Chicago casino decision delayed

Maura Kelly

Thursday, March 20, 2003 | 9:24 a.m.

CHICAGO -- As negotiations continue on a deal to sell the license now held by the bankrupt Emerald Casino, Illinois Gaming Board members have pushed back a hearing intended to revoke the casino's license.

The hearing, which began last spring and was set to reopen April 7, is now expected to begin May 5, Gaming Board lawyer Jeannette Tamayo said after a board meeting Tuesday. Emerald requested the delay, and the Gaming Board did not object, she said.

Meanwhile, Gov. Rod Blagojevich has sent representatives to sit in on closed-door negotiations involving the Gaming Board, Emerald and others on Emerald's license sale. Blagojevich has said selling Emerald's license and getting a tenth casino in Illinois operational is crucial to helping fill the state's nearly $5 billion budget deficit.

The closed-door meetings emanate from Emerald's proceedings in bankruptcy court, a case in which Blagojevich has no legal standing. Christopher Kelly, who was Blagojevich's campaign finance manager, has been sitting in on the meetings, Blagojevich spokeswoman Cheryle Jackson said Tuesday

"Things have been at a standstill, costing the state hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue," Jackson said. "If there's anything we can do to help the process along ... while fully respecting the sovereignty of the Gaming Board, it's our duty to do so."

Gaming Board chairman Elzie Higginbottom on Tuesday said negotiations on the Emerald's license sale are continuing.

"We are progressing along the lines of a fair and open and competitive process," he said.

The hearing that was pushed back had started last spring after Emerald, which was originally to planned to be in Rosemont, appealed the Gaming Board's decision to block its opening. Gaming Board members had alleged that some Emerald investors had mob ties.

But Emerald and the board entered into a settlement last August that required the sale of Emerald's license and allowed investors to recoup their money but not any profits. With that settlement, the hearing to revoke the license was put on hold.

But then in January, Gaming Board attorney Robert Shapiro said Emerald violated the settlement by declining to sell the license through a "fair, open and competitive process." For example, he said Emerald appeared to be negotiating only with communities likely to generate the most revenue, in conflict with state law encouraging all possible entities and locations to participate.