Don Barden took a little stroll down memory lane yesterday by checking out the City Council work session.

Mr. Barden, the Detroit businessman who won the Pittsburgh slots license, stepped into council chambers yesterday to see how government works here.

"I used to be a councilman in my other life," he said, explaining that he was elected as the first African American city councilman in Lorain, Ohio, a position he held from 1971 to 1975.

Mr. Barden said he was in town yesterday because he and his friend, Smokey Robinson, are attending the U.S. Open.

Before heading off to the links, Mr. Barden spent part of his time Downtown meeting with Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato, according to his spokesman Bob Oltmanns.

Mr. Barden has been sparring with the Steelers and the Carnegie Science Center over traffic-related and other issues related to his North Shore casino.

Mr. Onorato has been talking to the various parties in an effort to resolve the disputes. Mr. Oltmanns said some of those issues may have come up during yesterday's meeting, but he added he's not aware of anything being resolved.

He said the meeting, originally scheduled as a conference call, was the first since the two politicians formed the gaming implementation task force. The main purpose was "kind of catching up and making each other current" on the casino and the task force.

Mr. Onorato also is trying to schedule a meeting between Mr. Barden and the Steelers to discuss their differences.

Mr. Barden predicted that none of the issues related to the development of the casino would wind up in court.

"There's too much at stake," he said, adding that any threats of court action were just posturing at this stage. This early in the development he will not be directly involved in negotiations with his North Shore neighbors. Instead he will leave working out those details of traffic management and lighting design to his staff.

During his stay in Pittsburgh this week, he said he will also be getting to know Pittsburgh a little better, including a visit to another new North Shore neighbor, Jerome Bettis's new restaurant, Grill 36.