Pawlenty met with Bloomington about a casino at mall

By Pat Doyle/Mark Brunswick

Star Tribune

      In a sign of intensified interest in a metro casino, Gov. Tim Pawlenty and representatives of the Mall of America have held separate meetings recently with Bloomington officials to talk about a possible casino at the giant shopping center.

      On the same day that Pawlenty hinted in his State of the State address about new gambling initiatives, it was disclosed that he met in December with the Bloomington mayor and city manager to talk about a casino and other issues. The meeting, confirmed Tuesday by Pawlenty press secretary Brian McClung, was described in minutes of a Jan. 3 City Council meeting. Mayor Gene Winstead reported that Pawlenty "indicated his desire to introduce a generic bill regarding gaming and a casino in the metro area."

      The venture could involve a deal with northern Minnesota Indian tribes that have been looking for a better location for a casino, as well as with wealthier southern Minnesota tribes, and "a site of interest for such a casino is the Mall of America Phase II," according to the minutes.

      At the Jan. 3 meeting, Peter Coyle, a lobbyist for the mall, asked the Bloomington council how it would react to possible legislation allowing a casino there.

      Coyle also represents the White Earth, Leech Lake and Red Lake bands of Chippewa, northern tribes that want to participate in creating a tribal-state casino in the Twin Cities. Pawlenty met earlier this month with representatives of those bands during a visit to the White Earth Indian Reservation.

      While the governor discussed the idea of a Bloomington casino in December with the mayor and city manager, McClung said, "I can't specifically characterize it as promoting or not promoting."

      "I would caution people not to read too much into the fact that the governor has met with people," McClung said. "The governor wants to be very clear that we have not made any decisions about a specific site for a gaming operation. Any site to be considered would have to involve a willing host community."

      But legislators who live in Bloomington and oppose putting a casino in the city were angry when they heard of a meeting between the governor, mayor and city manager to discuss airports and gambling.

      Sen. Bill Belanger, R-Bloomington, said he and other legislators sent a letter to city complaining about the discussions. He said he heard one option under consideration was a casino run under the auspices of the State Lottery and in partnership with interested Indian tribes.

      Belanger said city officials worry that their legislators may not be able to prevent a casino from being authorized there, and so are talking to the governor to explore what kind of deal they could cut if they are faced with a casino in their city.

      "They're not sure we could block it, and if we can't, they have to be prepared," he said.

      Legislators who live in Bloomington are "adamantly opposed" to a casino, Belanger said. "It would change the character of our cities."

      In the Jan. 3 meeting, Bill Griffith, another representative of the mall, told the city officials that mall majority owners were interested in what they described as "super sizing" the expansion.

      Bob Hoffman, also speaking on the mall's behalf, said the mall "wants to continue being unique, different, offering something for everyone, drawing tourists," according to the minutes. If a new Twin Cities casino is in the offing, he told the council, "the MOA developers would like the City to consider their Phase II site."

      Bloomington officials on Tuesday either downplayed the reports, or expressed continued opposition to a casino at the mall. In March 2002, the City Council issued a statement saying, "Bloomington is opposed to a casino unless it's inevitable" and then would negotiate a deal that was "beneficial for the local community."

      City Manager Mark Bernhardson said that the city, while not changing its 2002 position, has now agreed to launch a study of the issue.

      "No way, over my dead body, is a casino coming to Bloomington," said Amy Grady, a City Council member. "It brings riff-raff. ... It's a desperate measure of [finding] money for the state."

      The report of a December meeting between the governor and Bloomington officials surfaced Tuesday at a hearing of the Legislative Audit Commission, which was reviewing an evaluation of the state's regulation of legalized gambling.

      Near the end of the hearing, Rep. Dan Larson, DFL-Bloomington, asked Legislative Auditor James Nobles if more regulation would be needed to handle expanded gambling, adding that he heard Pawlenty had met with the developers of the Mall of America, the Ghermezian brothers, last month in Edmonton, Alberta, and that "the governor will unveil a large casino resort proposal to be at the Mall of America."

      McClung said he didn't know whether Pawlenty had met with the Ghermezians in Edmonton, where the governor was touring schools. In the minutes of the Jan. 3 Bloomington council meeting, the mayor was said to have talked about how "the governor expressed an interest in a metro casino and indicated conversations were held with the governor and the Ghermezians and that they believe that Phase II of the Mall of America would be a good location."

      Winstead, according to the minutes, said he has raised concerns that a mall proposal might be used as a "stalking horse" to force the other gaming tribes to agree to a new arrangement with the state, leaving the city in the lurch.

Staff writers Dane Smith and Mike Kaszuba contributed to this report.