From the way a City Councilwoman and the attorney for Casino KC gushed in a news story about a $40-million renovation to the former Isle of Capri Casino, you would think this was one of the most outstanding redevelopments projects Kansas City has seen in a long time.
In a CitySceneKC article, Jerry Riffel, attorney for Casino KC, was quoted as saying:
“This casino has a long history in Kansas City; it was one of the first in Missouri…It’s very clear based on the history of the casino and incredible progress we’ve made on the riverfront that this is a huge step forward.”
“This is a fabulous project,” chimed in Councilwoman Teresa Loar.
Even the story’s author, Kevin Collison, a friend and former colleague at The Star, contributed to the enthusiastic tone, writing, “The $40 million Casino KC upgrade comes at a time when the downtown riverfront has seen a boom in development after decades of dormancy.”
Well, this project might generate more “gaming taxes” for the city, and it might boost the casino’s overall “economic impact,” but let’s be clear about something: Behind the bells, whistles and flashing colors, the casino business is pretty grimy, and it preys, for the most part, on the addicts and those who can least afford to lose.
I am familiar with a regular casino goer. He’s a middle-aged African American man who assists the man who cuts my grass. The assistant goes by either of two first names, Charles or Larry. Patty and I just call him Charles-Larry.
The only other thing I know about him is that he goes to a casino (I believe Casino KC) every day. One day, when my lawn guy, Jimmie, arrived later than usual, he was without Charles-Larry. When I asked Jimmie where he was, Jimmie said, “Oh, this time of day he’s at his office” — meaning, of course, the casino.
Now, Jimmie says he doesn’t know if Charles-Larry wins or loses, but when you go to the casino every day, there’s only one way you can come out in the long term. So, here’s Charles-Larry, earning what must be a fairly low hourly salary, taking his money to the casino…every day.
And, of course, Charles-Larry is the typical casino patron.
An article in The Pitch back in the year 2000 captured the tenor of casinos, and the nature of the players, in a beautiful turn of phrase, calling them a “place to chain-smoke and salivate over spinning lemons.”
(Yes, Charles-Larry is a smoker.)
**
When I was at The Star, I was always proud that our editorial board took a strong stand against casino gambling and that on both the news and editorial sides we refused to use the euphemism “gaming.”
Sometimes the editorial board members were even rude to casino promoters who came in for meetings, which bothered me a bit, but the board’s hostility toward casino gambling proved to be prescient.
I remember vivdly the 1993 pitched battle for who would get the rights to build the first casino in Kansas City. It was a high-stakes competition, to be decided by what was then the Kansas City Port Authority (now PortKC).
On one side was Hilton Gaming Corp., which proposed building in a difficult-to-get-to location at the foot of Grand Boulevard, next to the steam plant. The front man for Hilton was a short guy with a French accent named Marc Rousseau. Rousseau famously told the Port Authority members Hilton would do or pay “whatever it takes” to win the rights to KC’s first casino.
On the other side was Boyd Gaming, which later changed its name to Sam’s Town Casino. Boyd’s front man was one of the Boyds, the family that founded and owned the company.
Both companies hired local p.r. firms and/or attorneys with strong political connections. The p.r. firm representing Boyd Gaming was called Sherman, Bergfalk, Goeltz. “SBG,” as it was known, had helped Emanuel Cleaver II get elected mayor in 1991, and one of the SBG principals, Peter Goeltz, was particularly close to Cleaver.
Because of the Cleaver connection, the betting odds were decidedly with Boyd.
Ah, but on the day of decision, no one in the audience knew the fix was in.
The meeting room — I don’t remember where it was — was packed, and there was no joking around or light banter; it was all business; the stakes were very high. Both sides made presentations to the five-member Port Authority, which was headed by a guy named Elbert Anderson. When it came time for the vote, two members voted for Boyd and two for Hilton, leaving Anderson to cast the deciding vote.
Most people in the room were holding their breath when Anderson said, “Hilton.”
And then, in the weeks and months that followed, it all fell apart. A criminal investigation was launched to try to determine if Hilton had bribed Anderson. Charges were never filed because law enforcement officials could not establish that a payoff actually took place, although there was a very suspicious $250,000 payment to a company with close ties to Anderson.
But Anderson didn’t slip the noose: He was later convicted of bribing a City Councilwoman, D. Jeanne Robinson, and a county legislator, the Reverend James Tindall, to steer business to his public relations firm, and he was sentenced to two years in prison.
After Anderson was released from prison, he worked for a while as manager of the Peachtree Buffet restaurant when it had a location at The Landing, 63rd and Troost.
**
There were two other offshoots to this story.
One is that Anderson helped the feds in their bribery investigation, and Hilton ended up surrendering its state gaming license and paying $650,000 in fines.
The other is that not long after winning the casino rights, Hilton switched gears and decided the foot of Grand Boulevard was a bad location. So, when the Hilton Flamingo casino opened in 1996, it was at the site Boyd had proposed, below the Paseo Bridge. In 2000, the Hilton Flamingo became the Isle of Capri, and now it’s Casino KC, about to get a $40 million facelift.
No problem for Bally, the new owner of Casino KC. It probably will get that money back in a few years…at the expense of the thousands of Charles-Larry’s out there.
And Jerry Riffel was right about one thing: Casino KC sure does have “a long history in Kansas City.”
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
How does your timeline overlap with Riffel’s time on the City Council? Perhaps irrelevant.
I’m pretty sure Riffel was on the Council from 1979 to 1987. I covered City Hall from 1985 to 1995.
Jerry Riffel was a councilman when I was an aide to the City Council way back when. He and a couple of others were from the “yuppie neighborhoods” and generation.
I do enjoy some of the entertainment acts that the casinos sometime bring to town. I guess this is another place my Libertarian side shows. I’d rather have legal, (somewhat) regulated gambling than have it all underground. Oh, another benefit I’ve received: I once bought an immaculate minivan from a “little old lady” who only drove it to the casinos on Sunday. My typical suburban family with two kids and two dogs proceeded to wear that thing out!
That’s a great “little old lady” story, Bill.
For several years I did broker price opinions for banks to establish market values for the properties they had foreclosed on. I can’t count the number of times I would walk in and find among the abandoned trash a Harrah’s Gold Card or some other casino trinket.
I believe the casinos have you join these clubs, and then when you come to the casino, they have you clock in (or use other means of tracking your time spent). And for that time you get points that can be redeemed for food and drink. All of that is to give you the feeling of being a high roller while you’re losing the mortgage money and any savings for your kids’ future.
You’ve also described the exact demographic they target. It was also common when discussing a listing with a potential seller that black sellers in particular would describe their home’s location in terms of its distance from the casino.
This really isn’t even gambling, it’s “entertainment” wherein you try to maximize the time you spend before you lose your money…And you will lose your money.
I watched people come and go for about 15 minutes today, and it was almost exclusively African Americans and white people who were obviously not white-collar workers. The one surprise I got was a guy who walked in was a member at a Catholic church we formerly belonged to. I would never have guessed him to be the casino type…Which goes to your point that some people go there because they’re starved for entertainment and have nothing worthwhile going on in their lives…Count me out.
Agreed. And what about the MO Lottery? Isn’t there a similar dynamic of preying on those among the most vulnerable? It is one thing for “riverboat” private “enterprise” to promote gambling, bad enough; but I think it is wicked for governments to do so — even for a worthy purpose. The devil appears as an angel of light.
I agree with you completely about the lottery, Vern. Once the “riverboat” wakes hit Missouri, it was only a matter of time before the state got its grubby hands into the action…How many times have you been behind some poor-looking people at QT and had to wait while the clerk rang up their cigarettes, six-pack and lottery tickets?
I was focusing on the perils of gambling while reading first part of your post, but then realized why I follow you. Your journalistic and investigative skills along with your vast knowledge of KC inner workings are invaluable. Keep digging.
Thanks, Casey. Aging, when combined with experience, has its advantages. After I’d been at The Star about 15 years, the editor asked if I would be interested in doing a weekly column. I turned him down because I thought, “How the hell would I come up with three good ideas a week?”
That would still be a daunting prospect, although most columnists — local and national — do no more than two a week now. But I’ve found I’ve got plenty to write about, mostly because I’ve been around here so long that I can put today’s developments in context with what’s gone on before.
Today Missourians watch the K-12 portion of their property taxes keep increasing and wonder, “But where’s all that lottery and riverboat gambling money going?”
In a few years, after the K-12 portion of their property taxes has increased even more, they’ll wonder, “But where’s all that recreational marijuana money going?”
And a few years after that, when they’re paying even more toward schools, they’ll wonder, “But where’s all that sports betting money going?”
There are plenty of suckers to be found at polling places, too — far more than at the casinos.
Ah, Bally’s…the company that’s keeping us from watching the Royals! As well as other baseball fans in other cities.
There are so many sales and property transfers among casino companies that it’s very difficult to keep track of.
(I get the Royals on Google Fiber, but I’ve quit watching. I say Dayton Moore’s gotta go.)
If I were John Sherman — oh, wait, that’s another column, the subject here is casinos. I’ve heard of casinos being described as a “tax on the poor”.