The period between May 17, 1994, and September 27, 1994, could probably be considered one of the most volatile in Black Hawk County’s history. This was a period of time when the community was divided. This line was created by the push of legalized slot machines at the Waterloo Greyhound Park. After much public debate and campaigning on both sides, the first expanded gambling vote was held on May 17, 1994. The referendum was defeated by a vote of 17,610 to 15,183. The anti-gambling faction was led by Jay Nardini, and his group was ecstatic over the defeat of the bill. Although defeated, the pro-gambling faction was not finished. It managed to get a second referendum placed on the ballot, and this time it was better prepared. It originally believed that there was not enough opposition to the law so it did not campaign very effectively, but things were different the second time around. It got Casino Magic, a gambling company based in Mississippi, involved. Casino Magic had been offered the contract to supply and operate the slot machines if an expanded gambling referendum were passed; the Greyhound Park supplied much needed support to the pro-gambling campaign. The second vote occurred on September 27, and this time it came down to 72 votes. Once again the referendum was rejected.

     The vote was split by what part of Black Hawk County a person was from. People from the Waterloo area tended to vote yes, and people from the Cedar Falls area tended to vote no. The difference was that more people form Cedar Falls, albeit a smaller community, voted. The referendum caused bad blood between two communities that had generally gotten along very well. In order to prevent this from happening in other communities, the Iowa Legislature passed a law in 1995 that stated there had to be a two-year wait between referendums on expanded gambling. With the defeat of the expanded gambling referendum also came the closure of Waterloo Greyhound Park.

     In 1996 one of the National Cattle Congress's nemesis actually became its savior. The Mesquakies offered to pay the National Cattle Congress’s debt of $9.1 million dollars in exchange for the title of the NCC and Greyhound Park. It was an offer the NCC could not refuse if it wished to survive. The tribe was not doing this out of the goodness of its heart. It understood fully well that it would be quite possible for another referendum to come up eventually and it just might pass. The Mesquakies did not want any competition for their casino. Even with the Mesquakies's bailout in 1996, the NCC found itself once again in financial trouble. Although the Cattle Congress fairs from the previous years still took place, they lost money, putting the NCC back in dire straits. The NCC claimed in 1997 that the only way it could become solvent again would be if it did not have to worry about the lien the Mesquakies had on the NCC and Greyhound Park. Currently there is much saber rattling and posturing on both sides. The NCC claims the Mesquakies have illegally interfered with their opportunities to become solvent, but the Mesquakies deny this. Currently the two parties are battling out their differences in bankruptcy court.