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| A rendering of Waterside Live! |
What
does a real estate developer, such as The Cordish Cos., a casino
operator and a politician or two, maybe more, have in common?
They
worship money and they worship the power that money gives them.
Neither
Cordish nor casino operators are models of virtue. Nor should we
expect them to be.
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| A rendering of Philly Live! |
A
partnership between these two is like the marriage of a vampire and a
succubus.
Cordish,
the developer, is an expert at inventing intricate plans, designing
glamorous renderings and pandering to elected officials and city
autocrats.
And
Cordish builds. Big. Sparkly. Glossy.
A
casino operator knows how to prey on our greed and our lust.
And
the politicians, not always a model of virtue, know how to prey on
our greed and lust while tending, naturally, to their own vices.
So
when the two villeins of vice join forces, you get a $450 millioncasino complex, such as the one in South Philadelphia, near the home
fields of the Philadelphia Eagles, the Philadelphia Phillies and the
Philadelphia Flyers.
Well
you might ask: what has a casino complex in Philadelphia have to do
with Virginia, Mr Editor?
Let
me explain.
It
is no secret that Sen. Louise Lucas is retired and likes to gamble.
It also no secret that she introduced another bill to legalizegambling in Virginia.
After
all, Sen. Lucas is retired, she's a septuagenarian and old people
dislike traveling because of the discomfort of dealing with other old
people and incontinence and all the other ailments that afflict the
elderly.
So
Sen Lucas, a rich and powerful woman, would prefer, no doubt, to have
her own gambling casino on her waterfront in her town, replete with
her own private room, her own table and VIP treatment.
Can
you blame her? Not I. I say: go for it, Sen Lucas.
Sen.
Louise Lucas has the power in the General Assembly and Norfolk has
Waterside Live!, a mini-version of Las Vegas.
Cordish
is a gambler.
Sen.
Lucas is a gambler.
Norfolk's
elected officials and city staff are gamblers. They gamble with our
taxes, with our homes, our health, our businesses, where we can and
can't live, with our drinking water and with our waste.
Nor
far behind (but always always behind, even behind their behinds) are
Portsmouth's elected officials and staffers. In gambling, they see a
silver lining in their otherwise disenfranchised lives in a city that
is also disenfranchised.
In
previous legislative sessions, Lucas introduced a revenue sharing
agreement with Norfolk – not Va. Beach, nor Chesapeake – when she
pitched her gambling bill.
So
Norfolk would get a piece of the action and so would Portsmouth, a
city that can't find its auditor.
And
Sen. Lucas?
I
bet she dreams of one-armed bandits pining for her.
Va
lawmakers though have not warmed to the idea of casino gambling in
Norfolk or Portsmouth, or in the Commonwealth at all.
Go
figure.
Perhaps
the Virginia lottery, Virginia's answer to a con job if there ever
was one, might lose money, anathema to lawmakers.
But
nothing will deter Sen. Lucas. Nothing. Not even the good old boys,
Howell and Norment.
Don't
think Cordish executives are that dimwitted (though they are
avaricious) to not carefully monitor what happens to Lucas' gambling
bill.
They
aren't and they will. Count on it.
Editor's
note: This and the post 10 Reasons to Love Portsmouth are my final
posts for 2015. I apologize for my impertinent and pernicious
columns and for any consternation I may have caused readers.
That's a
lie. I enjoy writing these columns. The love, the hate, the anger, the beatitude -- it's all the same to me.
How
can I not? How can anyone not laugh and snicker at the antics of our
elected officials and their minions.
I
don't ask anyone to buy anything I write. I'm not offering anything
for sale – not opinions, biases, dogma or ideology. Take what you
want and trash the rest. Or take nothing.
Winner takes nothing.