E.C. casino decisions are looming

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

It appears the parties involved in the East Chicago battle over casino money earmarked for foundations are about to reach a resolution.

It is a tangled web.

Those involved include the city of East Chicago, Ameristar Casino, the Indiana attorney general, the for-profit Second Century Foundation and the not-for-profit Foundations of East Chicago.

It is important that the stalemate be resolved quickly because money earmarked for the foundations has been frozen for much too long.

In an effort to resolve the controversy over where the money should be going, the Indiana Gaming Commission has asked Ameristar to propose a new local development agreement for consideration by the Gaming Commission.

When George Pabey took over as East Chicago mayor, he pushed to have all the foundation money flow through the city. Although that hasn’t happened, current Mayor Anthony Copeland has taken a similar stance.

Former Attorney General Steve Carter went to court to have Second Century open its books to show how it had spent $16 million in casino money. Carter wasn’t successful.

What did happen was that the money going to both foundations was frozen.

So, $10 million earmarked for Second Century is sitting in the bank.

And $15 million intended for use by the Foundations of East Chicago also is languishing in a bank account.

We encourage Ameristar to take these actions in arriving at a new development agreement:

† Dissolve the agreement with Second Century. None of the casino revenues should go to a for-profit organization.

† Continue the agreement with the Foundations of East Chicago and immediately release the $15 million.

The Foundations is a transparent agency that has doled out millions to a host of fine community groups, most of which serve the needy.

An attorney for East Chicago wants the money to go to the City Council for distribution.

Putting millions of discretionary dollars into the hands of politicians would be almost as big a mistake as giving the money to a for-profit agency.