BUT THERE IS A WAY TO BUY TIME TO DO THIS RIGHT
FIVE DAYS remain until D-Day.
Next Wednesday, Harrisburg will be the scene of an event that combines opera, theater and a three-ring circus when it votes on two slots-parlor licenses for Philadelphia.
Five applicants should be on hand when the Gaming Control Board votes, in public, on its picks for the casinos. The drama should be off the charts.
This is a day over two years in the making since the state legalized gambling, and nearly a year since the application deadline. It's been a year of public hearings, public protests, countless presentations, forums, and even video testimony from Bruce Willis and Sly Stallone.
Councilman Frank DiCicco, whose waterfront district could host both casinos, wants the board to wait six months before making its decision.
He argues that the public hasn't had a chance to review the ever-evolving plans and designs of the casino applicants, and that such a big decision should be given more time. We agree with DiCicco's point, but not necessarily his strategy.
We have often questioned the speed at which momentous decisions are made. The gaming board has a huge job: not only deciding on two Philadelphia slots parlors, but also on 14 casinos across the state. On Wednesday, it'll vote on 13 applicants for Category Two licenses in Pittsburgh and around the state.
But we can't see how delaying the decision would necessarily affect the outcome. That's because the process of selection was flawed from the start. Mainly because the decision is based not on the best location for the slots parlors, but on the companies with the wherewithal to secure sites and financing. That made location one of many factors, instead of the most critical one. But this ensured that the state would not lose much time in collecting the bounty from the casinos.
The state's hunger for revenue is why the six-month delay DiCicco wants is not likely to happen, though he is right in trying to buy time to give the public more say.
Still, the state board hasn't indicated it's going to weigh public imput with any degree of significance anyway. Their public outreach has left much to be desired. So more time wouldn't necessarily give it tools that it is willing or able to use in making a decision.
One of the biggest sources for collective anxiety over these decisions is not just which neighborhoods will be affected, but how the two casinos' locations will affect the city's landscape, traffic, and quality of life.
That's why a better idea than DiCicco's is for the board to vote on the applicants on Wednesday, but delay granting licenses for six months until the winning companies satisfy the city and its residents on their final plans.
The city now has a structure in place that could help this process: the Central Delaware River Planning process, run by Penn Praxis. Days after being empowered by executive order to create a public plan for the waterfront, it was asking the public about its hopes for that area.
Let the waterfront planning process give final shape to the casino or casinos that end up there, not the other way around.
Making the licensing decisions now but holding off on implementation could be the smartest thing the state board ever does.
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