Another North Side group seeking cut of casino action
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An effort by a North Side group to negotiate additional community benefits relating to the Majestic Star casino is getting a cold shoulder from operator Don Barden and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.
At a news conference yesterday, members of Northside United said they hope to negotiate an agreement with Mr. Barden and the city and county that would provide good jobs for residents, youth programs, help in reducing crime, and financial resources to boost home ownership.
They said Heinz Field, PNC Park and other North Shore attractions have done nothing to help North Side residents. They also see the agreement as a way of offsetting some of the casino's negative impacts.
"Our community has been ignored and left behind and there is a lot of anger in the community but there is also hope," said James Prude, a North Side resident who is a member of the coalition.
"We have come together to insist that we be heard, that development doesn't happen on the backs of our community but in fact brings positive improvements to our families, our businesses, our neighborhoods and our community."
The push to negotiate such an agreement got a frosty response from Bob Oltmanns, a spokesman for Mr. Barden and his company, PITG Gaming LLC.
He said the casino already has what he described as a community benefits agreement with the Northside Leadership Conference.
Under that deal, Mr. Barden has pledged $1.5 million over three years for neighborhood business district development and $1.5 million over the same period for housing. He also has agreed to give preference to North Side residents in hiring for the casino.
"Anyone looking to see how the casino would benefit the North Side really ought to address their questions to the Northside Leadership Conference," Mr. Oltmanns said.
He added "not one dime" of taxpayer money is going into the construction and operation of the casino, an apparent comparison to the new arena, which is being funded largely by gambling but also includes state tax dollars. The Penguins, the city and the county are negotiating a community benefits agreement with a Hill District coalition.
"It's important to remember this is a private development project," Mr. Oltmanns said.
He also said the casino license was awarded after a yearlong public input process before the state Gaming Control Board, one that he said "many Pittsburgh neighborhood groups and citizens availed themselves [of]."
Anyone who has "something they would like Mr. Barden to consider can submit it and it will be considered by the board of directors," he said.
Likewise, during an interview Thursday, Mr. Ravenstahl did not seem to see a need for a separate community benefits agreement.
"I think the process that has been established, and we're going through, will be sufficient to deal with the issues surrounding the casino development," he said.
He also mentioned the commitments already made by Mr. Barden as well as meetings that will be set up to discuss issues such as traffic, social impacts and other concerns.
"The residents will be included in those discussions and I anticipate that the community will benefit greatly in terms of the infrastructure and investment that will be ultimately made by the government, the casino operator, by some of the surrounding businesses, and we're just in the process now of trying to achieve that," he said.
Members of Northside United argued that the agreement negotiated with the Northside Leadership Conference, while good, does not represent all North Side neighborhoods.
Khari Mosley, who is working with Northside United on its campaign, said the extensive public participation process that occurred in the Hill District relating to a community benefits agreement hasn't occurred on the North Side.
"There's been thousands of members of the North Side community who up to this point feel their voice hasn't been heard and they haven't had an opportunity to give input and what agreements and contracts have been signed at this point haven't been representative of the entire community," he said.
Northside United, whose members turned out in force for a meeting on casino design Tuesday, plan to begin meetings next month with residents to build consensus on what to ask for in a community benefits agreement.
After that they hope to begin negotiations with Mr. Barden, Mr. Ravenstahl and county Chief Executive Dan Onorato. Mr. Mosley believes Mr. Barden ultimately will come to the table.
"We feel that if we have the community behind us we will prevail," he said. "[Mr. Barden] doesn't want to come into a situation where he's viewed as being against the community. We want Mr. Barden and PITG Gaming to be for the community."
Mark Fatla, executive director of the Northside Leadership Conference, said he has no problem with Northside United seeking additional benefits from the casino.
"That's their prerogative. We never claimed to be the exclusive negotiating agent for the neighborhoods. We had an opportunity in 2006 to negotiate on behalf of the North Side neighborhoods and we took that opportunity and did the best we could under the circumstances and, frankly, I think we did quite well," he said.
Mr. Fatla said the conference has tremendous latitude in how it uses the money pledged by Mr. Barden. He said one of the main points of a meeting scheduled for Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the New Hazlett Theater in Allegheny Center is to get community input on how that money is spent.
First Published September 29, 2007 12:00 am
