Lost Local Control and A Dead Slot Barn

Each SLOT MACHINE permanently removes ONE job from the local economy, which the poorly 'producing' Slot Barns in Pennsylvania exemplify.

Management of the Dying Slot Barn SugarHouse were salivating to expand at the opening. Those plans might have been rather hasty.

In November, SugarHouse reported that its 1,599 slot machines averaged $206.53 each in daily winnings. That compared with $279.25 at Parx and $242.37 at Harrah's.

You may recall that in a disgraceful display of Democracy to the highest bidder, Pennsylvania legislators passed flawed gambling legislation at midnight on July 4th and then expressed surprise by the widely known problem of child abandonment.

Maybe Beacon Hill didn't pass it at midnight, but the flawed legislation, crafted in secret meetings, containing 17 pages of euphemistically called 'Errata' (screw ups) changed the meaning and the intent.

More noteworthy is the LOST LOCAL CONTROL. Whether Local Control is sacrificed by lawmakers or by bankruptcy courts (as in the case of Twin River), the only thing guaranteed is its inevitable loss.

Casino Free Philly highlights the failures of blinded legislators.

Foxwoods' casino failure could cost Phila.

In November, SugarHouse reported that its 1,599 slot machines averaged $206.53 each in daily winnings. That compared with $279.25 at Parx and $242.37 at Harrah's.

Unlike other parts of Pennsylvania, the awarding of Philadelphia's casino licenses sparked intense community and political backlash.

"The support just wasn't there," Wozniak said. "We wasted a whole lot of time, and they wasted a whole lot of money."

City officials have argued that the gaming board, by deciding in 2006 that Philadelphia's two casinos would be on the Delaware River, effectively made critical land-use decisions for Philadelphia - with little input from the city or its residents.

Even if it wanted to challenge the site selection, the city had little recourse. The gaming law was written to skirt local challenges to projects by requiring that any lawsuit be heard by the state Supreme Court.

"It was divined by legislators to keep Philadelphia out of any decision-making," Steinberg said. Penn Praxis was not against gambling per se, but objected to suburban-style, big-box casinos blocking out prime waterfront space, he said.

City Councilman Frank DiCicco, whose district would have included the Foxwoods project, recalled having had only five minutes to present his concerns about traffic to the gaming board during public hearings in 2006. Mayor John F. Street gave DiCicco five minutes of his own allotted time so DiCicco could keep talking.

"I had to talk in double-time to try to get my message out," said DiCicco, a long-standing opponent of Foxwoods.