Appearing on a taping of ONN's Capitol Square, Ohio's junior senator said there are better ways to create jobs than building casinos.

"I think you need to ask questions about casinos if you're going to bring casinos in," Brown told Capitol Square moderator Jim Heath.  "How much is it going to cost for additional police protection?  Additional fire protection?  How much are they going to pay in local taxes?  My concern about Issue 3 is do you want to write all this into the constitution.  So if it doesn't work the way we want, you have to go back to a vote of the people instead of the legislature simply making some adjustments to make it work better."

When asked if that meant he had voted no on Issue 3, Brown said, "I personally voted, I cast my absentee ballot, and personally voted against Issue 3.  I'm not publicly involved in it, but I don't think it was particularly well done.  I think there are better ways to create jobs, and my focus has always been job creation."

Supporters of Issue 3 were quick to respond.

"It strikes me as a little odd frankly," said pro Issue 3 spokesman Bob Tenenbaum.  "Senator Brown has been very outspoken about the need for new jobs and economic development in the state.  And he's right, but this issue brings 34,000 jobs."

If approved, Issue 3 would approve four casinos in Ohio in the cities of Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo and Columbus.

Capitol Square can be seen Sunday at 10 am, Noon and 7 pm on ONN.

©2009 by ONN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.