Wednesday, May 26, 1999 | 9:14 a.m.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court by Barden Detroit Casino seeks $8 million in actual damages for the money Barden spent on his unsuccessful 1997 casino bid, as well as $100 million in exemplary damages.
The lawsuit names the city, Mayor Dennis Archer, the Michigan Gaming Control Board, and the Detroit City Council and its members.
The suit continues the bitter criticism that Archer has come under from Barden, the owner of a Gary, Ind., riverboat casino who contends that one of the three available Detroit casino development agreements should have been gone to a mostly black-owned company.
After Archer in November 1997 rejected Barden's bid for a casino license, Barden's efforts led to a ballot issue last year that would have required a license be given to a black majority enterprise, notably his.
Voters last August rejected that proposal and backed Archer's choices of the three casino groups: MGM Grand, Atwater/Circus and Greektown/Chippewa Indians.
If successful, Barden's lawsuit could halt the opening of the temporary casinos later this summer and force the city to repeat the laborious process of selecting casino developers.
Barden's lawsuit seeks a court-issued injunction that would halt the city's foray into casinos until the merits of Barden's case are considered.
On Tuesday, Archer spokesman Greg Bowens said he was disappointed by Barden's latest move in light of last August's rulings by voters.
"The question has been answered by the people of Detroit over a year ago in the elections," he said. "We see this as an attempt to draw support for a failed issue, which was the issuance of the license."
Among other things, Barden's lawsuit alleges that Proposal E - the voter-approved 1996 measure that allowed three casinos in Detroit - violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
"We are one of a number of businesses who have filed a suit on the same or related issues, arising from public actions, who now look to the courts as the impartial forum in which to resolve what we feel were violation of the proposal and other improper processes," Barden said in a news release.
The gaming board is performing background checks of casino executives, suppliers and employees and will decide later this year whether the three casino companies meet the financial and moral standards for state licenses.
Officials with the state gaming board said the agency will move forward with background investigations and licensing proceedings until it's forced to stop, The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press reported.
"Our position is that the law is still in effect," Nelson Westrin, the board's executive director, told the News. "We are in charge of enforcing that law, and we will continue to do that."
Bowens said he was surprised by the amount sought by Barden.
"Certainly the people of Detroit are not with an unlimited amount, and an award of that amount would come out of the pockets of the taxpayers," he said. "No one expected someone with a hometown connection to dig this deep into the people's pocketbook."
Barden's office referred all telephone calls seeking comment Tuesday to attorney Robert Carson, who declined comment.
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