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House Speaker William J. Murphy has been a longtime supporter of a casino in his hometown of West Warwick.
But in recent court filings it appears that his top lieutenant, House Majority Leader Gordon D. Fox, was involved in several behind-the-scenes maneuvers over bringing a casino to Johnston.
Developer David H. Nunes, who has been trying with Trump Entertainment Resorts to build a Johnston casino, said in a recent affidavit that he had several conversations with Fox, D-Providence, as early as 2003 about a Johnston casino.
"Representative Fox assured me that if I brought a competitive casino proposal to the Legislature, such proposal would receive a fair hearing. Representative Fox also suggested that I explore the Town of Johnston as a possible location," Nunes wrote. "I had numerous meetings with Representative Fox over the course of a two year period."
The statement from Nunes comes in a lawsuit he filed with the town in federal court seeking to block a ballot question asking voters to amend the state Constitution to give Harrah's Entertainment and the Narragansett Indian tribe a casino in West Warwick. The suit alleges that lawmakers illegally gave Harrah's a monopoly.
U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith has scheduled a 1 p.m. hearing tomorrow for lawyers to present their case. Smith has told the lawyers that he will have an initial ruling by Wednesday at the latest on whether to proceed with the ballot question.
Secretary of State Matt Brown set Wednesday as the deadline to have the ballot set. Smith asked lawyers for Brown to investigate the possibility of printing dual ballots, one with the casino question, one without it. To print extra ballots and voter-information booklets would cost more than $817,000.
Fox refused, through a spokesman, to comment on his interactions with Nunes.
"It would be inappropriate to comment on an affidavit that has been submitted in pending litigation before the U.S. District Court," Fox said in a statement.
Did Nunes ever get that fair hearing?
He refused to say.
"I can't comment on ongoing legal matters," Nunes said.
A bill by Rep. Stephen R. Ucci, D-Johnston, that would have allowed competitive bidding for a casino did get a hearing -- but it didn't happen until May 31. By that point, the full House had already passed the Harrah's bill.
Nunes has been involved in a casino push in Rhode Island for some time. But how did he get involved in the latest round of Rhode Island's casino debate?
In his affidavit, he said that in 2003 an unnamed member of Fox's staff called him and "asked me to supply the names of individuals who would testify" before a special House commission studying "whether a competitive selection process for a potential owner/operator of a proposed casino would be beneficial to the state."
Nunes said Sheldon G. Adelson, founder of the Venetian casino in Las Vegas, and the Rev. Richard McGowan, an associate professor at Boston College's Carroll School of Management, both testified at his request.
Anthony Marcella, a lobbyist who worked for Fox when Fox was chairman of the House Finance Committee, confirmed that he called Nunes.
Marcella, once chief of staff to Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, D-R.I., said that during his seven years in Washington, D.C., he made many contacts in the gambling world including with groups such as the American Gaming Association and the Native American Gaming Association.
Rhode Island House leaders, including Rep. Paul V. Sherlock, who was chairing the commission with Fox, asked Marcella to get some gambling witnesses.
"David is one of the people I've known for years and I knew he was a gaming developer and I knew he was very involved in Massachusetts," Marcella said. "There were many other people I called then to be witnesses."
In the end, the commission recommended that competitive bidding would be best for the state.
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