In favor of a Waukegan casino

Having lived in or worked in Waukegan most of my life, I fully support the state’s last open casino license being granted to the City. This rust belt town has long felt the loss of industry, retail, entertainment and dining that resulted from much of the City’s residents relocating further west. Efforts to revitalize the downtown area, while slow, have had success. The revitalization of the former Lakehurst site to date has been impressive and will only be helped by a casino. I have seen first hand how casinos have improved run down cities like Joliet, Elgin and Rock Island. Waukegan has been as down on its luck as any of those towns. Yes, allowing gambling will cause some problems for the irresponsible. But the harms it may create are far outweighed by the benefits it will provide. Let’s hope that the corruption that has surrounded this license and the City of Rosemont does not exist this time and that Waukegan finally gets what it has long deserved.