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Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Ind. Decisions - Still more on: What East Chicago case is being settled here?
Updating this ILB entry from Feb. 23rd, the Indianapolis Star posted this report this morning ocompiled by Tom Spalding - some quotes:
A week after the City Council in East Chicago, Ind., deadlocked on a vote to approve a deal with private firm Second Century Inc. to settle a five-year court battle, a new vote is planned today.A 4-4 vote prevented the council from adopting a resolution in favor of a settlement with that would end payments of city casino money to the for-profit corporation and split some $8 million in an escrow account. * * *
In Indianapolis, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller in a news release reiterated his strong opposition to the city settling the lawsuit, calling it an example of "public corruption." Zoeller said he intends to bring up his concerns with the U.S. attorney general this week.
“What I told the City Council last week still applies: Settling out of court for money but without transparency ... is the wrong thing to do,” Zoeller said in the release. “Nothing has changed since last week to cleanse this settlement of its tainted appearance.”
The attorney general and the city filed the long-running lawsuit against Second Century to divulge how it spent $16 million in casino revenue from the East Chicago riverboat over 10 years since the company’s creation during former Mayor Robert Pastrick’s administration. Even though the casino revenue was intended to boost economic development in East Chicago, Second Century thus far has refused to name publicly who received the grants it dispensed or to divulge how the money was used, his office said.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 3, 2010 10:18 AM
Posted to Indiana Decisions