He also said he expected to have additional support in next year\u2019s legislative session to pass new legislation allowing Petersburg to hold its own referendum to host Virginia\u2019s fifth casino instead of Richmond.<\/p>\n
But Richmond officials appear unperturbed by Morrissey\u2019s ongoing opposition.<\/p>\n
When you look at the Joe Morrissey playbook, this is kinda expected,\u201d <\/strong>City Council President Michael Jones told Casino.org<\/em> in an interview. \u201cWe just want something different than what he\u2019s proposing. \u2026 We want to be allowed to exercise what was given to us.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nWhile critics say it would be unfair to give Richmond another crack at a casino referendum, following the 2021 vote in which 51% of voters said no to the plan, Jones said it is not uncommon for referendums to go out more than once.<\/p>\n
Last time there was a lot of misinformation,\u201d<\/strong> Jones told Casino.org<\/em>, blaming \u201cNIMBYism\u201d for much of the opposition to the project.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nJones noted that the majority of Black precincts south of the James River, nearer to the proposed casino site, were more likely to vote in favor of the measure last time around. He was hopeful that voters throughout the city would be more apt to vote yes this year.<\/p>\n
Jones lamented that the vote was so sharply divided along racial lines and said supporters would be \u201cgoing to the white communities, sharing why the Black communities want it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Plans for a new casino referendum in Richmond, Va., are moving ahead, and city leaders who support the project are optimistic that voters will ultimately side with them in November. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and City Council leaders began the formal process of putting a new referendum on this year\u2019s ballot last week. Voters narrowly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102,"featured_media":276141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,13,86435],"tags":[82414,81899,85142,81995],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Casino Referendum Set to Advance in Richmond, Va - Casino.org<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n