A legal challenge over how Petersburg, VA, chose its casino partner is creating trouble
Unite Here Local 25, a hospitality union that represents some casino workers, announced on Tuesday that it plans to sue the city of Petersburg, Virginia. The action stems from the city’s selection of The Cordish Companies as the vendor and development partner for a proposed casino, and the suit could spell trouble for Petersburg residents as they vote on the casino’s future this November.
The Petersburg City Council met last week and opted to choose Cordish as the casino developer in closed-session discussions. Later that day, a unanimous vote in an open session made it official.
Unite Here states it’s suing over the process outlined in the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which abruptly cut off the request for proposals (RFP) procedure to make Cordish the casino vendor.
Cordish is a renowned hospitality developer that’s been making waves in the US with its impressive portfolio of properties, including Live! Casino hotels in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Hanover, MD. Cordish also developed the Seminole Hard Rock casinos in Hollywood and Tampa, FL, and was the only one of the five finalists for the Petersburg project that was opposed by Unite Here.
In a statement released Tuesday by The Progress-Index, Unite Here’s political director said, “The City of Petersburg’s actions show a shocking disregard for the law and democratic norms. Petersburg had begun a competitive RFP process that should have proceeded with transparency and fairness. Instead, City Council apparently abused a closed session to discuss the selection of the casino operator.”
“Residents of Petersburg have the right to open governance – a right the City Council doesn’t seem to respect,” they added.
