The Rev. James Simms, head of a community group created to push for a casino and new arena in the Lower Hill, has been sued by a man who says the minister backed out of a deal to pay public housing tenants $15 each to attend a casino pep rally.

Tony Eaves of the Hill District says Mr. Simms agreed to pay $15 to every Bedford Dwellings tenant who attended an April 18 pep rally. The Downtown rally -- sponsored by Pittsburgh First, which is headed by Mr. Simms -- was organized to demonstrate the neighborhood's purported support for the redevelopment plan.

Mr. Eaves, in an interview yesterday, said Mr. Simms stiffed him, fronting only $400 of the $1,200 or so that was needed to pay the 80 housing tenants bused to the rally that day.

"I paid out of my own pocket," Mr. Eaves said. "As a matter of fact, I still owe some people."

Mr. Eaves filed a civil complaint yesterday at the office of District Judge Oscar Petite Jr., just a few city blocks from where the rally took place. A hearing has been scheduled for July 12.

He's seeking $4,000, saying Mr. Simms "hired me [and] failed to pay," and that the minister "further reneged on the agreed-upon deal and misrepresented me" to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The Post-Gazette published a story May 28 in which several Hill residents described a deal that paid them to board a bus and attend the pep rally. Mr. Simms said he wasn't behind the payments, and both the Penguins and Isle of Capri Casinos -- who are teaming with Pittsburgh First in their bid to secure the city's lone available casino license -- said they doubted the tenants' stories.

If the payments were made, Mr. Simms said, Mr. Eaves orchestrated it. He called Mr. Eaves a "field coordinator," hired to plan transportation from Bedford Dwellings to Downtown. Mr. Eaves received a "stipend" for his efforts, he said, but not instructions to use that money to round up pep rally attendees.

"It did not come from us. I stipended the field coordinators, and if they made [payment] arrangements, they made them on their own," Mr. Simms said.

The payments don't appear to violate any law, but they have been criticized as unseemly. The Hill, a primarily black and largely impoverished neighborhood, has been promised jobs and millions in new investment if a casino comes to the area. Pittsburgh First and Isle of Capri are pledging $1 billion in overall development and $290 million toward a new arena for the Penguins.

The team's current home, Mellon Arena, is aging, and the team says it will need a new arena to stay in town.

State Rep. Jake Wheatley, D-Hill District, sent a letter to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board last week, saying Pittsburgh First's conduct is "unethical" and he's "disheartened by the alleged actions and [Mr. Simms'] belief that throwing around money in my legislative district will influence the PGCB's decision" on licensing.

David Kwait, director of the gaming board's Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement, said he couldn't predict how the deal might affect Isle of Capri's chances against Forest City, which wants to build a Harrah's casino in Station Square, and Don Barden, who wants to build his casino on the North Shore.

But he added that such a deal, if it happened, would raise questions about an applicant's character.

"If you're paying off people to come to a rally, that [information] will be made available to the board by [the bureau]," Mr. Kwait said.