One of the more memorable moments in the early days of the state’s modern gambling industry came in the fall of 1993, when then-Gov. Edwin Edwards arranged a shotgun marriage between the two politically connected teams vying to operate the land-based casino in downtown New Orleans.
In typical Louisiana fashion, the process was screwed up, writes Business Report editor Stephanie Riegel in her new opinion piece.
The city of New Orleans had awarded the lease for the casino site to California developer Chris Hemmeter, who had wowed city officials on junkets to his high-end, Hawaiian resort.
But the state had awarded the sole license to operate the land-based casino to a powerful, wealthy group of Edwards’ friends and supporters led by legendary Metairie trial attorney Wendell Gauthier.
With each team in possession of only half the approvals it needed, there was an impasse and the dispute was headed to court.
Until Edwards stepped in and brought Hemmeter and Gauthier to the Governor’s Mansion for a closed-door meeting. They emerged three hours later, and Edwards announced the two teams would split the deal.
I’ve been thinking a lot about that deal lately in light of another shotgun wedding, this one brokered by the LSU Board of Supervisors between two teams vying for a lucrative energy services deal for the Baton Rouge campus, Riegel writes.
Like the casino deal a quarter-century ago, the LSU contract to modernize the outdated, costly energy system on the main campus is a big deal, worth potentially more than $800 million over 30 years.
After two months of backroom negotiations, the LSU board brokered a deal to split the contract between two teams.
Like the casino deal in New Orleans, this was not the way it was supposed to have happened.
For all the talk about wanting and needing to diversify our economy, the way the LSU energy deal went down serves as a shining example of why companies don’t want to come here. Businesses don’t want to waste $1 million putting together a proposal if they have to compete on an uneven playing field, Riegel writes.
Read her full column from the latest edition of Business Report.
