Prospect of slots casino jobs, contracts draws thousands to Cordish expo

By MARC SHAPIRO Staff Writer

Published 11/20/09

For three hours yesterday, thousands of people poured through the food court at Arundel Mills mall, hoping to score information on one of 4,000 jobs that will be available if Cordish Cos. builds its proposed slots casino nearby.

Shannon Lee Zirkle - The Capital Josh and Jamie Bond of Arnold, with their daughter, Haylie, talk to Greg Dhaene, right, about a position in security during the Cordish Companies employee, vendor and contractor information expo Thursday at Arundel Mills mall.

Barbara Burnopp, a 47-year-old welder from Severn, was at the job and vendor fair with her sister, Betty Myers of Ferndale. Unemployed since February, Burnopp saw opportunities in her trade once construction begins, but like many yesterday, both women said they were just looking for something.

"Nowadays, I'm willing to do anything," Burnopp said.

Cordish Cos. officials said that...

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Let's make up facts - 2009-11-25 16:40:41

I went to the Mall to see how many persons came for the expo. I personally spoke with some of the THOUSANDS of persons specifically at the mall for the expo. My random conversations brought up a mix of persons not only from Anne Arundel County but from West Virginia, Baltimore and more. They also had a mixed resume. There were professionals and laborers. Every person I spoke with was polite and optimistic. Anne Arundel and the State need jobs. It is shameful to be so callous to deny jobs because a few persons drive to Starbucks may take an extra 3 minutes.
The herring that build it in somone else's backyard does not hold up as well. To rebid will take at least 4 more years. And to where? Again, someone else's backyard.

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Paul W - Baltimore, MD - Karma: Neutral

Hey Bob - 2009-11-25 15:52:31

8% unemployment in county and rising. Double digit for Country and rising. Get your facts straight. Police support, Firefighters Support, AFSCME American Federation of State, County and Muni workers support, all of the County's Chambers support and oh yea, your district overwhelmingly supported it too. But are you now alledging that people who own $500,000 homes near the mall were to stupid to read what they voted for. You make a compelling argument for that theory. Enough of your other half baked conspiracy theories. But if you really want one, I've got one for you, Jaime Benoit/stamato and the dark of night zoning that was put into the Counties GDP, look into that one. I know that the people of russett know what the real deal is. Maybe the Feds should look into that one. Your 15 minutes of fame is over. It's time to put people to work and jump start our county's economy or would you rather have your taxes raised? I've lived in this County all my life and can say for sure that you and your small band of the misinformed or worse self indulged don't speak for us. Go back to DC.

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bob pravda - Severna Park, MD - Karma: Neutral

Slots jobs... - 2009-11-21 03:28:22

This appears to be a shameful ploy...getting the unemployed desperate to come out and hold out hope (for who knows how long) apparenly just to get them to sign the "support slots" cards to send to the council members. First of all, most of these people probably do not live or own property in the local Hanover/Severn area and will not be affected by the establishment of casino gambling at AMM, so the zoning decision of course only figures in getting them a job in this case - duh. They can still drive home to their own neighborhood wherever (which will be casino-free) and go about their lives leaving the AMM area behind. Note the story indicated most jobseekers were from outside the county. Bad indicator...

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Jim K. - Severn, MD - Karma: Excellent

slots - 2009-11-21 00:44:14

..Many are fools who chase the glimmer of water in desert only to find that what shimmers are heat waves that lure the foolish on to.... ..to nonsense and, here, corporate foolings of them. What a neat ploy Cordish has accomplished with the suave, tenacious and bumptuous cawings of Mills Corp. to denigrate the hiring process. Twelve thousand fools, recently, seeked non-existant jobs. The corporations were seeking to out-legal the proper zoning process by staging a false pseudo- (perhaps, maybe) hiring of local yokels. ..Very neat ploy and most imaginative. Slots still do NOT belong at that site; no matter the snake-oil jobs offered.

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vvoof vvoof - lynnbrook, md - Karma: Neutral