Columnist Jeff German: Gaming emerges from hearing almost unscathed

JEFF GERMAN is a senior investigative reporter. His column also appears in the Las Vegas Sun on Tuesdays and Thursdays. He can be reached at 259-4067 or on the Internet at [email protected]

IT was billed as a duel over gaming in Chicago, but it turned out to be more of a dud.

The casino industry -- apprehensive going into the two-day hearing of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission on the home court of its critics -- came away the clear winner.

The Rev. Tom Grey, executive director of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, had boasted beforehand that the industry and its chief Washington lobbyist, Frank Fahrenkopf, were out of their element in the Windy City.

Chicago, after all, is where a religious task force had beaten back an attempt to legalize gambling a couple of years ago. And it's the headquarters for Grey and his supporters, who have led a furious assault on the spread of gambling in the Midwest and across the country.

But as the hearing unfolded, it appeared as though Grey, not Fahrenkopf, was out of his element.

A morning prayer service organized by Grey allies outside the hearing on the first day attracted a small group of clergy. It was barely noticed.

Inside, the hearing did not draw a large anti-gaming crowd. Sure, some of the casino industry's biggest critics in the academic world testified. But they came across as boring, or worse, a little wacky.

There was John Kindt, for example, an economist at the University of Illinois.

Kindt may have lost even his supporters on the nine-member commission when he suggested that the spread of gambling in the United States threatens to destabilize the world economy.

Fahrenkopf, meanwhile, the Washington power lawyer and onetime GOP boss, was able to marginalize Kindt and several of his colleagues outside the hearing. It was a masterful strategy.

At a news conference, Fahrenkopf came forward with evidence that Kindt and friends have created a "circle of disinformation" the past five years, as they have propelled themselves into the forefront of the battle against gambling.

This small group of professors, Fahrenkopf charged, continually cite each other as sources to embellish theories about the social costs of gambling that can't stand up to scrutiny of the academic world.

"I think what has happened is that the anti-movement is losing a little steam, primarily because they have nothing new to say," Fahrenkopf said after the hearing.

"The whole basis of their argument is that social costs will exceed economic benefits. They had a real opportunity if that was true to show that here, but they had no one who could come forward and say it with official facts and data."

Nearly a dozen mayors from riverboat towns in four states (Illinois, Iowa, Indiana and Missouri) showed up in Chicago to hail the introduction of legalized gambling in their communities.

Several of those mayors testified at the hearing about how gaming has revitalized their sagging economies. It was powerful testimony that was hard to rebut.

Grey, however, refused to concede defeat afterward.

He accused Fahrenkopf of "whining in the hallways" to seek relief from the "bloodbath" the industry faced in Chicago.

But if there was a bloodbath, there were no physical scars on Fahrenkopf and other casino lobbyists afterwards.

"I was pleasantly surprised," Wayne Mehl, the veteran lobbyist for the Nevada Resort Association, said. "I expected it to be a lot worse."

Mehl said he didn't believe the anti-gaming forces laid a glove on the industry.

To the contrary, he added: "I think they hurt themselves."

Mirage Resorts Vice President Alan Feldman agreed, saying, "I thought this was a step backwards for them."

Feldman said the Chicago hearing may serve as a turning point in the battle over gaming.

It may be remembered as the time when the academic theories of doom advanced by the industry's critics simply unraveled.

But the war is far from over.

Grey and his legions aren't throwing in the towel by any stretch of the imagination.

This hearing again showed that the industry is vulnerable on the subject of dealing with problem gamblers.

Casinos are going to have to do much more to demonstrate their desire to be part of the solution before the commission issues its report in June 1999. Before the panel completes its two-year study, there will be more battles. You can be sure of that.

In September, the commission is scheduled to visit New Orleans, where gambling has been a force of corruption and a national disgrace.

Then in November, the panel comes to the casino industry's home court of Las Vegas, where Grey will have a chance to stir things up. His minions here can't wait to thrust themselves into the limelight.

Gov. Bob Miller, it seems, is taking no chances in preparing for the commission's trip. Last week, he announced that he has begun to appoint a 54-member committee to help the panel put together its Las Vegas agenda.

Just why so many people need to be involved in what could be the largest committee ever formed in Nevada is puzzling.

But then, it's a strong indication that the casino industry has no desire to lose on its home court, as Grey and the anti-gamers did in Chicago.

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