Mayor Proposes Vegas-Style Casinos in New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS —  Discouraged by the city’s prospects for a rapid financial recovery after Hurricane Katrina, Mayor C. Ray Nagin proposed Friday to allow large hotels in its central city district to convert into Las Vegas-style gambling casinos.

Nagin said the move would help jump-start the beleaguered local economy and would generate an estimated $150 million in extra revenues, which the city and the state would split evenly.

Failure to enact the proposal, Nagin said, would mean the city would “limp” toward recovery for the next three to five years. The mayor’s proposal follows his decision to lay off 3,000 city employees earlier this week.

“It’s time for bold, out-of-the-box thinking,” said Nagin, who said he had not always been a gambling advocate. “But we can’t afford to lay back and do the same old thing.”

The mayor’s gambling initiative was one of five wide-ranging proposals that he forwarded to Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco. The gambling proposal would require the state Legislature’s approval.

Blanco, who has campaigned against gambling in the past, was unavailable for comment, according to her press office.

Nagin said he had discussed the casino idea with Blanco but that she was not “blown away” by it. The mayor acknowledged that he faced an uphill political battle with the proposal, though other forms of gambling, such as video machines and riverboat casinos, are allowed in New Orleans.

The city has one hotel casino, run by Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., but it is still closed because of hurricane damage. Harrah’s and other local hotels had no immediate comment.

The mayor’s proposal would allow only hotels with more than 500 rooms to convert into big casinos. Fewer than 10 hotels would be eligible, and Nagin said he guessed no more than six or seven would probably do so.

All the potential casinos would be located within a large U-shaped area through the city’s central business district, with many of them on Canal Street. Hotels would have to agree to pay their workers “a living wage of $8 to $10 per hour with benefits,” Nagin said.

City officials have traditionally been reluctant to welcome more gambling establishments to the area for fear it would dilute or corrupt the city’s historical and cultural influences.

“I’ve never been a proponent of large-scale gambling in New Orleans,” said Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson, a New Orleans city councilwoman who represents 120,000 people in a district that includes the French Quarter. “I don’t want our city to turn into a Las Vegas. We have the most unique city in the world, and I think that’s important to hold on to.”

But Nagin said his proposal wouldn’t sacrifice the city’s character. “I don’t ever see a scenario where New Orleans would become Las Vegas,” he said. “This proposal will only enhance what we have.”

Nagin also proposed establishing a tax-free zone for manufacturing companies that brought in new jobs associated with any of the top five raw materials (coffee beans, steel, raw metals, rubber and plywood) imported through the Port of New Orleans.