Group calls on City Council to ban casinos in Rochester

A group funded by gambling interests in the Finger Lakes region, demands the city officials to ban casinos in Rochester.

US.- A Better Rochester, is a group funded by gambling interests in the Finger Lakes region, which is putting pressure on city officials to ban casinos in the city.

The threatening to file petitions to force a voter referendum on a casino ban if City Council doesn’t enact its own ban within the next 60 days. The City Council staff is conferring with the city’s law department, as is unclear if it would be possible to put such a measure on the ballot in November and it is not yet clear if the City Council would support a casino proposal, in case one actually materialises.

However, A Better Rochester, said in a press release that it will deliver petitions signed by 12,000 city voters opposed to a Rochester casino. The group is funded by the owners of del Lago Resort and Casino, Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack and Batavia Downs, all businesses which have an interest in tamping down potential competition.

The City Council is divided over the matter, but at this point, Council President Loretta Scott affirmed the council will simply follow the process established by law.