Tim Skubick: Lansing Casino is a Big Gamble

(WJBK) - If you are a betting person, don’t bet on this.

The "Angriest Mayor in America" is no longer angry. Instead, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero is giddy about building a new casino right in the heart of the capitol city.

And after a lengthy, yet constructive, year of chats with the a Native American tribe from the U.P., his honor is sitting on a whopping $250 million investment.

And sitting is where he could stay.

Bernero talks in terms of one to two years. Somebody who has actually negotiated these kinds of compacts says five years is more likely and most of that time will not be spent on the construction site but in the courts.

Moments after the mayor boldly declared, “Lansing will have a casino. It’s only a question of where and when,” the press releases from all of the opponents flooded in.

Leading the charge were the owners of the tribal casinos in Gun Lake and Battle Creek. In fact, they had a barrister in the audience to gain quick access to the media that was there to cover the Virg.

The good folks in Mt. Pleasant who run the Soaring Eagle are not eager to have competition in Lansing and they vowed to haul Mr. Benero and company into the courts to duke it out. And the three casinos in Detroit will join in.

The federal government also has to sign off.

Lawmakers have a voice in all this and none of them bothered to show up for the big announcement.

And then there is the governor who has said he’s not a big fan of economic expansion that includes more slot machines and roulette wheels. Besides, the state stands to lose $22 million in cold hard cash if the Lansing casino is actually built.

“There will be some bumps in the road,” confided the tribal chair in what clearly wins the understatement of the year award.

So all you grannies out there ready to drop your hard earned nickles into a Lansing slot machine, don’t hold your breath.