Organized opposition to Issue 3 growing in Columbus

It's been an interesting week for Issue 3 in Columbus.

On Wednesday, the Columbus Dispatch reported, that Columbus Mayor Mike Coleman announced that he is opposing Issue 3.  Coleman is the first Mayor of one of the cities slated to get a casino if Issue 3 passes to actually come out and endorse the opposition (The mayors of Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Toledo all have endorsed Issue 3):

Coleman said the ballot measure would deprive Columbus and the other cities of the ability to regulate the location, hours of operation, traffic circulation and other aspects of the casinos. Columbus' casino would be in the Arena District, west of the new Huntington Park, and would operate around the clock.

"Wherever it is, local communities should have a say-so," Coleman told The Dispatch.

The next day (coincidentally?), "Experience Columbus," the city's convention and visitor's bureau's board of directors announced that it, too, was opposed to Issue 3.  A week earlier, the Board decided NOT to take a stand on the issue, claiming that there was no clear consensus among the board members, according to Business First of Columbus.

The Columbus Chamber of Commerce is also against Issue 3.

It's pretty remarkable to see such widespread institutional opposition in one of the cities that Issue 3 would put a casino in.  If this opposition is reflected in Franklin County's ballots next Tuesday, then I don't see how Issue 3 passes statewide.  The only problem for TruthPAC is that this is such a late development for them to capitalize on.