How Cozy is Too Cozy?

How Cozy is Too Cozy?

It's no secret that SugarHouse Casino supports Fishtown Action, the neighborhood group that actually wants a casino on North Delaware Avenue. FACT and SugarHouse throw neighborhood picnics and concerts together, SugarHouse has given thousands of dollars to local causes at FACT's request, and the two are working on a community benefits agreement in which SugarHouse would give $1 million or more each year to needs in the community.

And SugarHouse had to be happy that FACT sent out a press release late Monday night, along with a letter to Gov. Ed Rendell, state Rep. Dwight Evans and State Sen. Vince Fumo demanding that they be included on any meeting to move SugarHouse and Foxwoods Casino from their chosen sites on the Delaware River.

"The former Jack Frost Refinery is a blighted, unsightly lot that has been vacant for 20 YEARS," read the letter, with nearly 200 signatories. "Our community wants and needs the jobs and the vendor opportunties that this development will bring to our city and community."

But SugarHouse was NOT excited to see the media contact list of its spokeswoman, Leigh Whitaker, included with the letter and press release. Are SugarHouse and FACT too tight? FACT President Maggie O'Brien said she asked Whitaker for her list because she didn't have a good one of her own. "We're not professionals," she said, taking a poke at several anti-casino activists who actually make a living as professional protesters. "I asked her, give me your contacts, because then maybe someone will get back to us."

While some casino opponents like to paint FACT as a creation of SugarHouse, it was started by residents who have been involved in Fishtown for a long time. "We didn't ever get into this to help SugarHouse, we got into this to help our neighborhood," said O'Brien, who broke from Fishtown Neighbors Association, which she co-founded in 2000, because of the casino issue. O'Brien works for Philadelphia Newspapers LLC, the company that owns The Inquirer, and hence, Heard in the Hall.

Whitaker said FACT's use of her list isn't a big deal -- "it is just a list of reporters that cover casino issues -- Doesn’t make sense to ask the Art Alliance for their media list." Posted by Jeff Shields