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Link's already pissing and moaning.... :lol:
Des Plaines is to become home to the state's last available casino license, with Midwest Gaming & Entertainment's proposal for a casino in the northwest suburb besting competing proposals in Waukegan and Rosemont.
Midwest Gaming, headed by Chicago real estate magnate Neil Bluhm, did not bid the most money for the license.
But three Illinois Gaming Board members â chairman Aaron Jaffe, Charles Gardner and James Sullivan â said it was the best of the three bidders largely because it was the least problematic of the proposals the Gaming Board reviewed.
A fourth board member, Joseph Moore, cast his vote for Waukegan Gaming. The fifth, Eugene Winkler, opted not to vote for any of the proposals.
Jaffe singled out questionable associations by the principals of Waukegan Gaming in explaining his vote for Midwest Gaming's bid for Des Plaines. "Certain principals of Waukegan Gaming have questionable associations and reputations."
Owners of Waukegan Gaming once included recently indicted GOP power broker William Cellini â though Waukegan Gaming officials said he dropped out of the ownership group more than 18 months ago.
Waukegan Gaming principal Edward Duffy declined to comment about Jaffe's statement after the meeting. The group found a defender in north suburban state Sen. Terry Link, who long has backed a casino in the economically depressed north suburb.
Asked if Cellini's involvement tainted the group, Link said, "Let's put it this way: It better be just Cellini.
"Just because he's indicted for something doesn't mean you chastise the whole group," Link continued. "I don't know where they're getting this from at all. It looks like they just didn't want to give it to Waukegan. Period." Several board members expressed reservations about Rosemont while praising Trilliant Gaming, the company that wanted to build there. "The site is quite good. Too bad it's in Rosemont," Gardner said.
The concerns about Rosemont, however, stemmed more from the village's proposal to share casino tax revenue with other communities than past allegations that organized crime has a foothold in the northwest suburb â charges that Rosemont leaders long have denied.
Jaffe and Gardner argued the village had no plans to share its share of casino tax money with communities that needed it most.
Winkler, however, cited the mob in declaring his opposition to Rosemont. "Organized crime still controls much of the life of the village of Rosemont," he said.
