Delegate-Elect Lily Franklin Rejects Roanoke Casino as Opposition Builds
FOIA revelations and citizen testimony at recent Roanoke City Council meetings suggest growing opposition to a casino in the Star City.
After defeating incumbent Del. Chris Obenshain (R-Montgomery) this week, Delegate-Elect Lily Franklin (D-Blacksburg) is joining members of her regional General Assembly delegation in opposing a proposed casino in Roanoke. Recent revelations from Roanoke City Council communications acquired through FOIA, on top of citizen comments at recent Council meetings, suggest she’s far from alone.
As I reported a couple of weeks ago, Del. Sam Rasoul (D-Roanoke), Del. Joe McNamara (R-Roanoke), and Sen. David Suetterlein (R-Roanoke) all oppose the proposed casino. And although the Roanoke Office of the City Attorney quoted me over $160 to process a FOIA request, they’ve since provided me with an 86-page set of communications for free.
But many records were withheld, including non-disclosure agreements. Here are descriptions of the withheld records from the FOIA Officer for the City Attorney’s Office:
Due to the extremely limited information contained within the responsive records that can be released at this time – examples being the names of City employees, dates/times of emails – and to remain within the estimate previously provided to you, the City has entirely withheld these records. The subject matter of the withheld records falls within the following:
A memorandum of understanding between the City and a potential partner to negotiate an agreement pertaining to entertainment and hospitality uses of/on the property commonly known as the Berglund Center
A non-disclosure agreement between the City and various employees regarding the Project
A non-disclosure agreement between the City and a potential partner pertaining to entertainment and hospitality uses of/on the property commonly known as the Berglund Center
Email communications between City officials and/or outside company representatives pertaining the negotiation and discussion of the aforementioned memorandum of understanding, letter of intent, and non-disclosure agreement
Email communications between City officials regarding the project
Email communications between City officials and outside individuals regarding market studies and like data from other localities
Perhaps most revealing in these released records is the October 16-17, 2025 back-and-forth between members of Roanoke City Council on the question of including a casino project in their legislative agenda for the upcoming General Assembly session.
Roanoke Vice Mayor Terry McGuire, as chair of the Council’s legislative committee, circulated a draft of the legislative agenda that didn’t mention a casino. Roanoke Mayor Joe Cobb responded:
Thank you for your great work on the legislative agenda. Since collectively, as a Council, we support the efforts related to creating an entertainment district including a casino, and though our local legislators have stated their initial opposition, this is still a matter that I believe we need to include in our legislative agenda, as we will be taking it to the larger general assembly. I am hopeful we can find a way to do so, while still highlighting the items we are prioritizing for hopeful sponsorship by some of our local legislators.
Roanoke Councilman Peter Volosin also responded the next day, in part:
Add the casino priority to the Economic Development section. It is our most important priority this session, even if our delegation aren’t helping.
McGuire then responded to Volosin’s various concerns, addressing the casino question tersely:
Respectfully, I disagree and don’t think it’s a good idea, so I’m going to leave it out. I welcome supporters make a motion to include it on Monday, but I would vote no on that addition.
In the final email of this exchange turned over in response to FOIA, Cobb replied:
Vice Mayor - Though you are Chair of the legislative committee, it is not your decision to leave out a major item from our legislative agenda that a majority of council supports. I’m not sure of your recent decision to not support it, as you have not indicated so to me directly or in any of our discussions. I will be glad to visit with you about this prior to our meeting on Monday so that I can better understand your position.
I haven’t found any evidence yet that a casino project has made it into the final legislative agenda.
Download the released records here:
Roanoke Citizens & A Delegate-Elect Speak Out
Multiple citizens and members of the clergy spoke at the most recent Roanoke City Council meeting in opposition to a casino project. Start the video below at [00:32:50] to hear their testimony.
And yesterday, I reached out to Delegate-elect Franklin to get her position on a proposed casino in Roanoke. She replied bluntly: “I’m not for a casino in Roanoke.” Recall that Franklin was formerly Del. Rasoul’s legislative assistant for years and likely has a deep familiarity with Roanoke, despite just winning election in a neighboring district.
Regardless of the public opposition to the casino, including from local members of the General Assembly, clearly Mayor Cobb and Councilman Volosin remain passionate about advancing this project. But as one of the citizen speakers noted at the last Council meeting: “This time next year, we’ll be electing City Council. And every one of them that are up for election — the citizens are watching every bit.”
Good Work Josh!