Please note that this post contains affiliate links and any sales made through such links will reward MageeNews.com a small commission – at no extra cost to you.
 |
OFFICIAL STATEMENT:
Response to Gaming Commission Statement on RW Development Site Approval Application
As the legislatively delegated trustee agent for the State’s Public Trust Tidelands and a Gulf Coast native, I strive to protect the Trust and ensure its benefit to all Mississippians, and the RW Development situation is no different.
I have consistently stated I firmly disagree with the Mississippi Supreme Court’s decision in State v. RW Development, but as an elected official and lawyer, I will follow the law regardless of whether I believe the Supreme Court’s decision was ill-conceived. Having recently obtained the Mississippi Gaming Commission’s statement explaining its decision to grant RW Development’s fourth application for site approval, I felt compelled to make known my contention the Gaming Commission incorrectly assessed and improperly applied the Court’s decision.
The Court held the City of Biloxi could build, or cause to be built, a replacement pier without a new lease from the State, solely allowing the rebuilding of a public pier. Despite the Court’s decision in March 2023, no pier construction has begun. The Commissioners decided the simple existence of the original lease to rebuild a public pier was sufficient to give RW Development private opportunities on the public sand beach and to grant the very site approval that had three times been disallowed, yet now “meets all statutory regulatory requirements.”
Having previously noted the coordinated effort of RW Development, the City of Biloxi, and the Harrison County Board of Supervisors, the recent events are continued evidence of the priority to obtain “control” over the public sand beach for gaming site approval. I hope I am wrong, but this latest episode of the RW Development saga reeks more of politics than a legal development.
Legal issues and disagreements are resolved by negotiation, legislation, or litigation. While I will continue fighting to protect the State’s property pursuant to my constitutional and statutory duties, I again implore the Mississippi Legislature to reaffirm the State’s ownership, management, and control of and over the state-owned Public Trust Tidelands, including the public sand beach in Harrison County.
MICHAEL WATSON
Secretary of State
State of Mississippi
MageeNews.com is an online news source serving Simpson and surrounding counties as well as the State of Mississippi.
