It’s time to support Butler National

Editor’s note: This letter is a response to the Sept. 27 Daily Globe editorial.
    Enough Dodge City! It’s time to hang up your guns and get down to business – we were granted the opportunity to host a casino. We were fortunate that a company whose roots run deep in the soil of southwest Kansas shared our dream. Now we are obliged to give them the respect and the space to deliver.
    Butler National Corporation based in Olathe has a president (and his wife) from this area. The Stewarts still have family living, working and raising children here just like all of us. Their company understands the unique brand that Dodge City owns and shares our passion in using that to keep the vision alive. Money talks folks, and that’s what it will take to keep us vital and that’s why we chose this trail. Butler brought the money to the table and that will be the catalyst for our growth.
    From the stories you have read and the coffee shop gospel you’ve worshiped you may think you know everything about the license process that has captured your attention the last 15 months. Trust me you don’t. Many subtle facts, political head-fakes and bluff tactics go on in something like this that few outsiders truly understand. None of us need assume anything other than the state of Kansas did their job and awarded “our” license to the right team.
    Accountable? Butler National is accountable to the state of Kansas for the license agreement and to their own company stockholders. They understand the solemn duty of protecting our world-wide brand and those who have spent any time at all with Clark Stewart and his team know they hold that in high esteem.
    Now let up. Stop the bickering – no more gossip or negative talk – don’t borrow trouble with “what if’s.” Butler National does not owe you a look inside their books unless you own Butler stock. They don’t have to justify to you why they chose the location, the color brick, the placement of the slot machines, or where they get financed. They are a business just like the ones we own or work for. Your taxes don’t go to Butler National; they aren’t a government entity or a public service organization. The scrutiny Butler National will have from the State and the Gaming Commission/Lottery is monumental compared to anything the chat rooms could devise in a month.
    Let’s welcome Butler National’s Boot Hill Casino and Resort! Have faith in the decisions made by our local vote, the city, the county and the state of Kansas. They delivered this partner who will help us make the most dramatic change in our community in our lifetime. They are us – they are the “People’s Project.” They walked with Boot Hill Gaming even before the state gave us a voice. Butler National came because they believed in the vision we have for economic stability and growth through enhanced tourism. They are putting their money where their mouth is with a percentage of their revenue to a fund to accomplish that. They are accountable in the same way any of us are as citizens of Dodge City and Ford County.
    They’re gonna build it folks – what we accomplish with it for our future is up to us. I’d say we’re accountable too. We are fortunate to live in the United States – and blessed to be in Dodge City. Let’s do it right this time.

Bonita McClure
Dodge City