Gaming the Casino Board

It's pranksters against power brokers. The pranksters are winning.

by Bruce Schimmel

I love Philly's anti-casino activists. For me, this battle casino royale pits pranksters against power brokers. And I think the pranksters are winning.

Though you won't know it from the Inquirer. Editorial page editor Chris Satullo essentially buried the anti-casino activists. Buried them alive. In his column, "That Train Done Gone and Left the Station," Satullo writes that "[t]o me, the sight of such an intelligent, roused citizenry is always stirring." But then laments that, "this time [it is] depressing." Because for Satullo, the casinos are "a done deal."

Satullo penned that epitaph in mid-September. By Thanksgiving, Satullo might have found solace when his "roused citizenry" won local control of casino zoning. When state Sen. Vince Fumo made an abrupt about-face. And when Councilman Frank DiCicco and the mayor signed off on an independent riverfront panel that views casinos with fresh skepticism.

I see momentum building. And I especially love the cheeky prank that Jethro Heiko and Daniel Hunter recently pulled on City Hall (video under photos/Launch of Operation Transparency at www.casinofreephila.org). A little Halloween trick or treat, they called it.

For months the Gaming Control Board has ignored requests for casino traffic predictions, architectural drawings or even for minutes of their own meetings.

So the anti-gambling folks decided to deliver a final request to Gaming Board chair Tad Decker in a very special way. On the video, you see Hunter at the Mayor's Office, explaining to a dazed-looking drone that he wanted to send his "ultimatum" to Decker from the mayor's own fax machine.

In the next scene, a grinning Hunter emerges from the mayor's communications office with a fax receipt in hand. Their ultimatum was delivered to gaming chair Tad Decker — and also to Gov. Rendell, just for good measure.

City Hall insiders say they've never seen such a stunt, and confirm that the dailies knew about it. The Inky did do a brief piece that the group had sent their ultimatum, but neglected to say how. Apparently, cleaver tweaking of politicians' noses isn't newsworthy.

It is elsewhere. Days later, on Nov. 6, the Philadelphia pranksters showed up in Harrisburg, wearing yellow miners' hats, claiming to be "data miners." The gag made a headline in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. It also attracted significant support. On Nov. 15, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that state Rep. Jake Wheatley wrote the Gaming Control Board after meeting with the Philadelphia group.

"How can the public determine the impact in their neighborhood and community," the paper quotes the state rep, "if they are not seeing the constant changes being made to the plans?" It's a question that Philly's reps and senators should also be asking. Perhaps they would, if they read it in Philly's dailies.

On Dec. 11, the pranksters will strike again. They're planning a nonviolent search of the board's offices in Harrisburg in full snooping regalia: wearing green eyeshades and carrying magnifying glasses.

Activists complain that Philadelphia's dailies have been lax in following their efforts [News, "A Minor Victory," Doron Taussig, Nov. 2, 2006]. Some believe that the investment of the papers' publisher, Brian Tierney, in the Trump casino makes the newspapers timid. And to compound matters, editorial page editor Chris Satullo now reports directly to Tierney.

To be sure, the Philly papers have done many casino stories, dutifully noting their publisher's interest. But it took independent journalist Ed Goppelt of Hallwatch.org to uncover the magnitude of Tierney's personal commitment (www.hallwatch.org/news/1162499107159).

According to the partnership agreement, says Goppelt, if TrumpStreet gets the go-ahead, Tierney will invest $5 million dollars. That's comparable to Tierney's investment in the two newspapers, says Goppelt. And if Trump wins, say partnership papers, the Inquirer's publisher will assume an active role in managing the casino.

Kind of makes you wonder what other gems a field trip to the gaming board offices could yield. On Dec. 11, when the real games begin, maybe our dailies will show up. I sure will and hope you will too.

For info on this and other pranks the activists are planning, check out the "strategy" link under Operation Transparency at www.casinofreephila.org.

(bruce@schimmel.com)