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mh94 HOTELIER: CASINOS NEVER HAD A CHANCE 11/18/1994
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 1994, The Miami Herald
DATE: Friday, November 18, 1994 EDITION: FINAL
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: 3C LENGTH: 40 lines
ILLUSTRATION: photo: Woody WEISER
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: TED REED Herald Business Writer
HOTELIER: CASINOS NEVER HAD A CHANCE
To veteran hotelier Woody Weiser, the recently defeated Proposition 8
gambling initiative never had a chance -- but that doesn't mean Floridians
will never approve gambling.
"The proposition was overreaching, " said Weiser, chairman of the recently
created Carnival Hotels & Casinos. "All of us in our company felt that it had
little chance of success. "
Weiser, speaking Wednesday night in Miami to the Association of Public
Corporations, said voters have supported riverboat gambling in half a dozen
states. Land-based casinos have been authorized in only three states.
He said a group of casino operators, including Carnival Hotels, surveyed
Florida voters early this year and found a proposition allowing 18 or 20
riverboats would be the only initiative likely to be approved.
Other problems with Proposition 8, Weiser said, were a lack of local
choice and the plethora of casinos in certain areas, including five within six
miles of Miami International Airport. A casino could have been built at any
one of 47 sites, including any of Florida's 30 dog tracks, racetracks and jai
alai frontons.
Weiser declined to speak out about Proposition 8 before the election,
saying it would have been inappropriate for someone in the gambling industry.
Whether gambling is approved in Florida or not, it will play an increasingly
important role at Carnival Hotels, which is expected to go public next month.
The Miami company was formed in March as a joint venture between cruise
company Carnival Corp. and The Continental Cos. , Weiser's hotel management
company. In going public, it will distribute 1.4 million shares, one share to
each owner of 100 shares of Carnival.
Management contracts at 58 hotels currently account for the
bulk of Carnival Hotel revenues, but the company holds 60 percent ownership
and a management contract for a riverboat that will open next month in Baton
Rouge. The company is also seeking regulatory approvals to manage a casino for
the Wampanoag Tribe in New Bedford, Mass.
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6 of 25, 8 Terms
mh94 THE VOTE GOT OUT 11/12/1994
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 1994, The Miami Herald
DATE: Saturday, November 12, 1994 EDITION: FINAL
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: 1B LENGTH: 82 lines
ILLUSTRATION: color photo: David LEAHY
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: KAREN BRANCH Herald Staff Writer
THE VOTE GOT OUT
Something positive came out of those cutthroat campaigns for governor and
gambling: They pushed a record number of Dade voters to the polls in an
off-year election.
The tight race between Gov. Lawton Chiles and Jeb Bush brought 64 percent
of Dade's electorate to the polls -- more voters than any gubernatorial
election in at least three decades. And there was at least one other big draw.
"Gambling," said Judy Reiff, a mature woman who won't define her age
beyond "22 1/2, permanently" and lives in Northeast Dade's Winston Towers --
where 70 percent of registered voters came out to the polls. "I wanted
gambling
because Miami Beach is going to die without it. And, I didn't want Bush."
Bush's candidacy helped bring 73 percent of voters to Sergio Alvarez's
precinct, three miles west of Florida International University's Tamiami
Campus: "This area is Republican, and Bush is a great person," said Alvarez,
71.
Proposition 8, the doomed constitutional amendment to legalize casino
gambling, pulled Aretha Stafford to her precinct booth just north of
Opa-locka.
"I voted against casinos, because I'm a Christian, and I don't believe in
gambling, " said Stafford, 67, whose precinct at Bunche Park Elementary School
had a 65 percent turnout on Election Day.
Voters in heavily Hispanic precincts such as Alvarez's were the most
faithful voters. According to a Dade Election Department analysis of sample
precincts, about 67 percent of
Hispanic voters in Dade visited the polls. The biggest percentages come from
areas such as West Miami, Westchester, Little Havana and Hialeah. Heavily
white districts, including the Northeast condo areas, voted the county
average: 64 percent. In predominantly black precincts, the turnout was 55
percent.
Although the average for black precincts was much lower than the
countywide numbers, black voters came out in greater numbers than they have in
the past three governor's races, when turnout hovered around 50 percent.
State Sen. Daryl Jones, who targeted black precincts in a
get-out-the-vote effort for Chiles and Education Commissioner Doug Jamerson,
attributed the lower turnout to a feeling of hopelessness in some black
communities.
"Five percent of white voters in Florida who were polled admitted they
would not vote for Doug Jamerson simply because he was a black man, " said
Jones, D-South Dade. "Even if the ones in power say, 'I'm not like that, ' some
black people believe those who are influencing the ones in power are like
that. That hopelessness is very hard to overcome. "
If the final turnout of 64 percent sounds low, maybe you tuned in on
Election Day to early reports projecting a turnout of 70 percent and even 80
percent. Chalk up the discrepancy to early-bird voters, said Dade Elections
Supervisor David Leahy.
"All the groups showed during the day much higher turnouts than what we
ended up with, " Leahy said. "People voted very heavy early on in the day. "
Part of that could be attributed to drives encouraging voters to cast
their ballots in the morning. Campaigners on Radio Mambi, for example, urged
listeners to vote early so they could have more of an impact on exit polls.
Leahy had other explanations for the early vote. This year, more than
half of Dade's precincts participated in Kids Voting, a program that gives
children the chance to cast their ballots at their parents' polling spots.
Leahy believes most parents brought their children early, before school. He
also believes rainstorms could have stifled afternoon and evening balloting.
"It rained here about four different times, and that may have kept people
away, " said Ann Dyes, 62, whose precinct just west of Liberty City had an
extremely low 44 percent turnout.
Still, a countywide turnout of 64 percent is a record vote for a
governor's election. (Presidential election years bring higher turnouts.
Dade's was 83 percent in 1992. ) Dade's average voter turnout in off-year
elections since 1962 is 57 percent. Four years ago, when Chiles defeated Gov.
Bob Martinez, 57 percent of Dade's voters cast ballots.
Dade's 64 percent turnout this year was similar to the rest of Florida,
which averaged 65 percent Tuesday.
"We were thrilled we had a large turnout this time, " said Dot Joyce,
director of the state Division of Elections. "That's extremely good for a
gubernatorial general election."
CUTLINE:
VOTERS CAME EARLY: Elections chief David Leahy thinks the Kids Voting
program helped.
KEYWORDS: ELECTIONS DADE MD TURNOUT
TAG: 9403190991
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