We were six months behind on our bills, we couldn't afford the basics - paper for the copy machine, new tires for our police cars. Now, we have the funding to buy new copy machines and new police cars when we need them. Basically, what we have done with the gambling revenue is put it into law enforcement and basic infrastructure such as water, sewer and roads. An estimated 20 million people a year visit the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Crime in the metro area rose 76 percent from 1993 to 1996.
Tourists are back.
Traffic at Gulfport-Biloxi Regional Airport has quadrupled from less than 200,000 passengers in 1992 to more than 800,000 last year. And the unemployment rate has been cut in half, from 8.2 percent in 1992 to 4.2 percent now. Minorities filled 35 percent of the new casino jobs. The way to fast track it into a better product was to encourage gaming. Olivier said gambling has helped, rather than hurt, Biloxi's existing industries.