Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk is one of the supporters who voted "yes" on the referendum to establish a gambling casino in Madison.
Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz who does not believe in casinos, opposes the referendum and said, the casinos are not there to build the local economy. The opposition to the casino was bipartisan. The voters of Dane County voted the casino down by a 2-1 margin.
Falk, in support for the creation of a Madison casino, ignored many citizens across Wisconsin. In 1993, the voters intended to restrict the expansion of casino gambling. But Falk refused to acknowledge the weight of the problems if the casino would be placed in Madison.
Dane County District Attorney Brain Blanchard and Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann strongly opposed against the Madison casino. They had predicted that the casino would mean an increase in gambling addiction, bankruptcy and crime. Casino gambling would link to many aspect in Milwaukee, its churches, employers, unions and families.
Falk on the report where she campaigned to bring casino to Madison had failed to disclose the results of an economic impact report. The report's prediction on the casino would have "social costs including employment problems, bad debts and theft, police and judicial related costs, health and welfare related costs."
Falk said that the report was a "draft" and not intended for public release. But the opponents would not consider the report as draft if it is considered as favorable to the casino. The majority of the county's supervisors were furious to know the existence of the report. Falk should have given them the copy of the report first at the time Falk asked them to approve the casino in Madison.