Pressured by Philly allies, Rendell bends but doesn’t break on casinos

For almost two years, Gov. Ed Rendell has worked against staunch neighborhood resistance to proposed casinos in Philadelphia. Even as some residents who once revered him as the city's mayor grew to loath him for his acceptance of the slot parlors planned for the Delaware River waterfront, Rendell has always sided with the casino developers.

When neighborhood activists continued to push the casinos to consider other sites further from residential areas, Rendell wrote to one that "the issue of re-siting is over." When City Council continued to cause delays, he sharply criticized local lawmakers as having "no guts."

But now that some of his staunchest Harrisburg allies from Philadelphia are lining up against him, Rendell appears to be bending, if not breaking, on the casino issue. On Friday, the man who championed casinos in Pennsylvania said "the political landscape has changed" and that he would meet with the casino developers to discuss moving the projects elsewhere.

Still, even as he signaled his first significant shift on casinos after long lauding their potential for proving tax relief, Rendell, a Democrat, sounded a note of caution.

"I'll meet and make a good-faith effort to explore the potential benefits of re-siting," he said, "but nobody should get too excited. The only way these casinos can be legally re-sited is if the casinos voluntarily agree."

His change of heart came as Philadelphia allies have gradually grown louder in their opposition to the casinos. Though Mayor Michael Nutter has almost always expressed disdain for the plans, most of Rendell's most loyal allies in the area had stayed behind him.

That all changed last week. On Thursday, state Rep. Dwight Evans (D-Philadelphia) and state Sen. Vince Fumo (D-Philadelphia) wrote a joint letter to Rendell promising to "pursue aggressively an effort to re-site the casinos away from the Delaware River Waterfront" and asking for his help.

"The existing locations are untenable and contrary to the public interest," they wrote.

Evans is the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, while Fumo was for years the Democratic head of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Together, they are two of the most powerful Philadelphia Democrats in the Capitol, and far more often than not over the years, they have been on Rendell's side.

Whether their opposition was the critical factor or simply the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back only Rendell knows. In an interview Monday, Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo played down the significance of the letter. He said the governor was hoping to schedule a meeting between Nutter, Fumo, Evans, the two planned casinos and himself within the next few weeks.

"I certainly think that the letter was significant but not decisive," Ardo said. "What made the governor begin rethinking his position was the change in City Hall more than what's going on in Harrisburg."

But the changes in City Hall came six months ago, and it was hard for political watchers to believe that Rendell could stomach going up against some of his closest allies.

"I think what happened was that when Sen. Fumo and Rep. Evans joined forces ... that was something of a tipping point for the governor," Fumo spokesman Gary Tuma said. "I think seeing more and more powerful people in the legislature stand up against it helped to sway him."

Fumo essentially wrote the 2004 law that authorized slot parlors in Pennsylvania, and even as he has turned against the Philadelphia locations, Evans has apparently been more hesitant to jump into the fray.

"Dwight has been very reluctant to enter into this dispute," Evans spokeswoman Johnna Pro said. "He is very much an advocate of process and he believes that the owners of the casinos in Philadelphia had gone through the process, and rightfully or wrongfully they were awarded the licenses for the locations. Having said that, there's clearly concern among elected officials in Philadelphia and the neighborhoods about the sites."

Evans' own tipping point came when Fumo tried to insert language blocking tax breaks for the casinos into legislation that funds tax-break development areas known as Keystone Opportunity Zones. The language was later removed, but not before it briefly imperiled what Evans and many others consider crucial legislation.

"[Evans] opted to join forces with Sen. Fumo last week because the issue that is Philly-centric has now begun to spill over into Harrisburg in a way that it's made it harder for us to move legislation," Pro said.

Regardless of their own motivations, both Fumo and Evans are now on record as saying "the two proposed sites are no longer viable."

Even as they have threatened legislative action if an amicable solution can't be found, Ardo called such plans hasty an declined to speculate whether Rendell would support such efforts.

"I think it is premature to talk about drastic revisions to the existing law," he said. "Before we starting looking for way to alter the law, we should be looking for a way a compromise can be found.