Carl Smits Jr.

Carl Smits, president of Citizens for Our Community, said the references are correct, but the group will remove the name of the Idaho-based Holland & Hart law firm as the source of the information.The same information will be cited from another source, he said.
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In both cases, Smits said he was told the group cited the information correctly.

"The contention is that Holland & Hart are pro-casino lawyers, and to have an anti-casino group referencing them as a source sticks in their craw.We're taking it off to placate people who have a problem with it.We'll just reference it from another source," he said.

Carl Smits Jr., president of Citizens for Our Community, an anti casino group based in Lansing, said the group welcomes economic development, as long as the Ho-Chunk Nation plays on a level playing field with surrounding businesses.

South suburban residents who would be affected by Ho-Chunk's casino would have no say in the approval process if the bypass legislation were to be approved, said Carl Smits of Lansing, a founder of the group Citizens for Our Community.

"It makes it almost impossible to have Indian gaming in Illinois -- ever," said Carl Smits, president of the group Citizens For Our Community, Inc., which has been strenuously opposing the Ho-Chunk nation's efforts.

The law essentially takes the power to negotiate a gaming compact out of the governor's hands and puts it under the authority of the entire General Assembly.

"If you do the simple math on the effort it would take to lobby every legislator ... it's next to impossible," Smits said.

Still, Smits said his group will continue to petition area municipal officials in the ongoing effort to get local resolutions passed in opposition to the casino.

While the group is opposed to gaming in general, Smits said members specifically dislike the sovereign status given tribal governments and do not believe any ethnicity should receive such benefits.

"It seems like it's the end of the line," said Carl Smits, president of the group Citizens For Our Community, which has spearheaded opposition to the proposed 432-acre casino and resort.

Carl Smits Jr., chairman of Citizens for Our Community, a Lansing-based group fighting against the project, said in sum the group was pleased with the resolution.

The group has been lobbying Lansing for months to speak out against a plan by the Ho Chunk Nation.The tribe wants to build a casino and mega-sports complex on 432 acres of land near the northeast corner of Stony Island Avenue and Glenwood-Dyer Road.

Lansing officials plan to approve the resolution Tuesday.The move likely will make it easier for Citizens for Our Community to lobby other area municipalities to pass similar resolutions, Smits said.
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After the resolution was read, Smits suggested the village also add that it is against tribal sovereignty as a whole.