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1-armed-bandit backlash

Casino opposition spawns a crop of Council candidates

The anticipated rise of two casinos on the banks of the Delaware River has sparked neighborhood protests, creating a political movement that several candidates hope to ride to City Council seats.

Four Democratic candidates are campaigning as anti-casino advocates while seeking at-large Council seats. Two are doing the same while challenging Councilman Frank DiCicco for his riverfront district. Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller also faces a primary challenge from an anti-casino candidate in her Northwest Philly district.

Almost all the challengers are new to Council races and say the casino issue played a role in their decision to run.

And most say they are dissatisfied with what they consider Council's do-nothing approach to casino gambling.

Caryn Hunt of South Philly, an at-large candidate, summed up the sentiment, saying Council spoke of the casinos as something being done to the city by the state that could not be stopped.

"I, along with many other citizens, said that's just not a good enough answer," said Hunt, adding that Council's recent hearings on ways to regulate or even eliminate casinos in the city are clearly the result of the upcoming election. "I thank goodness that we're in an election year."

Council last week spent more than six hours in a hearing on seven bills introduced by DiCicco to rein in gaming.

Council will hold a hearing today to discuss putting on the May 15 ballot a proposed change to the city's Home Rule Charter that would require voter approval for any gaming sites in the city.

Matt Ruben, an at-large candidate who testified with many of the other candidates last week, said casinos played a "modest role" in motivating his run.

"I think the casino issue has brought a lot of my concerns about government in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania into focus," Ruben said. "If we were not in the middle of an election cycle, my guess is we would see some of these measures, but not all of them, and we would probably see less urgency in their pursuit."

Irv Ackelsberg is challenging Miller in part because of her support for Donald Trump's casino proposal in Nicetown, which was rejected by the Gaming Control Board in December. He said Council's handling of the issue "absolutely" inspired his candidacy.

"People want something more from their City Council people than that sort of shoulder shrug and silence," Ackelsberg said. "People want their Council people to be their champions."

Marc Stier, who previously ran for state representative in Northwest Philadelphia and now is running for Council at-large, said the casino issue didn't spur his entry in the race but serves as "a great lesson" to run on.

"We have a political system that is not transparent, that basically operates through special deals in which neighborhoods get overrun by developments they don't want," Stier said. "Most of the people on Council would rather duck and hide from this issue. Amazingly, it never came up in Council until a couple of months before the election."

Rev. Jesse Brown, who once tried to run for the state Senate and now is running for Council at-large, said the casinos have become a rallying point for people dissatisfied with government.

"I think there's a whole host of things that the casinos have brought out," Brown said. "But the problems have been there a long time."

In DiCicco's district, an old nemesis, Vern Anastasio, has recast himself as a casino opponent and a new challenger, Henry Lewandowski, says the casino issue prompted him to run.

That made for a very odd exchange in Council last week.

Anastasio testified in support of the bills to regulate gaming, saying DiCicco "deserves much credit" for the proposals.

"I'll remember that," DiCicco responded with a smirk.

Testifying with Anastasio was Lewandowski, who praised DiCicco for "these wonderful bills."

Anastasio later noted that DiCicco's staff put together the long schedule for people to testify. He and Lewandowski were scheduled together, and last.

"I don't think that was a mistake," Anastasio said *.