Next stop for Metro: Head to the casino?
Here’s an idea for Metro to get the extra funding voters rejected: Head to the casino, where soon patrons will no longer face a state cap on how much they can bet.
The right spin of the roulette wheel could expand MetroLink all the way out to Chesterfield.
On Tuesday, voters approved Prop. A, rescinding the “loss limit” at Missouri casinos that prohibited gamblers from buying more than $500 in chips every two hours.
Meanwhile, St. Louis County voters shot down Prop M., which would have provided a half-cent sales tax increase to benefit public transportation. Without the money, supporters have said, Metro will be forced to make deep cuts in services.
What could they have done to avoid defeat?
Take a page from the playbook of state gambling interests, who ran an effective — though not necessarily straight forward — campaign. Their pitch was simple: Prop A. would help schools, and they saturated the airwaves with educators backing the measure.
Never mind that the increase will be incremental — from 20 to 21 percent of casino revenues — or that some districts, like St. Louis Public Schools, already fully funded under the foundation formula will not see a gain.
The Prop A. commercials hardly mentioned the word casino, and made no explanation of the loss limit, which was designed to prevent gambling addictions.
Still, the campaign stayed on message, and reaped the awards at the ballot box.
Of course, it’s much easier to convince voters to allow for bigger bets than tax themselves.
Even so, the Prop. M effort was rather quiet, doing little to counter Metro’s public relations liabilities. (Remember this?)
Now, to make the most of their existing revenue, the transit agency will be forced to get creative, which is probably something Prop. M supporters could have done more of in the campaign.
Prop M was simply a Hail Mary thrown by BiState in hopes of getting lost in and capitalizing on a large urban turn-out. It didn’t work. They need to go back and do a few basic things like installing turnstiles (like New York and Chicago they love so much). The real villain here is Charlie Dooley who unexpectely yanked a huge chunck of County dough from BiState and tried to dump it on the voters. After the trash flap, if he screws up the property reasssessment next year, he’s toast. If you asked Bob Baer today if he would have settled for an eighth cent tax, he’d probably kiss the ground. They should come back with their hat in hand and ask for something reasonable, not something that will build new pork to bribe taxpayers to pay for the old pork. Lastly, they need to camp on Claire. After ignoring her Senate job for the past year to shill for Obama, she needs to deliver on some of those Obama pork/infrastructure dollars to run and expand the system. He owes her, even though she didn’t deliver on Missouri and he needs to repay the debt before we throw her out in four years.
St. Louis, you don’t know how lucky you are to have Metrolink. I’m sad that I moved away only a year after the first line opened. I would LOVE to have even a small system like yours in my new city. You should have supported Prop M.
Perhaps if the people behind Prop M would have used the nearly dozen direct mail pieces I got at home to actually EXPLAIN WHAT PROP M WAS instead of being circumspect, they would have had a better response. Their promotion efforts were confusing, not compelling, and did not plainly say that voting yes would provide more mass transit and avoid steep cuts and fare hikes. Plus, there were days when I got two different Prop M pieces in the mail. As we sayin Web 2.0, FAIL.
Metro might have the single worst public relations inititave of any mass transit system in America. Its embarrassing and the Metro board should be ashamed of how their third class PR efforts will again lead to them providing less service to the people who need it most.
Bottom line is that its hard to get people to approve a tax increase, I get that. But the Prop M campaign was a complete disaster, and whoever was ultimately responsible for it should get thrown under one of those new articulated buses that Metro will never be able to afford.
With the passage of Prop A, the Casino Queen will feel the full effect of the Illinois smoking ban for the first time.
The failure of proposition M to pass is very disappointing. Not only will the hundreds depending upon Metro services find daily commuting more challenging, but St. Louis will now lose jobs and continue to exacerbate the climate change problem. Selfishness killed proposition M.
I keep going from dissapointment to anger. St. Louis shot itself in the foot for not passing Prop M. People rely on Metro to get them to work and events around town. Gas will go up again and more riders will come on board. Too bad you’ll have to catch the last train at 8pm. Maybe rates should be raised…but what is fair for the person making $6 to pay and the person making $16. As far as the turnstile argument, they cost more to install than what will be collected.
Turnstiles would clearly take in more than they cost. Right now, state law prohibits Metro from prosecuting anyone under 18 for not having a ticket. This is well known and very few riders under 18 feel compelled to pay. Turnstiles would also promote the sales of fare cards (like in NY and CHI) that could be swiped to provide entry. These cards would be a big boost to BiState as many of them are never used. I can not tell you how many of those cards I bring home from NYC and Chicago that still have a few bucks left on them.
When gas goes up to $6, $8 or even $10, everyone will be kicking themselves for voting against Metrolink. And with Peak Oil already here or very close, that day is coming.