When Gov. Rendell gathered Mayor Nutter and a trio of state legislators Aug. 21 to encourage Foxwoods Casino to seek other sites for its planned $670 million slots parlor, he purposely kept the meeting away from his local office in The Bellevue.
Instead he found a welcome mat out at his former law firm, Ballard Spahr Andrews and Ingersoll.
But why hold such a high-profile, controversial confab at an ultra-connected firm that not only employed the governor himself as a $252,000-a-year partner, but also represented Donald Trump and company in its failed bid for a local casino license?
“There was concern that there would be a large number of people doing business in the Bellevue,” Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo said, “and this was an attempt to minimize the disruption.”
Ballard Spahr was not involved, Ardo said. Adrian King, Rendell’s former deputy chief of staff who now works at Ballard Spahr and represented the Trump project, said he didn’t even know about the meeting until he ran into reporters outside.
Committee of Seventy President Zack Stalberg said Rendell has been using Ballard Spahr as neutral turf for years. Still, “It seemed like an odd place to have it,” Stalberg said. “There’s got to be a lot of other neutral territory around town other than a highly influential, connected law firm. They can always come to my office.”
State Rep. Michael O’Brien, (D., Phila.), who will be part of a second summit with SugarHouse Casino, said grousing about the location of the meeting was “looking for bogeymen under the bed.”
“The important thing is that the meeting occurred,” O’Brien said.

On Saturday we published a quick analysis of possibles alternative sites to be considered by Foxwoods Casino, which has supposedly agreed to look at moving its planned $670 million casino from the piece of land it owns on
Columbus Boulevard in Pennsport. While we outlined the likely candidates, there are other factors for each that space didn't permit. We lay them out in more detail here, in order of intrigue:

1) The Spectrum: There does seem to be talk at some level about land near the Spectrum, which is to be demolished to make way for PhillyLive!, an outdoor, mixed-use entertainment complex. Ike Richman, a spokesman for Comcast-Spectacor, which owns the Spectrum, said this last week: "As it pertains to Philly Live, the new mutli-entertainment complex that we are adding to the Wachovia Complex in a partnership with Cordish Company, our plans do not call for a casino and we are not considering one for the site."

An analysis by Inquirer graphics editor John Duchneskie (using a 10-mile radius drawn from the perimeter of the Harrah's Chester Racetrack and Casino) shows that the Spectrum and Wachovia Center and most of the adjacent land fall just within the 10-mile, non-competition limit, though the old Vet site and the Linc's parking lot fall outside. That would prevent Foxwoods from building on the Spectrum site without a change in the state gambling law that prohibited casinos within 10 miles of the Chester racino of Philadelphia Park in Bensalem.

But it is intriguing that Ed Snider, chairman of Comcast-Spectacor, the Comcast subsidiary that owns the Flyers and Sixers, is a principal in Foxwoods. And Comcast Corporation's executive vice-president is David L. Cohen, Gov. Rendell's ally and chief of staff when he was mayor. And we know that the Governor wants to do whatever it takes to get the Philadelphia casinos up and running any time soon.

City Council President Anna Verna, whose second councilmanic district in South Philly includes the Spectrum, has predicted that her neighbors would not want a casino and that she would fight it, though the Spectrum site is a new concept that Verna has not weighed in on specifically and did not immediately respond to a request to do so. Support of the district council person, whose colleagues will not overrule on land deals on their home turf, is critical.

2) Three Center City possibilities — 8th and Market, The Gallery (9th and Market) and/or Girard Estate property (Market Street to Chestnut between 11th and 12 streets). The sites have great public transit access, but already heavy street traffic, according to Mayor Street’s Gaming Advisory Task Force, which also noted that the Gallery, a shopping mall, is big enough to handle the footprint of a casino. The sites would also work well with the Convention Center, and the Gallery is owned by Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, whose chairman and CEO is Foxwoods principal Ronald Rubin. Could these sites overcome resistance from Chinatown residents and their proximity to revered historical sites such as the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall?

3) The former Budd plant in Nicetown/East Falls, where Trump Entertainment and former Sixers owner Pat Croce wanted to build TrumpStreet. Trump had nailed down an agreement with the neighborhood, but was one of three applicants for a gambling license who lost out to Foxwoods and SugarHouse. Trump Entertainment VP Bob Pickus said last week that the partnership had foreseen the trouble with two casinos on the waterfront, through polling of neighbors and traffic studies (Trump was the only one, including the Gaming Control Board, to offer a combined traffic scenario with two casinos. Of course Trump was the most motivated to show it didn't work). Pickus is now saying that the only logical alternate site is the TrumpStreet site, and that the TrumpStreet partnership should have a piece of anything that goes there. His logic: The Gaming Control Board, in its published reasoning for awarding Philadelphia's two licenses to Foxwoods and SugarHouse projects, said SugarHouse was far and above the competition in its proposal. With SugarHouse locked in, the Gaming Board then reasoned North Delaware Avenue could not stand the traffic with two casinos in close proximity, so that eliminated nearby Pinnacle and RiverWalk projects. So it came down to a choice between Foxwoods and Trump for second place. Foxwoods won because it had a better location, according to the Gaming Control Board.

4) A former power plant adjacent to the Betsy Ross Bridge . This was one of the few sites in the city that is actually outside of the 10-mile limit and also meets demands by local activists that casinos be 1,500 feet away from the nearest house.But district Councilwoman Joan Krajewksi said Friday that she would fight such a proposal tooth and nail. "If South Philadelphia doesn't want it, there's no way I'd want it up in Bridesburg," said Krajewski. Bridesburg currently suffers from traffic problems because there is only one way in and out, she said. "I don't believe the people of Bridesburg would appreciate it any more than I would. I would never support something like that."

5) The former former Whiskey Yard, immediately south of the Walt Whitman Bridge, adjacent to Crazy Horse Too Gentlemen’s Club at 2908 S. Columbus Blvd. Watch out for South Philadelphia neighbors and Council President Verna, who predicts neighborhood opposition even at this relatively remote site. Casino backers don't seem to like it too much either -- one casino source suggested that the area is not attractive for a first-class casino, fit for only a bare-bones, slots barn that would add little to the area. We will leave the fact that it sits next to a strip-club without comment.

6) Various locations in Fairmount Park including Montgtomery Drive at I-76, City Avenue at I-76 and Girard Avenue. This uses the same logic (and general area) used by Trump, with proximity to the western suburbs, filled with willing gamblers with money to lose. But sticking a casino on park land? Has to be considered a dark horse.

That looks to be all the possibilities that meet Foxwoods' two promises: That the site would be outside of the 10-mile limit (leaving out the Airport), and not on the water (leaving out the Navy Yard and losing casino applicants Pinnacle and Riverwalk). If we throw out the last three as unlikely, that leaves only three scenarios in play. We'll see; Rendell made it sound like he wanted to have something to talk about in September.

The number of murders in Philadelphia continues to drop, just as Mayor Nutter promised they would when he took office in January. To date, murders are down about 22 percent from last year.
But other figures are rising — including the number of prisoners crowding Philadelphia’s jails.
The daily population reached yet another record high Aug. 16, with 9,536 inmates in the system. That’s 200 more than the number of inmates just four months ago, when yet another record was set.
If that rate continues, the daily jail count will supass 10,000 in a year.
Again, that’s 10,000. Think about it as the number of undergraduates enrolled at the Univerity of Pennsylvania.
So what’s being done? Nutter assigned Everett Gillison, deputy mayor for public safety, to lead a new Criminal Justice Advisory Board to coordinate a response to the rising figures. He initially hoped to hold a meeting — with police, prosecutors, defense lawyers, and the court — in June.
But to date, no such meeting has occurred.
Meanwhile, October is around the corner - the month in which the inmate count traditionally peaks anew.

From staff writer Craig McCoy:

How nasty is the Fumo trial going to get?
Well, Fumo's legal team has already filed a pre-trial motion raising questions about a key government witness - one who happens to be Fumo's son-in-law.
Christian Marrone was a Fumo legislative aide from 1997 to 2002. He and his wife, Nicole, have been bitterly estranged from Fumo since their marriage in 2003.
Prosecutors are expected to call Marrone to help prove their allegation that while Marrone was on the public payroll, Fumo detailed him to oversee renovations of the senator’s Spring Garden mansion. In Fumo’s indictment, Marrone was originally identified only as "Person No. 19," but prosecutors have since named him as a government witness.
Marrone now works in Washington in the Pentagon's liaison office with Congress. In July, Fumo's lawyers sought to subpoena his Pentagon personnel file, including background checks. They want to see if the file contains any damaging information on Marrone.
Prosecutors have asked a judge to quash the subpoena, saying there is nothing helpful to the defense in the file.
As for Marrone, he dismissed the move by Fumo's lawyers: "I think it demonstrates their desperation."

Senior Nutter policy advisor Wendell Pritchett is leaving the city payroll, but to hear him tell it, he’s not really quitting his job.

“I’m still going to be doing a lot of stuff for the mayor, I expect to be around not every day, but a lot,” said Pritchett, who is returning to his faculty position at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law.

Pritchett has a book coming out this fall (topic: Robert Weaver, the nation’s first African American cabinet member), and he hopes to spend time promoting it. That would have been tough on the city’s payroll, but not on Penn’s.

“I didn’t want to have to feel guilty or to have to struggle to balance my vacation time with the city’s needs,” Pritchett said. “Law school is more flexible. That’s one of the things they pay me to do do, go around talking about my work.”

Penn policy gives professors the chance to take two year’s leave in any six-year period. Pritchett used up a chunk of that working for Nutter, but he half-expects to go back on the city payroll sometime in the not-too-distant future. He will remain president of the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation and vice chair of the Redevelopment Authority.

This week, though, Pritchett will be in Denver at the Democratic National Convention. Unlike his (former?) boss Mayor Nutter, Pritchett has been a big supporter of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama from the beginning.

Ronald Cuie, who was appointed with much fanfare to the head the mayor's Office for the Re-Entry of Ex-Offenders in March, has been removed from his position and will serve as a "special assistant" to Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Everett Gillison.

"Ron came in with strengths in specific areas, and it was Everett's position that there was a better way to utilize Ron's skill set," said administration spokesman Doug Oliver.

Cuie, who could not be reached for comment, served three years in prison on robbery and aggravated assault charges before turning his life around after his release in 2003. Mayor Nutter has made the re-integration of ex-offenders into society a key piece of his anti-crime agenda, and Cuie was chosen to lead that effort.

It is unclear why the administration felt he was no longer a good fit for the post. Gillison, who supervises Cuie, was on a staff retreat and unavailable for comment.

Matt Taubenberger, a GOP candidate for the 170th Pennsylvania House district, sent a public letter to Mayor Nutter today chastising him for using taxpayer funds to take staff members to the Democratic National Convention. Taubenberger, who is the son of former mayoral candidate Al Taubenberger, used some fairly tough language. Here's part of the letter.

"Sadly, I think your decision to use taxpayers' money to fund your staff attending the Democratic National Convention sets a bad example by raising ethical questions during a time when the people of Philadelphia are crying out for honest and ethical government.

I write this letter in the hope that you would reconsider your decision and have your campaign pay for your staff's travel and accommodations and not only eliminate any and all ethical questions that surround this issue - but insure that taxpayers' money is not used for political purposes.

I believe you should pay for your staff's travel and accommodations the same way you finally decided to pay for your own travel and accommodations - from your campaign, or you should not bring them to Denver at taxpayer's expense."

Chris Wright, Councilman Jack Kelly's chief of staff, was placed on unpaid leave today, according to a one paragraph statement from the councilman. Wright was indicted two weeks ago on federal corruption charges. Kelly was not charged.

"Chris understood that his continuing presence in the office would be a distraction," Kelly's statement said. "I did not reach this decision lightly. Chris has been a loyal and effective City employee for many years. He deserves the presumption of innocence unless and until the courts find otherwise."

The city Planning Commission signed off today on a bill that would give the city the ability to grant historical status to the interior of certain buildings, instead of just the exterior as provided for in current law. The bill is now likely to pass once City Council returns from its summer recess.

The city has long been able to prevent the demolition or historically designated buildings, but owners of historical properties have been free to do whatever they want to their interiors. In May, prompted by the possibility that the interior of the historic Boyd Theater might be gutted, three members of council introduced a bill that would cover the public spaces of historical buildings as well (think grand lobbies, or the main floor of the Wanamaker building). Similar protections are in place in most other large cities. The bill has been revised over the summer, as it has now passed muster with both the Historical Commission and the Planning Commission.