THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 26, 1995 TAG: 9502260064
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
Officials with Eldorado Hotel and Casino say they are leery of a public hearing scheduled on riverboat gambling, and have threatened to pull out of the deal if the City Council does not throw the company its support.
Some council members wonder if the threat is just a bluff. So far, it has had little impact. The public hearing is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday at Willett Hall.
Morton V. Whitlow, a local investors, said he does not like the idea of ``mass democracy'' and that the council should have decided the issue by now.
Whitlow, a former council member, said a public hearing would not be productive unless citizens could comment on specific plans for the project, rather than the concept of riverboat gambling.
``The public has no knowledge of the proposal - its benefits or the ramifications,'' Whitlow said. ``Philosophically, we recognize that this is an issue that deserves great debate and that it should be decided by a referendum. That's the purpose of the legislation. Portsmouth doesn't operate off of a town hall meeting concept.''
By announcing its intent to pull out of negotiations, Whitlow said, the company finally was free to unveil its plan to the public.
``The one thing that's disappointing is that the city didn't publicize this project from the beginning,'' Whitlow said. ``We begged to go public as soon as we were selected. We played by the rules, and that's what's so unfortunate about the allegations of improper influence.''
After the public hearing was scheduled last week, Robert M. Jones, the chief financial officer for Eldorado, wrote to the city manager indicating that the company may pull out because the council has wavered over negotiations.
But Jones hedged, saying: ``The city's apparent reluctance to proceed and the lack of (state) legislation makes it extremely difficult for Eldorado and Primadonna to proceed any further with this project.
``We are unwilling to devote any further time, money or resources to this project until we have clear and unequivocal direction from the city.''
The letter has been distributed to the media, and City Manager V. Wayne Orton has seen it. But Orton said Friday afternoon that he had not yet received an official copy of the letter from the company - neither a faxed version nor the original.
Jones said the company is not ``shutting the door'' on negotiations.
Whitlow, who at first insisted that the company had withdrawn from negotiations, added later: ``If the City Council wants to make a clear, unequivocal statement of support, then we can do business.''
Whitlow said it will be difficult for Portsmouth to negotiate with any other riverboat company in the future because it waffled on this deal.
Councilman James C. Hawks said he was also concerned.
``It will certainly hurt our chances,'' Hawks said. ``Any potential developer will look back and see we had seven in favor and it dwindled down to, it looks like, three in favor of developing. Looking back they would see the political situation is unstable.''
Hawks said if the council had ever had a solid majority in favor of the proposal ``we would have closed the contract by now.''
Councilman Cameron C. Pitts, an opponent of riverboat gambling, said Eldorado Casino and Hotel was merely trying to strengthen its bargaining position. He said that since the legislation was killed in the General Assembly, Eldorado is not in a hurry to sign a contract with the city.
``I think that they are trying to be able to pick up negotiations later on,'' Pitts said. ``The effort on council was to terminate negotiations. By dropping off now and picking up next fall when a new bill is presented in the General Assembly (Eldorado) could get more support.''
The company now has time to get the word out about what it is offering the city, and to develop more incentives in the statewide debate over gambling, Pitts said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Morton V. Whitlow, a local investor, said the Portsmouth City
Council should have decided the issue by now.
by CNB