[schlaboong]

Over the past 20 years, Miami has done a decent job of working to transform itself from a tourist-boom-town with an economy tailored to serve a transient population to an international city with offerings aimed at locals and tourists alike. The influx of international financial institutions setting up Latin American headquarters, the investment in the healthcare sector, the nurturing of the local art scene, and the commitment to creating/maintaining/growing cultural offerings have taken us a long way from the Miami of the 1950s-1980s. Of course, we still have a long way to go.

We need to convince more companies, more talented professionals and job-creators, that Miami is not just a vacation town you come to party but a burgeoning international city on verge of world-class status. Building a massive casino in the heart of our city, let alone three, sends the complete opposite message. For the past 20 years, we have been painstakingly trying to shake the image of a vice-filled tourist town and building large gambling resorts would completely undermine the work we have done and the work we need to do.

Of course, which city couldn't use a few billion dollars invested in its urban core? Or a few thousand jobs in this difficult economic climate? We cannot let the short-term draw of such a deal blur our long-term vision and perspective. Miami's goal is to be held to the esteem of the great cities of the world: New York, Chicago, etc. not to be the next Las Vegas.

We need to nurture industry development in Miami, we just need to make sure it's the right industry. We must continue to develop industries outside of tourism to make us a viable and competitive city in the 21st century.

In short, Miami getting in bed with casinos is like a young and promising artist, known mostly for being in the tabloids but wanting to be taken seriously, deciding to get in bed with a Kardashian. It may be fun in the short-term, but he's not going to gain the respect he wants.