Casinos
Two construction industry union leaders today got behind the effort of local investors who are asking the state Gaming Control Board to reconsider the Dec. 16 decision to revoke the casino license granted more than four years ago for a plot on Columbus Boulevard at Reed Street in South Philly.
Pat Gillespie, Business Manager of The Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, and Ed Coryell, head of the Metropolitan Regional Council of Philadelphia & Vicinity of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, put out statements today asking the board to reverse the decision now that the local investors say they have closed a deal with Caesars Entertainment to take over the project.
The Gaming Control Board this week acknowledged receiving the petition to reconsider the license revocation from Philadelphia Entertainment Development Partners, which originally planned to open the casino under the Foxwoods brand. A board spokesman said the petition will be studied to determine whether a hearing should be held to consider it.
Gillespie, in a statement released today, called on other labor unions and the city's delegation to the General Assembly to back the petition because the project would create 650 construction jobs and then 1,000 casino jobs.
The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals today reversed a lower court's ruling that Keystone Redevelopment Partners LLC, the company Donald Trump formed in a failed bid to open a casino in Nicetown, could challenge the 2006 decision of the state Gaming Control Board to not grant him a license.
The three-judge panel, which heard arguments on the case in November, ruled that the Gaming Control Board has "quasi-judicial immunity" when acting on its duties to license and regulate casinos in Pennsylvania. Trump had claimed the board improperly considered his business interests in Atlantic City when deciding on five applications for two casino licenses in Philadelphia.
“This finding was premised on the institutional safeguards and processes which the Board has built and implemented to project the impartiality and integrity of the decision-making process,” said Doug Sherman, the board's chief counsel. “The Board has been resolute in its determination to avoid partisanship and inappropriate influence in its decisions, and believes that the Court’s decision today is an affirmation that its processes are accomplishing the goal.”
An attorney for Keystone, aka Trump, declined to comment when reached by phone today. Keystone has two weeks to appeal for a rehearing.
Follow Chris on Twitter
David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
Follow Dave on Twitter.
Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
Follow Jan on Twitter
Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
Follow Sean on Twitter
