Council recognizes Stadium’s minority participation record and goals
Despite a contentious meeting of the Philadelphia City Council at which local civil rights advocates urged a delay to investigation allegations of minority discrimination, the council last week unanimously voted to approve zoning for Stadium Casino LLC’s new casino hotel near the city’s sports complex.
Local civil rights advocates were out in force for the meeting, pointing to allegations that one of the partners in Philadelphia’s second casino, Baltimore-based Cordish Companies, had been the subject of complaints by African Americans of racial discrimination at Cordish’s Kansas City and Kentucky properties. Cordish is partnered in Stadium Casino with Greenwood Gaming, owner of the Parx racino in nearby Bensalem, Pennsylvania.
The witness list for the zoning hearing included former employees who alleged to have witnessed or been victims of racial discrimination at Cordish’s Fourth Street Live! entertainment complex in Louisville, Kentucky; and Paula Peebles, chairwoman of Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, which paid to bring the alleged victims to Philadelphia.
Peebles went as far as charge that favorable testimony from the five community groups in the area of the South Philadelphia casino site about the Stadium partners—all five previously went public supporting the project and its minority-participation goals—came about because they were paid off by Cordish, which with Greenwood has pledged at least $15 million in grants per year to the groups.
“We contend that it is not enough for Cordish Companies to sprinkle a few million dollars to local groups to buy their favorable testimony today and to ignore the charges of their policies and practices of racial discrimination against African Americans,” she testified, saying that Cordish had a “proven record of discriminating against what is the largest ethnic group here in Philadelphia—against African Americans.”
Sharpton’s group released a report in September outlining allegations from employees that Cordish sought to keep African Americans out of its Louisville and Kansas City properties by selectively enforcing dress codes and clandestinely hiring white patrons to start fights with black patrons as a pretext for ejecting them from the property.
Joseph Weinberg, managing partner of Cordish, noted that none of those allegations was found to be true, and that, in fact, no evidence exists that Cordish Companies, which has gone through several generations of family ownership, has ever been found to discriminate against minorities.
“In our 105-year history as a company, we have never once had any finding of any discrimination against our company,” Weinberg testified. “In America today, of course, any company that has thousands of employees and entertains tens of millions per year is subject to someone making a complaint, but someone making an allegation does not make it true.”
Other Cordish opponents urged council to do an independent investigation of the allegations. “If you allow this to go through and these allegations are actually true,” said New Vision United Methodist Church pastor Rev. Greg Holston, “then we may actually be funding the very people who are against the very growth and development of African American people in this nation.”
In the end, though, council determined that there was no valid evidence of racial discrimination by Cordish, and no evidence to back up the allegations made by employees of two Cordish properties. Council members further lauded the Stadium Casino minority-participation plan as laid out in the project.
“All of my colleagues had the opportunity to ask questions and listen objectively to all of the stakeholders as well as individuals, issues and concerns,” said Councilman Kenyatta Johnson, in whose district the project sits. “This project has set some very high, aggressive minority participation goals, which is not matched by any other corporation. The oversight board that I have created will ensure that we reach those goals. I think today was a step in the right direction, and we look forward to making this project a reality.”
“We appreciate the confidence shown in our team by City Council,” said Zed Smith, chief operating officer, Cordish and Tony Ricci, CEO of Parx Casino, in a statement. “We can’t wait to get started in creating thousands of jobs and career opportunities for the people of Philadelphia.”
The $450 million Live! Hotel and Casino will be in the heart of Philadelphia’s stadium district, walking distance from the stadiums of MLB’s Philadelphia Phillies and the NFL’s Eagles, and the arena of the NHL Flyers.
The project will include around 2,000 slot machines, 125 table games, a 200-room luxury hotel, spa and conference center—created by renovating an existing Holiday Inn—and local and national restaurants. The project is expected to create 3,000 construction jobs and 2,000 permanent jobs.
On November 13, Stadium Casino LLC announced that it had formally agreed to four initiatives with the city, including commitments to create a diverse and inclusive workforce, pay a living wage and form a diversity advisory board staffed by city officials.
The partnership signed an Economic Opportunity Plan with the city setting out goals including use of 47 percent to 58 percent Minority Business Enterprises/Women Business Enterprises as construction contractors, up to 60 percent MBE/WBE businesses for post-construction professional services, and minority/women representation in half of both the construction and the permanent workforce.
The company also committed to pay a minimum wage of no less than $12 per hour, with dealers and other permanent casino workers expected to earn $70,000 annually, including tips, and pledged the annual grants to the local community groups.
