The newly formed group hopes to raise at least $3 million for its campaign on "why the proposal is such a bad deal for Rhode Island."

01:00 AM EDT on Friday, June 30, 2006

BY KATHERINE GREGG
Journal State House Bureau

PROVIDENCE -- The battle over the November casino referendum has begun.

Since late May, the debate has been dominated by the Las Vegas-based Harrah's Entertainment and Harrah's-affiliated advocacy groups with names such as "CompeteRI" and most recently, "Rhode Islanders for Jobs and Tax Relief Inc."

Yesterday, an anti-casino coalition group that counts among its members former state economic development director Michael McMahon, former Attorney General James O'Neil and former Providence College basketball coach and Big East athletic conference founder Dave Gavitt, officially announced its arrival on the battlefield.

Headed by the blunt-spoken Richard Oster, retired chairman of Cookson America, the new group known as "Save Our State" (S.O.S.) is hoping to raise at least $3 million for a campaign "that will focus on educating voters as to why the proposal is such a bad deal for Rhode Island."

Soon the dollars will flow. Millions of them.

"This is a magnificent deal for Harrah's Entertainment, but truly horrible for Rhode Island taxpayers," said Tim Costa, the former policy director for Governor Carcieri who has signed on as S.O.S. campaign manager. Steve Lombardi, owner of the 1025 Club in Johnston, is treasurer.

In a statement announcing the creation of the newly incorporated, nonprofit group, Costa said: "The voters have a right to know why the project is not being bid. They have a right to know why Harrah's insists on paying a lower tax rate than Lincoln Park and Newport Grand. They have a right to know why it is in Rhode Island's interest to reward a Las Vegas-based gambling giant with such a lucrative contract.

"The coalition will make certain that all Rhode Island voters have the answers to those questions and, we are confident that when they do, they will vote overwhelmingly to reject tampering with our Constitution for such self-serving interests."

But Angelique Pirozzi, campaign manager for the Harrah's-financed "Rhode Islanders for Jobs and Tax Relief" sought to dismiss the new anti-casino group as a front for the two big Connecticut casinos: Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun.

"Let's be clear about this," she said yesterday from her temporary perch in the law offices of Holland & Knight. "The biggest opponents to Question One are the casinos in Connecticut who want to keep our revenues and jobs flowing there.

"The group that announced itself today will be mostly, will be almost entirely funded by these Connecticut casinos and will be actively working to put Connecticut's interests ahead of Rhode Island's," she said.

There was no immediate response from Foxwoods, but Chuck Bunell, chief of staff to the Mohegan tribe, said: "That is unequivocally false. We have not been approached by anyone asking us to get involved." As to whether the tribe would involve itself in the Rhode Island campaign, he said: "The issue has not been discussed."

No one connected with either Connecticut casino is listed among the supporters of the new drive announced yesterday, though Newport Grand lobbyist Christopher Boyle was the lawyer commissioned by the Rhode Island Hospitality and Tourism Association to make sure S.O.S. meets the requirements of the new ballot-advocacy law the governor signed Tuesday.

But Oster makes no apology.

In the interest of financing an effective campaign, he said, he intends to seek help from "all those who have a vested interest -- Lincoln, Newport, Foxwoods, Mohegan and . . . all those people who [would be] likely competitors if it were to be opened up for bidding."

The campaign theme: "No-bid, no deal."

He said his own thoughts on the proposed Harrah's-Narragansett Indian casino in West Warwick are nuanced.

He does not think much of gambling as economic development, but is aware of a casino's moneymaking potential and wants the hugely valuable license put out for bid. If lawmakers continue to resist, he hopes to convince them, at the very least, to name the committee that will negotiate the terms of the casino deal -- including the one-time licensing fee and tax rate -- before the November vote.

No such details are specified in the proposed amendment to the state Constitution headed to the Nov. 7 ballot.

In past years, Harrah's offered to pay the state a tiered tax rate starting at 25 percent of its gross-gambling revenue, which is less than half the state's share of the slot activity at the hugely successful Lincoln Park greyhound track and Newport Grand. But no terms have been settled.

Oster wants to chair a blue-ribbon negotiating committee made up of the governor or his appointee, top House and Senate leaders and their finance chairmen, and three or four "leading industrialists from the community."

Oster said House Speaker William J. Murphy, D-West Warwick, won't return his call, but "I want that in place before there is a vote on the question."

"Right now, the Indians, the Native Americans, the Narragansetts have had representation. They have a deal, a secret deal. West Warwick has negotiated a deal. . . . The only one left out of this is the poor cousin, the State of Rhode Island, who has not negotiated anything."

In actuality, West Warwick officials say they are still negotiating the terms of the "host community agreement."

But Oster said of the lawmakers' vote-now, negotiate-later position on the terms of the exclusive casino license: "Not to negotiate or to have something in place before the vote is stupid, moronic, makes no sense, is ill advised. It's malfeasance, misfeasance and gross misconduct as far as I am concerned.

"It's not going to do them any good this time to use the tears in the eyes for the Indians as a pawn. Believe me, Harrah's doesn't give a damn about them," Oster said. And "the people of Rhode Island are not that stupid to have the wool pulled over their eyes by suggesting all the money goes to tax reductions . . . it's just a ploy by them to get their backroom deal done."

Other members of the S.O.S. steering committee named yesterday include: Susan Farmer, former secretary of state; Richard Sardella, former Newport mayor; Dale J. Venturini, hospitality and tourism association president; Lynn Singleton, executive director of the Providence Performing Arts Center; Trudy Coxe, president of Preservation Society of Newport County; Gary Sasse, executive director of the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council, and John Hazen White Jr.

Other involved businesses and organizations include, according to Costa: the East Greenwich Chamber of Commerce, the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce, the Westin Hotel, Twin Oaks, Newport Harbor Corporation, Newport Harbor Hotel & Marina, Gregg's, Ballard's Inn, The Crowne Plaza Hotel, Pinelli-Marra Restaurant Group, Chopmist Charlie's, Courtyard Marriott in Lincoln, Wes' Rib House, Newport Hospitality, Oak Hill Tavern, Hanson's Landing, Lobster Pot, and Angelo's.kgregg@projo.com / (401) 277-7078