grand juries and grand plans

Raised on Nevada gaming, Nevada regulations and in a state where gaming received respect and positive attention from most of the state’s elected leaders, I am not always ready for some of the politics in other states.  Okay, first I am old, but not old enough to remember  Estes Kefauver’s hearings, Bobby Kennedy’s attacks or the lives and deaths of Bugsy Siegel, Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky.  My Nevada was post mob, corporate gaming and strict internal control standards.

So, I am often shocked at the implication that all gaming is corrupt and that casino owners and bosses are in some way related to organized crime.  The accusations are not infrequent and sometimes do seem to have some merit.  Pennsylvania and New Jersey appear to have an organized crime culture.  Last month a contractor in New Jersey was trying to distance himself from his criminal relatives and get a license to work in the industry – it was his third try.  For months a grand jury in Pennsylvania investigated Louis DeNaples, principal owner at Mount Airy Casino, eventually forcing him to give up control of the casino to his daughter; now a grand jury is investigating Don Barden’s background and licensing.  Barden has fallen on hard times lately, losing control of his Pennsylvania venture and losing money almost everywhere with his casinos.

The grand jury inquiry into the procedure of granting a gaming license is getting a great deal of attention, enough to entice a state senator in Rhode Island to call for an investigation in his state.

Possibly because of the grand juries, but certainly because of the other delays and challenges in Pennsylvania,  the developers in Ohio are trying to get ahead of the curve.  The two casino in Philadelphia are still unbuilt because of all the delay tactics used by local opposition.  The list objections and special conditions place on the developer has been endless.  The story today of archeological treasures is an example; I don’t mean to disrespect the need to preserve historical sites, but only to illustrate how difficult developers have found the political environment.

Penn National and Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert have submitted a list of conditions for licensing and operations; the list includes things that ease the process and others that should reduce the opposition.  It may or may not work, but it will surely put most of the issues on the table.  No one can afford the delays or the subsequent investigations that have been significant elements in the Pennsylvania gaming landscape. Getting the enabling legislation is not always the most difficult or the most expensive part of the process; licensing, financing and overcoming site-resistance rank right up there.  Ask the prospective developers in Kansas.

State grand jury reviewing casino licenses

State Gaming Control Board officials say they are providing information requested by a state grand jury that is believed to be looking into how the Pittsburgh casino license was awarded by the board in late 2006. The investigation is being led by Attorney General Tom Corbett. The grand jury is based on Pittsburgh, one of three grand juries Mr. Corbett has in operation around the state…Mr. Harbach said that in the board’s “ongoing spirit of cooperation and transparency, we have made available a significant number of documents created by the board’s staff in the course of our business of investigating applicants for gaming licenses.” There has been considerable controversy over the board’s decision in December 2006 to award the Pittsburgh slots license to Detroit businessman Don Barden, who ultimately was unable to develop sufficient financing to complete the $425 million casino on the North Shore. Mr. Barden was chosen over two competing applicants… Tom Barnes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09322/1014423-100.stm?cmpid=latest.xml

Lawmaker wants state to review Twin River contract

State Sen. Frank A. Ciccone is calling for a legislative inquiry into the state’s role in choosing managers for the bankrupt Twin River, and potential awarding of the gambling license — worth hundreds of millions of dollars — to new owners without a competitive and public vetting process. Ciccone, a Providence Democrat, suggested the commission consider whether the bankruptcy filing constituted a breach that would allow the state to terminate Twin River’s “master contract” to operate more than 4,750 video-slot machines placed there by the state Lottery. He said the commission could then look at “the possible options of the state, in the event that the license is revoked, to reissue the license in accordance with a bidding process, or to a better location in the state, or on more desirable terms,” and, in the interim, “the right of the state to approve or disapprove the next owner or manager.” Senate Majority Leader Daniel P. Connors appeared cool to the idea. He said the legislature already has a Lottery oversight commission that could delve into some of these questions, but one of the New York lawyers hired by the Carcieri administration to represent the state’s interests in the bankruptcy case advised him the chances of voiding the contract are slim. Katherine Gregg, Providence Journal

http://www.projo.com/news/content/Twin_River_probe_11-18-09_QSGG7MC_v10.36f6121.html

Treasure trove of history found at SugarHouse site

But SugarHouse changed its casino design last spring, scaling it back and pulling it away from the river’s edge. No longer needing a federal permit, the developers decided to put off any archaeological work.

Under a tent on the grounds of the future SugarHouse Casino, archaeologists sift through buckets of debris, picking out and bagging the choicest broken bits.  Half a teacup. The neck of a blue bottle. A shard of thick brown pottery. The artifacts come mostly from 18th-century brick privies, the colonial equivalent of Dumpsters.  But the items are practically newfangled compared with what the archaeologists have uncovered in a nearby plot about the size of a tennis court.  In the last month, they have found hundreds of relics left behind by people who lived along the Delaware River not 300 years ago, but 3,500. The cache, found in the southwest corner of the property, constitutes the largest single discovery of Native American artifacts in Philadelphia.  In 2007, the SugarHouse developers were required to record the history of the land in order to get a federal permit to alter the waterfront. At the time, the project’s archaeologists dug up 182 Native American relics on the 22-acre site, on Delaware Avenue in Fishtown. Jennifer Lin, Philadelphia Inquirer Staff

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/70349687.html

Casinos propose house rules

Columbus and other Ohio cities where casinos are planned would not be able to stall the projects by “unreasonably” delaying building permits or other needed approvals under draft legislation proposed by casino developers.  The proposal to implement the constitutional amendment approved by voters on Nov. 3 also would bar anyone under age 21 from gambling and require casinos to fill 90 percent of their jobs with local residents.  It also would forbid casino owners from donating campaign cash to state politicians. Under state Issue 3, the General Assembly must approve legislation within six months that spells out rules for development and operation of the casinos. Penn National Gaming, which would build and operate casinos in Columbus and Toledo, and Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, who would own facilities in Cleveland and Cincinnati, submitted proposed legislation this week. The casino developers put their ideas in writing as a starting point for lawmakers, spokesman Bob Tenenbaum said. Penn National used its experience as a casino owner in seven other states as a guide in drafting the language, he said. Mark Niquette/ James Nash, Columbus Dispatch

http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/11/18/copy/CASINOREGS.ART_ART_11-18-09_A1_EEFN8O3.html?adsec=politics&sid=101