City Council wants Live! casino owners to be more inclusive, diverse

City Council members called for the owners of Philadelphia's second casino, Live! Hotel and Casino, to be more inclusive and diverse in all levels of operation — in the casino property and companywide — during a public hearing Monday to discuss the South Philadelphia casino.

Philadelphia’s second and final casino license was awarded last November to Stadium Casino, a joint venture between Baltimore-based Cordish Cos. and Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment Inc., owner of Bensalem, Pa.-based Parx Casino.

Cordish Cos., Baltimore-based owner of Maryland Live!, and Bensalem, Pa.-based Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment Inc., owner of Parx Casino, are teaming up on the bid for Live! Hotel & Casino in Philadelphia's stadium district. The project would cost $425 million and have 2,000 slots and 125 table games, along with a hotel, restaurants and bars and entertainment.

The casino owner already announced a commitment to the city to be more inclusive toward minorities, the creation of a 16-member diversity oversight board and a minimum wage for its workers, including contracted employees. It also pledged to work with local universities on job placement and training.

Executives from Stadium Casino – like Anthony Ricci, CEO of Greenwood; Blake Cordish, vice president at Cordish Cos.; Zedd Smith, COO of Cordish; and Joe Weinberg, president of the gaming and lodging division at Cordish – touted Monday the company's eye and goal toward inclusion.

City council members, however, were not 100 percent convinced, calling for more inclusion and diversity from the company, and called out a few key issues the company must address moving forward.

"On the issue of diversity, I have to say I am awestruck by a panel of all men," said Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown, citing the lack of women in Stadium Casino's representation on Monday. "I’m curious to know where in the management team are there women in positions of leadership and responsibility?"

The casino execs in response said about 40 percent of its casino staff were women, 40 percent of management was women and that 40 percent of the executive suite were women.

Further, Cordish said about 49 percent of management-level positions were filled by minorities and that about 53 percent of its workforce in the United States is minority.

"This doesn't happen by accident," Cordish said. "We work very hard on it."

Stadium Casino did bring in Luwanda Jenkins, vice president of community relations and diversity at Cordish, at one point during the public hearing, but Councilwoman Cindy Bass said the lineup was still unacceptable.

"It feels like you pull me out when you need me — for show," Councilwoman Bass said. "It's not a good representation."

Bass said the company should have had a female member present "from the very beginning" because it "sends a stronger signal" than having a panel of all men.

The Cordish Cos. have also come under fire over alleged discrimination against African-Americans, although leaders of the local NAACP chapter and other civil rights groups have called the accusations bogus.

Leaders of the Philadelphia Chapter of National Action Network said last week the diversity agreement was "unsurprising and doesn't negate the allegations of their racially discriminatory practices, which will be fully aired in Monday's [City Council zoning] hearing," NAN chapter leader Paula Peebles said last Friday.

NAN previously alleged Cordish Cos. of discriminating against African-Americans, including the use of "rabbits," or white males hired to start fights with African-American patrons, who would then be asked to leave the property on the basis of those fights.

NAN, and others, reiterated the organization's stance against the casino owner and the project during the Monday hearing, reading testimonies of alleged racial allegations against the company as well as the casino's need to be more inclusive and diverse.

“We need people to start representing the people of the City of Philadelphia and their entire interests," testifier Joann Bell said. "Not just West Philly or South Philly. The interest of minorities in this city has to be represented and it starts with City Council."

Weinberg of Cordish Cos., earlier in the public hearing discounted the allegations, saying a "de minimis number of complaints does not make it true."

Weinberg said the allegations against the company are either complaints coming from individuals who were not employees of the company or are complaints against third-party tenants independent from Cordish.

City Council also considered other key issues regarding the casino's development, including Stadium Casino's commitment to working with local university and minimum wage.

"The idea here is to generate revenue but, at the same time, we don’t want a continuation of another huge company coming in, making hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue or more and communities on the outside looking in," Councilwoman Bass said.

Bass said to take a look at positions historically held by African-Americans or Latinos — "black and brown people," she said.

"Look 50 years ago, you’d see us in exact same position," she said. "It important … to anyone … at this point, that we should be having an opportunity at least to have more inclusion when it comes to different positions — management positions within Cordish, Parx or anyone who intends to do business here in Philadelphia."

Stadium Casino executives said they have intentions of fully committing to their promise of inclusivity and diversity.

About Live! Hotel & Casino

Live! Hotel & Casino, located at 900 Packer Ave., will include a 2 million-square-foot facility with a Las Vegas-style casino floor, featuring more than 2,000 slot machines and more than 125 table games.

The property will also include an 18-story hotel, spa, valet parking and a seven-story, 3,000-square-foot parking garage. It will also have restaurants, entertainment venues and other amenities.

The casino-hotel is expected to generate gross gaming revenues (table and slots) of more than $300 million a year and more than $1.6 billion during its first five years of operation. It will generate about $130 million in state and local taxes.

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal