Construction workers gathered today at the site of Penn National Gaming's proposed casino to deliver a message to Columbus and the developer - anytime now, guys, anytime.
"It appears to me that they're all adults and ought to be able to sit down together and work something out so that construction workers can get to work," said Walt Workman of the AFL-CIO. "It's about jobs."
Penn
Workman said both sides are to blame, but he also called on city officials to change their approach in a statement after the news-media event, which was attended by representatives of seven construction-related unions.
"The city of Columbus and others seem to be doing everything in their power to delay this project, and it's time for them to stop," Workman said in the statement.
Penn National wants tax incentives, and the city has said no. The city wants Penn National to agree to annexation of the casino site from Franklin Township into Columbus, and the casino hasn't.
The developer has filed a lawsuit accusing the city of delaying the project. The Dispatch Printing Company, which publishes this newspaper, has sued to try to force annexation.
"All we want to do is go to work," said Jim Bosworth, business manager for Ironworkers Local Union 172.
He called on the city to offer some tax incentives. "The city offers money to everyone these days, even Bob Evans."
Bob Evans, which ultimately chose to move its headquarters from Columbus to New Albany, fits the city's criteria for tax incentives, and the casino doesn't, said Dan Williamson, a spokesman for Mayor Michael B. Coleman.
Williamson said tax incentives are tools for bringing in and retaining companies that might otherwise move elsewhere.
"We don't view tax incentives as an entitlement for all businesses," he said. "People forget that the casino has already written themselves a very sweet deal in the constitution. They have money."
When the constitutional amendment allowing the casino was on the ballot in 2009, Penn National said it wouldn't ask for additional tax incentives, Williamson said.
That's true, but it ignores what the company has been through since the election, Penn National spokesman Bob Tenenbaum said.
Penn National made that promise before Columbus officials and The Dispatch Printing Company pushed for the casino to be moved out of the Arena District, he said. The casino agreed to take a loss and move, and the city offered to find ways to help mitigate that financial hit, Tenenbaum said.
City officials have said they promised only support for a request for state environmental-cleanup money and political support for the move.
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