John Street Is A $50,000 Whore

Isn’t it great when comedy becomes reality?

When John Street allowed a casino applicant, RIverwalk Casino, to sponsor the New Year’s Eve fireworks for $50,000, it was kind of funny. And when it came out that he would be sending a letter to the Gaming Control Board, it seemed like a good joke to say, “Hey, it’d be funny if John Street endorsed only one casino, Riverwalk.”

Today, John Street has endorsed Riverwalk Casino to the Gaming Control Board.

Ha. Ha. Hahahahahahaha.

Hahahahahahahahahaha.

Okay, phew. John Street is just another Philadelphia politician, i.e. corrupt-but-not-perhaps-running-afoul of the law. But Philadelphia politicians, after their offices are bugged or their brothers are indicted for corruption and tax evasion, usually shape up at least for a little bit. Or try to say all the right things.

But not lame duck John Street! Our city’s fine mayor says, “There’s no conflict of interest,” agrees to allow the $50,000 sponsorship of the fireworks — or else they wouldn’t go on, everyone cried — and then endorses the casino that sponsored the fireworks.

Yeah, yeah, the partnership has a lot of celebrities and minority contracts and it’s using city land blah blah blah. (If you want that take, go read the Daily News, which also notes that John Street ranked the casinos with star ratings.) Note that Street only endorsed one casino, the one that gave the city $50k. I’d assume this makes it more likely for Street’s one and only pick to be selected.

But we all know this city’s for sale. My original hope was that the Gaming Control Board would be no friend of John Street and wouldn’t pick any location he liked. Of course, they’ll probably be as amused as I am by this whole thing and will just give him the license out of his brashness. Oh well. Enjoy Planet Hollywood on the Delaware, Philadelphians!

Letter Reveals Mayor’s Preference for Riverwalk Casino Plan [KYW 1060]
Mayor bets on Riverwalk [Daily News]

The Slot Thickens

In some cities, if the mayor’s brother was recently indicted for corruption, you would think the mayor would try to avoid any conflicts of interest, anything out of the ordinary. The mayor might not even jaywalk. But not in Philadelphia. Not John Street.

Yesterday, the city and Riverwalk Casino/Planet Hollywood/Sylvester Stallone announced that the casino would be sponsoring the New Year’s Eve fireworks.

The money comes with no strings attached, and John Street said it wasn’t a conflict of interest, but then again, this is John Street. And, as Daily News reporters Damon Williams and Chris Brennan report that, uh, it is a conflict of interest.

Street, during a Penn’s Landing Corp. meeting last December, cast the deciding vote to give Riverwalk a long-term lease on the site so the investors could seek a gaming license.

Yesterday Street met with four of the five casino applicants and will meet with the fifth today to hear updates on their plans and on how they will address concerns of the communities involved.

Sometime in the next two weeks, Street will let the state Gaming Control Board, members of the Legislature and Gov. Rendell know what he thinks of the applicants.

@)*@RFJK:LS@)#* @*(@(@(JSDFJKLFDS

Sorry, I was banging my head on the keyboard there. But we serfs don’t get to decide things like where casinos should be or who will be the next mayor and whatnot. Hope you enjoy the Riverwalk Casino! But, as Important Officials keep telling us, the show must go on! Because, really, why are we doing it? Oh, of course:

Meryl Levitz, president and chief executive of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp., sees the fireworks as a way to boost tourism. “This started in 1991 as a way to celebrate the Bicentennial,” Levitz said.

Casino applicant to fund fireworks [Daily News]
Yesterday: Welcome, Our Planet Hollywood Casino Overlords