| Sign up | Log in | Forgot Password |
Ed, we need your help
By Ed Goppelt
Thursday, 10/12/06
(1160651904259)
The following is my letter to Governor Ed Rendell asking him to talk sense to the Gaming Board.
Hon. Edward G. Rendell
225 Main Capitol Bldg.
Harrisburg, PA 17120
VIA FAX 1-717-787-4590
Re: Public access to the Gaming Board’s case files
Dear Governor Rendell:
I am deeply concerned about whether the Gaming Board will provide the public with meaningful access to the briefs filed by the stand-alone casinos. See my letter to the Gaming Board’s Bureau of Hearings and Appeals, attached, for details.
There is much information in these briefs that could be of use to residents and community groups—if they get it before all the decisions are made. Please ask the Gaming Board to follow its own rules and share these briefs with the public without excuses or delay. In my opinion, this situation requires your active intervention. In the past, the Gaming Board has shared little of its casino information with the public. When information has been shared, it has been done so grudgingly and after lengthy delays.
For example, the Gaming Board released the local impact reports more than three months after they were submitted. The release followed the publication of editorials state-wide criticizing the Board for its excessive secrecy. To date--ten months after the casinos filed their applications--most information contained in those applications remains off-limits to the public.
The Gaming Board has a history of not taking its responsibility to inform the public seriously. For example, until recently, the Gaming Board posted verbatim transcripts of its meetings on its web site as required by its own regulations (58 PA ADC § 403.2(d)). The web site now directs the public to buy transcripts from a commercial transcription company instead. While most casinos wouldn’t blink an eye at paying $170 for a transcript, few citizens could justify spending so much money just for a transcript.
Residents should have the best information possible about the casinos as soon as possible. The casinos must file their briefs with the Board by October 16, 2006. In my opinion, a law-abiding and efficient Gaming Board should be able to make the briefs available to the public by October 17, 2006. Please help.
Sincerely,
Edmund Goppelt
Attached: Letter to Michael Edmiston, Bureau of Hearings and Appeals