There are canvassers on the streets of DC gathering signatures for a campaign to legalize slot machine gambling in DC, and they’re on the streets as part of a hard push to get 19,000 signatures before the July 10th deadline for ballot initiatives. Here’s where it gets really fun. The referendum that they are trying to gather signatures for would put a 3,500 machine slots gambling parlor…in the middle of Ward 8 in Southeast.
The canvassers are, as they have been recently, out of towners brought in to gather signatures at a reward of $2 per signature. You may remember this sort of thing from Mayor Williams own campaign for mayor the last time around, when he had to run as a write-in candidate because most of his signatures were deemed invalid and improperly collected. The companies involved in collecting them, as well as the Mayor’s own campaign, were fined heavily by the Elections Board.
Does DC really need slots? Maybe, but is putting it in the poorest area of town an ethical thing to do?
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.
