City Council delays vote on casino deal

Friday, May 10, 2002 | 9:49 a.m.

DETROIT -- City Council members Thursday delayed a vote on whether to veto Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's proposed agreements with the city's three casinos.

Some council members had said the casinos should have to pay the city millions more than Kilpatrick negotiated. But they said they would postpone a vote until they could meet with Kilpatrick, who returns next week from a trip to Dubai with Arab-American business leaders.

"This is a courtesy to the mayor not to vote today," Councilwoman Kay Everett, one of the critics of the proposed agreements, told the Detroit Free Press. "But the deals must still be changed."

Five council members argued Wednesday in favor of immediately rejecting the casino deals and demanding that Kilpatrick negotiate new ones. Four others urged waiting until the council is more certain about what it wants to see in the agreements.

Council members said they agreed that Kilpatrick should demand the casinos restore $75 million for minority business development loans. They also want more money for education, parks, libraries and housing.

Under the agreements Kilpatrick negotiated in March, the MGM Grand, Greektown and MotorCity casinos would pay $102 million to help cut the city's deficit. The casinos also would let the city keep $150 million they paid for riverfront property they will not use.