" Fattah said he quickly pulled away from the deal after being cautioned by a government official in Philadelphia. He declined to say who that official was." Perhaps same person who told Street his office was bugged by FBI.
On tapes, working a deal on racetrack
Wiretapped talks offer a look at city power brokers trying to get big-name investors for a Navy Yard gambling plan.
By Mark Fazlollah, John Shiffman and Emilie Lounsberry
Inquirer Staff Writers
In a Center City law office, two Philadelphia power brokers, one a black Democrat, the other a white Republican, talked of the millions they would make if they got the backing to put a racetrack and slot machines at the Navy Yard.
"If we don't get this... deal done, we should be ashamed of ourselves," Manuel Stamatakis told Ronald A. White on Aug. 21, 2003, unaware that the FBI was listening. "I mean, Jesus, everybody in our deal has done so much for so many people."
"Our deal," the Navy Yard harness-track venture, has stalled out. But when it was still going strong, those invited to invest, or to designate an investor, included an adviser to Mayor Street, two senior city officials, and U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah - who said he ultimately backed away from naming an investor. Their names and voices turned up on FBI wiretaps in the City Hall corruption probe.
Wiretapped talks obtained by The Inquirer show how such top campaign fund-raisers as Stamatakis and White were intensely interested in recruiting political allies for the Navy Yard track venture.
It is not illegal for businessmen to seek politicians' support for such a venture. But one close observer of the state's move to legalize slots said politicians need to steer clear of investing in such ventures or even designating investors, and of the kind of conversations that turned up on the wiretaps.
"It's the same old game," said Harris Steinberg, who is a member of the nonpartisan Design Advocacy Group, a group of architects that has pushed for greater public input in the move to put slot parlors in the city. "It's a lot of backroom deals... . It's too seductive, and I would hope that our elective officials would ethically draw the line even if it's once removed or twice removed."
At the time of the August 2003 meeting in White's Walnut Street law office, talks were underway across the state with investor groups hoping to benefit from proposed legislation to legalize slots in Pennsylvania. The bills were signed into law by Gov. Rendell last July.
Stamatakis estimated that even a 1 percent investment would eventually be worth $1 million.
White became the central defendant in the corruption probe but died of cancer in November at age 55. Stamatakis has been questioned by FBI agents but has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
Asked to comment for this article, Stamatakis, an insurance broker who is a former chairman of the Delaware River Port Authority and a campaign fund-raiser for President Bush, among others, said yesterday in an e-mail that he was "not available to speak at this time."
He has acknowledged the August 2003 meeting and told the FBI that his contact with White was limited, according to sources close to the investigation. They said Stamatakis told investigators that eventually about 55 investors were in the racetrack group.
Among those heard on wiretaps discussing the racetrack deal with White were Fattah (D., Phila.), former City Treasurer Corey Kemp, former city Finance Director Janice Davis, and former Street adviser Bruce Crawley.
Crawley, a public relations executive, said he had acted properly in becoming an investor in the Navy Yard project and had hid nothing. "I have done nothing wrong," he said. He cited his experience as a casino consultant, and said that The Inquirer had singled him out for criticism because he is an African American businessman.
White also is captured on tape lobbying members of City Council and the General Assembly, including then-State Sen. Allyson Schwartz, to support gambling bills that would permit the racetrack to have slots. Schwartz is now in the U.S. House.
Attorneys for Kemp, now being tried on charges of corrupting his office when he was city treasurer, plan to play some of the track-related tapes to try to show that other officials and politicians were involved as well.
Although Street's name comes up in several of the wiretapped conversations about the track venture - as White and Stamatakis talk about whom the mayor might recommend as an investor - there is no direct evidence that Street himself got involved. The mayor is not charged with any wrongdoing in the probe.
Deborah Bolling, a spokeswoman for Street, said the mayor was not commenting on any aspect of the corruption probe.
The racetrack venture has become a key part of the trial in federal court, in which Kemp and four other defendants are charged. In her opening statement last month, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joan L. Markman said that if the Navy Yard harness track and slot parlor had opened, it would have been "like a license to print money."
Kemp's onetime boss, former city finance director Davis, testified that White invited her to invest in the track.
Davis testified that she didn't have any money to put into the deal - and never brought up the issue with the mayor.
But plenty of people were using the mayor's name - dating back months before the August 2003 meeting between Stamatakis and White.
In an April 28, 2003, conversation, White told Stamatakis that the two men needed to meet to discuss Street's selection.
"I'll tell you who the mayor spoke to me personally about... . There's a couple people that he specifically told me," he said.
To which Stamatakis said he was getting other suggestions.
White replied: "But if you want to know who the mayor wants, OK? I'm going to specifically ask him and then I'll have him call you, Manny."
The mayor's name also came up in the conversation between White and Fattah.
Fattah, who is considered a likely mayoral candidate in 2007, was heard on tape discussing a potential investor he might recommend for the venture.
In an interview on Friday, Fattah said he quickly pulled away from the deal after being cautioned by a government official in Philadelphia. He declined to say who that official was.
Fattah is heard talking with White on May 13, 2003.
"You have somebody?" White was heard asking Fattah.
"Yes," Fattah responded.
"All right, because let me tell you. They're putting in some other people now in that second phase," White said.
"Right, and I talked to the mayor about it," Fattah said.
White then told Fattah that in addition to Street, Fattah should talk to Stamatakis.
"Do it now. Well, you know what, the mayor will also have to say it, too. You know what I mean?" White said.
"I'm going to talk to both of them to make sure it's clear," Fattah said on the tape. "... I'm on it right now."
On Friday, Fattah said: "I made no recommendation. Essentially I was waved off of it. I was told it was advisable not to be involved."
Fattah said he never talked to Street or to Stamatakis about the track venture. As far as he remembered, Fattah said, he didn't talk with anyone except White and the unnamed official.
U.S. Rep. Schwartz was a state senator when she, too, was recorded in a call to White.
White quickly promised to donate $1,000 to Schwartz, who was running for the U.S. House, and just as quickly shifted the conversation to gambling.
"I'd like to have you meet with me and maybe Manny," White said.
Schwartz made no commitment. She told White she would listen to their views.
Yesterday, Rachel Leed, Schwartz's spokeswoman, said the congresswoman had been unaware that the 2003 conversation had been wiretapped. "There are a lot of people caught up in things Ron White was involved with," Leed said. "This conversation was a simple, matter-of-fact, perfunctory conversation."
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Contact staff writer Mark Fazlollah at 215-854-5831 or mfazlollah@phillynews.com Staff writer Carrie Budoff contributed to this article. |
