Almost 3 years ago, during the public comment period on the Casino Gaming Rules in early 2019, one Pope County citizen wrote:
“It is worth noting, the opposition of this is the same small group of people that have tried to stop all progress in our city for many years. The lawsuit filed against our current elected officials is a good example of the years and years of this same type of effort to keep Russellville a small town. This same small group of people have also tried to stop construction of our Walmart Neighborhood Market, Arbors Assisted Living Facility, Red Lobster, Casey’s General Store and Arkansas Nuclear One.
[Note: Casey’s and Arbors had still not been built at the time of this comment.]
“They will always work to get certain church groups excited and file bogus lawsuits in order to create a mirage that the masses are behind them, when, in fact, a very small amount of people agree with them, but given the large outcry on social media and local media outlets, it’s very apparent that a very large majority disagrees and wants the casino here and the progress it will bring.”
A large number of the letters submitted appeared to be form letters, which all read almost exactly the same. They were all for a rule that required casino applicant support documents be from the current official officials and all opposed a casino in Pope County.
(There were even a few handwritten letters in the mix.)