Des Plaines casino ethics ordinance languishes
Des Plaines is yet to adopt an ethics ordinance prohibiting elected officials and city employees from interfering with the proposed casino's hiring or contractor selection for planning, development or operation.
The policy was supposed to be approved before the casino developer selects a contractor. Instead it has languished in the city's legal and licensing committee for months and is practically dead.
Meanwhile, Mark Walsten, the 6th Ward alderman in whose ward the casino will be built, says the city should drop the casino ethics ordinance idea entirely.
"It hasn't been on the radar for a while," Des Plaines Mayor Marty Moylan acknowledged. "I think what happened is there was just so much going on. We went into the budget session. Other issues trumped that issue right now."
Former City Manager Jason Bajor suggested creating the casino ethics policy early last year. Bajor was fired in January and the council was too busy working out the terms of his departure, Moylan said.
Meanwhile, the casino developer is moving ahead with a spring construction timeline. The 140,000-square-foot casino is targeted for roughly 20 acres fronting the Tri-State Tollway at the northwest corner of Devon Avenue and Des Plaines River Road.
The draft casino ethics ordinance restricts any elected or appointed city official from recommending any person for employment, any company for contract work, and certain relatives for employment with the casino. It also restricts city officials from having an ownership stake in Midwest Gaming & Entertainment or in companies helping design or build the casino.
City Attorney Dave Wiltse said the legal and licensing committee has to review changes made to the draft ordinance before it reaches the city council.
"It's just been set aside while we've been working on some other issues of greater immediacy," Wiltse said.
Those other issues taking precedence include developing a new casino zoning district and preliminary development plans for the multimillion dollar casino project, which will be reviewed by the city council on Feb. 16.
If Des Plaines approves a casino ethics ordinance, it would be the only Illinois city with a casino to do so, Illinois Gaming Board spokesman Eugene O'Shea said.
O'Shea said Rosemont is the only community to have adopted a casino ethics ordinance during its bid for the state's 10th and final casino license that ultimately was awarded to Des Plaines.
Des Plaines 6th Ward Aldermen Mark Walsten said once the state gets the other nine licensed communities to sign an agreement, "they can come to me and talk about it."
"As far as I'm concerned, it's always been dead," Walsten said.
Walsten primarily objects to the portion of the draft ordinance that would prohibit relatives of elected officials and city employees from obtaining employment with the casino.
"Why couldn't a member of my family get a job as a waitress in there?" he said. "Why should they be punished because I am an alderman?
"Nobody else thought it was necessary, so why should we. I don't see it going anywhere."