{"id":63047,"date":"2017-11-14T13:50:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-14T21:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=63047"},"modified":"2017-11-14T16:28:28","modified_gmt":"2017-11-15T00:28:28","slug":"mississippi-choctaw-nation-considers-fourth-casino-with-thursday-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mississippi-choctaw-nation-considers-fourth-casino-with-thursday-vote\/","title":{"rendered":"Mississippi Choctaw Considering Fourth Casino, Red Water, with Thursday Vote"},"content":{"rendered":"

A contentious battle between two factions of the Mississippi Choctaw Nation<\/a> will come to a head on Thursday, when a referendum vote on a fourth casino, which would be known as Red Water, will be decided by the tribe’s members. Though nearly 11,000 people are eligible to vote, only a third are expected to turn out.<\/p>\n

\"Mississippi
Mississippi Choctaw Chief Phyliss J. Anderson will see if a vote on Thursday will get her wish of building a fourth casino, to be called the Red Water. (Image: Clarion-Ledger)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Proponents of the fourth gaming venue maintain that the new project would help fund programs for the area\u2019s growing population. Choctaw Chief Phyliss J. Anderson said the new casino is expected to bring in about $50 million in annual revenue and provide more than 250 jobs. She told the Clarion-Ledger<\/em> that the area has doubled in size since 1994, and that it boils down to a matter of simple economics.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWith the growing population and over 50 percent of the population under 25, the need for jobs is there,\u201d Anderson said, \u201cbut what this casino will allow us to do is to use those funds to reinvest back into the tribe for government services.\u201d<\/p>\n

She pointed to a scholarship program that has raised more than $54 million for tuition for members since 1995, as well as a $50 million health care center, and funds for fire and police departments.<\/p>\n

Fighting Back<\/h2>\n

But Barry McMillan, who serves on the tribal council, maintains that an added casino would be a detriment. He asserts that having that many gambling venues within an approximate 30-mile radius would hurt business at the smaller ones.<\/p>\n

\n

He referenced a study that was done on the issue that said $18 million would be lost from two existing casinos and transferred to the proposed one. He likened it to \u201crobbing Peter to pay Paul.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The $25 million projected cost for the proposed Red Water Casino also concerns McMillan, especially after spending $70 million on renovations to the Golden Moon Casino in 2015.<\/p>\n

McMillan already won one battle in getting the referendum on the ballot at all. Initially, Anderson succeeded in having the project approved by the Tribal Council in January, but McMillan and others started a petition drive and gathered nearly 1,700 signatures by a May deadline to put it to a vote.<\/p>\n

The Tribal Election Committee rejected more than 130 of them, ruling them invalid, but the group said the process was flawed and on Aug. 16, Tribal Judge Jeff Webb decided in McMillan’s faction’s favor. Anderson chose not to appeal the ruling and let the upcoming referendum stand.<\/p>\n

Odds Favor Proponents<\/h2>\n

McMillan believes he has the numbers to sway the vote his way, saying that of the 3,000 expected to turn out, 1,624 who signed the petition should choose against the casino. He was critical of language on the ballot, which he claims contains a financial analysis that is decidedly pro-casino.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Part of the statement reads, \u201cless Tribal funding will be available to meet the needs of the growing Choctaw population, putting essential Tribal services and jobs at risk.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

McMillan also sought election observers to make sure the vote was run properly, but the Tribal Election Committee turned down that request.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want fairness in the election process, but we keep getting chopped down like trees,\u201d he told the Clarion-Ledger<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A contentious battle between two factions of the Mississippi Choctaw Nation will come to a head on Thursday, when a referendum vote on a fourth casino, which would be known as Red Water, will be decided by the tribe’s members. Though nearly 11,000 people are eligible to vote, only a third are expected to turn […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":63070,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,18,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMississippi Choctaw Nation Considers Fourth Casino with Thursday Vote<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Choctaw Nation tribe in Mississippi will decide with a vote on Thursday whether or not to build a fourth casino in the state.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mississippi Choctaw Nation Considers Fourth Casino with Thursday Vote\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Choctaw Nation tribe in Mississippi will decide with a vote on Thursday whether or not to build a fourth casino in the state.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mississippi-choctaw-nation-considers-fourth-casino-with-thursday-vote\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-11-14T21:50:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-11-15T00:28:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Mississippi-Choctaw-Chief-Phylis-Anderson-Red-Water-vote.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mississippi-choctaw-nation-considers-fourth-casino-with-thursday-vote\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mississippi-choctaw-nation-considers-fourth-casino-with-thursday-vote\/\",\"name\":\"Mississippi Choctaw Nation Considers Fourth Casino with Thursday Vote\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mississippi-choctaw-nation-considers-fourth-casino-with-thursday-vote\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mississippi-choctaw-nation-considers-fourth-casino-with-thursday-vote\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Mississippi-Choctaw-Chief-Phylis-Anderson-Red-Water-vote.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-11-14T21:50:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-11-15T00:28:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"The Choctaw Nation tribe in Mississippi will decide with a vote on Thursday whether or not to build a fourth casino in the state.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mississippi-choctaw-nation-considers-fourth-casino-with-thursday-vote\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mississippi-choctaw-nation-considers-fourth-casino-with-thursday-vote\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mississippi-choctaw-nation-considers-fourth-casino-with-thursday-vote\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Mississippi-Choctaw-Chief-Phylis-Anderson-Red-Water-vote.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Mississippi-Choctaw-Chief-Phylis-Anderson-Red-Water-vote.jpg\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"Mississippi Choctaw Chief Phyliss J. 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