a constitutional legislative issue and that once the election is held we can then challenge the constitutionality of the vote.”
However, all that will be a moot point if voters say “no” to the casino, something St. Tammany voters did with 62 percent against gaming in the original 1996 vote when all parishes in the state got to vote on whether they would allow gaming into their parish.
That ’96 vote is part of the basis for the three lawsuits, all claiming that the Louisiana Constitution says the “no gaming” decision for St. Tammany from 25 years ago must first be reversed to make St. Tammany a “yes gaming parish.” Only if that occurs first should a second vote be called about a specific location, the suits say.
Sen. Sharon Hewitt from Slidell, who worked closely with DuBuisson to get the bill passed after her own Senate bill ran into difficulties, said after Act 362 was passed that she was certain the vote on the Slidell casino is legal.
“Staff attorneys recommended one question because it is more specific for voters to know exactly what they are voting for or against, rather than dealing with hypotheticals,” Hewitt said. “I feel certain this bill, and the vote for the Slidell casino, is constitutional.”
Raymond is among a host of local public officials, business groups and parish watchdog leaders who have come out publicly against the casino and the Slidell pastor said that since the vote is going forward, he is confident they will defeat gaming in St. Tammany….again.
“We have a lot of momentum and I feel confident about winning this vote,” he said. “But it will be about people getting up and going to vote. People can’t sit back and expect others will defeat this casino—we’ve got to get the vote out.”
Raymond said he will positively pursue his lawsuit if the casino referendum goes in the favor of P2E.