Casino Controversy Swirls Around Political Consultant
John Verbanac is the ultimate political insider. Now he's at the center of the political storm involving a license to built the city's lone slots casino. The Cranberry resident has been an aide to two U.S. senators, a top political consultant and co-publisher of a Harrisburg newsletter called The Insider.
He was an informal adviser to Bob O'Connor in last year's successful mayoral campaign. He's now a consultant to Forest City Enterprises and Harrah's Entertainment in their effort to win the license to run a casino, which they would build at Station Square. He's fine-tuning the message in what he called "a pretty nasty war" of public relations. That gig has him decrying talk that politics may influence the slots selection process, even as his involvement feeds that impression in competitors' eyes.
Their complaints were heightened by the Monday release of a report by the city favorable to Forest City's plan. Harrah's and Forest City are "two companies that are unparalleled" in terms of their track records in gambling and development, respectively, he said yesterday. "Somehow, a focus of this discussion in Pittsburgh has been driven, that if Harrah's and Forest City get this license, it is because they know somebody."
May 31, 2006
Posted By Susan Torres
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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