Commission made the right decision

The July 17 story 'Casino revenue drops second straight year” reinforced that the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission's choice to deny Cedar Rapids was a good choice.

I fail to see Steve Gray and our mayor's reasoning on how having a casino in Cedar Rapids would be a good thing when the ones we have are seeing a decline in revenues.

I have felt since the Cedar Rapids casino jumped into the headlines that if as much effort were put into drawing a nuts and bolts industry that paid good wages to perhaps half as many employees who would buy cars and homes locally, that would support our city much better than a slew of minimum wage jobs that have no benefits.

I have no idea what percentage of casino jobs are minimum wage with no benefits and the percent that are full-time, benefit-paying jobs. I'm guessing it would be pretty lopsided in favor of the low-wage jobs.

If Gray and our mayor want to get our city moving, they should be out soliciting a real industry that will stay around and help give our city a much better image than a casino hub with the undesirables it draws who will keep our jails full.

Our police have enough to do without having a casino to patrol.

Frank Zieser

Cedar Rapids