High stakes

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Gov. Ed Rendell was not inside The Bellevue Thursday afternoon. However, a papier-m�ch� puppet in his likeness took his place.

In anticipation of the governor declining its request to a debate on the hidden costs of casinos, Casino-Free Philadelphia came prepared with the two-by-two-foot caricature of Rendell’s head on a stick. The purpose of the 3 p.m. event, billed as a "debate-in,�€? was for casino opponents to march from the west side of City Hall to Rendell’s local office on the 11th floor of The Bellevue at Broad and Walnut streets, where they were hoping he would appear to discuss Casino-Free’s 26-page report, "You Pay Even if You Don’t Play.�€? Released April 8, it warned slot parlors would cost Philadelphia more in hidden expenses than the city would receive in financial benefits.

"The governor has been the chief cheerleader for casinos in Philadelphia for years, yet he has never done an honest accounting of the actual costs/benefits created by casinos. How can he be so confident without the numbers to back up his claims?�€? Aileen Moleski, from the 700 block of Pemberton Street, asked.

When about 100 anti-casino ralliers — a large percentage from this area concerned about the proposed Foxwoods site at Reed Street and Columbus Boulevard — arrived at The Bellevue, security halted them in the lobby. According to Bellevue Property Manager Andrew Speizman, it was a number’s issue, nothing political.

"There’s a hundred people going into a very small area,�€? Speizman told the Review, adding he "would personally escort two people at a time up the elevator. I’ll take two down and two up. I can think of no better way to spend my afternoon,�€? he said with a sarcastic laugh.

Any treks to the 11th floor would have been in vain since, according to Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo, the governor was in Pittsburgh. But if he had been in town, he still would not have engaged the crowd. "That debate was had here in Harrisburg prior to the passing of the gaming bill. The time for that debate has long passed,�€? Ardo said.

When told this debate was called specifically to address Casino-Free’s April 8 hidden-costs report, Ardo said, "You mean the report they wrote themselves? I’m confident that [Casino-Free] was able to write the report to their liking.�€?

With that, Rendell’s spokesman said he had no further comment on the casino issue.

Foxwoods’ spokeswoman Maureen Garrity of Tierney Communications, which is also headquartered in The Bellevue, said she did not see the spectacle so she could not offer comment.

With the governor a no-show, the show still went on with Casino-Free staging its debate-in — a play on a sit-in — in the lobby, encouraging casino opponents to approach the microphone and toss out a question to the governor-puppet that stood by silently.

Passyunk Square resident Mary Stump rose to the occasion. "What happened to, ‘By the people, for the people?’ What happened to democracy? Please discuss these issues with us,�€? she said.

Speaking to the Review after her public comments, Stump said she thinks Foxwoods would be a detriment to the entire area, not just those closest to it. "I’m really concerned for all of South Philadelphia. This would have been a great idea maybe in the late 1980s or ’90s, but the whole landscape has changed. We don’t need this kind of thing in South Philly. We don’t need it on the river; now we have a plan for the river,�€? Stump said of the thriving riverfront with its residential and commercial usage.

At the event, Casino-Free’s Daniel Hunter of Southwest Philly and Jethro Heiko of Fishtown outlined some of the report’s findings and cost/benefit analysis for the crowd.

Foxwoods and SugarHouse, the casino proposed for Fishtown, would generate $76 million a year in fees, higher tax revenue and wage-tax reductions, but would be offset by unseen costs, i.e., expenses not outlined by Foxwoods and SugarHouse in their proposals to the state, that could result in a net loss to the city of $52 million a year, the report stated. Among the hidden costs are additional police expenses; gambling addiction and criminal justice services; and $4.2 million in reductions to property values. "Over a year ago we asked the governor to be involved in helping us move the casinos,�€? Hunter told the gatherers. "Many of us are opposed to casinos on principal, saying, economically these casinos would do devastation to the City of Philadelphia.�€?

To come up with the best data, Casino-Free relied primarily on numbers previously reported by the Philadelphia Gaming Advisory Task Force, Mayor Michael Nutter’s administration and Temple University economist Dr. Frederic Murphy.

The report took roughly two months to produce, not including some previous research, Hunter said. It was crafted mostly through volunteer hours with input from Casino-Free’s varied membership, including advice on relevant sections from local economists, real estate agents, accountants, small business owners, professors, policy experts, retired or inactive investigative journalists and other individuals. It also contains expert opinion, among them, Murphy, who predicted residents would use discretionary dollars to gamble, thereby reducing non-gambling tax revenues. The casino group also asked another professor and gambling expert to review its analysis. Robert Goodman, a professor at Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., and former director of the United States Gambling Research Institute, said the report "raised valid concerns.�€? Goodman said state legislatures that adopted gambling too often focused on the revenue side of the equation and the proposed riverfront casinos were a form of "convenience gambling.

"You’re basically sucking money out of your economy unless you can replicate something like Las Vegas,�€? Goodman wrote in the report.

George Neuhauser, who lives on the 100 block of Federal Street, feels casinos are a bad idea no matter how you roll the dice. "It’s going to cost far more money than it’s going to bring in. I often wonder how much Ed Rendell’s getting out of this. How much did John Street get out of this?�€? Neuhauser said to the Review at the rally.

Casino-Free released its report four days after Nutter testified before City Council on the casino issue. Terry Gillen, who lives in the Graduate Hospital area and is senior adviser to Nutter, said the mayor’s office and City Council are trying to calculate the true costs and benefits of casinos.

"What the mayor has asked of the city departments effected is to get back to him with numbers — police, water, fire and the streets. We are internally studying all these costs. The mayor is very committed to having an open process where citizens can know everything we know. He wants to make sure that any information we have is shared and it’s public,�€? Gillen said.

While Foxwoods’ Garrity has not seen the Casino-Free report, she said she understands the cost of policing is being challenged but host fees are intended to offset the added law enforcement. According to Garrity, casinos pay two percent of gross terminal revenues to the city they are located in, as well as two percent to the county. Since Philadelphia is both, it gets four percent, which is estimated at $14.5 or $15 million annually. About $5 million of that will go to the school district.

"In addition, Foxwoods worked diligently with the City of Philadelphia to negotiate a development agreement. Over the next 12 years, the tax and settlement payments under that development agreement will generate between $64 and $82 million for the city and school district — above and beyond what will be generated from the host fees. The city took into consideration additional police costs as they negotiated that development agreement,�€? Garrity said.

The agreement reads in part, "The City agrees to fund the City’s generally necessary on-property and off-property policing obligations out of the settlement payments and host fees with respect to Foxwoods Casino Philadelphia payable to the City by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a local share assessment under the Act, subject to the transfer of all or part of such obligations to the State Police as provided above.�€?

Garrity said if the study ignores the provision that addresses policing, then it stands to question what other facts and data have been "manipulated to fit Casino-Free Philadelphia’s purposes.�€?

Foxwoods would also generate 1,000 construction jobs and provide 950 new jobs in Phase I alone, generating salaries and wages that will be spent in Philadelphia and the region. "How have those dollars been accounted for in this study?�€? Garrity posed.

But even if the cost/analysis forecasts seem gray, Foxwoods got some sunny news April 2 when the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania granted it Commercial Entertainment District status. The court concluded City Council’s failure to grant the status in a timely fashion required the same high-court relief given in 2007 to SugarHouse. Ultimately, the ruling means the city must grant all necessary permits to start building, inching South Philly closer to the jingle-jangle of slot machines.

"Foxwoods is thrilled with the Supreme Court’s decision. We were confident in our position and are glad that the court ruled in favor of our project — and the jobs and tax benefits that will come from it,�€? Garrity said.

Contact Staff Writer Lorraine Gennaro at lgennaro@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.