Wednesday, Oct. 21, 1998 | 11:16 a.m.
The settlement for all parties in the bankruptcy was necessary before a new contract, allowing casino construction to continue, could be signed by the Louisiana Gaming Control Board.
The gambling board took final action Tuesday to revive the casino project, stalled in bankruptcy court since 1995. But not before several board members questioned attorneys in the case at length about the settlements for Eddie Sapir, now a New Orleans City Council member, and Bill Broadhurst, a former Edwards law partner.
Broadhurst gained national notoriety as the owner of the "Monkey Business," the boat that figured in the sex scandal that brought down presidential aspirant Gary Hart.
The questioning comes at a time when some Edwards confidants are pleading guilty to schemes that the federal government said funneled money to Edwards and his son, Stephen, as payoffs to get licenses for riverboat casinos.
David Satz, attorney for casino principal Harrah's Entertainment, told the gambling board that Broadhurst and Sapir would each get $210,000 because they lost their consulting contracts when the original casino operator filed for bankruptcy protection.
In addition, each will get more than $500,000 to satisfy their claims that they had, at one time, a minor share in the operation.
They were hired initially by Christopher Hemmeter, who once held the lease from the City of New Orleans for the land being used as a casino site.
Hemmeter, also a friend of the former governor, later bowed out and filed for bankruptcy.
The settlements for Sapir and Broadhurst, and the board's approval of the casino project, angered Walter Abbott of Ruston, state spokesman for the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling. Abbott blamed Gov. Mike Foster, among others, for supporting the casino project after campaigning on an anti-gambling platform.
"As far as I'm concerned Mike Foster is as filthy dirty as the rest of the Edwards crowd that he runs around with," Abbott said.
"All of the Edwards cronies get taken care of. I defy anybody in the State of Louisiana to tell me what's different."
Foster has said he fears the state would be liable in court if it were to abandon longstanding efforts to establish the casino. And he stressed that the land casino project has not been tainted by the Edwards scandal, which so far has touched only the riverboat casino industry.
Sapir and Broadhurst were kept on by the Harrah's partnership that opened the temporary casino while the permanent one was under construction. The temporary facility closed after a few months in November 1995 and the ownership company, Harrah's Jazz Co., went to bankruptcy court.
"Why were they hired as consultants?" asked board chairman Hillary Crain.
They were hired to handle governmental relations with both the city and state officials, Satz said.
"What did Broadhurst do?" asked board member John Kennedy.
"He gave governmental relations assistance," said Satz. "He assisted us in dialoguing with representatives of the city council, as did Sapir."
"How about state government?" asked Kennedy.
"He helped us with state government relations, too. Personally, I was not involved in the issue. I'm not sure I can give you specifics."
At any rate, both men did their work legitimately and had claims in bankruptcy court that must be satisfied, said Satz.
"There is no hidden secret here," Satz said.
Colin Reed, executive vice president of Harrah's Entertainment Inc., said he understood the line of questioning. "We read the newspapers," he said.
Hemmeter suggested that Sapir and Broadhurst be kept on because they had been working 20 to 30 hours a week dealing with boards, city and state officials to get the casino going, Reed testified.
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