More political football at CityCenter

Due to the Las Vegas Review-Journal‘s bizarre campaign to secede from the Internet, we dare not even link to an excellent Howard Stutz rundown of MGM Mirage‘s attempt to gain the high ground in the fractious “Who screwed up CityCenter” debate. (If you see the story but value your sanity, avoid the “Comments” thread, a sewer of anti-Semitic filth.)

In addition to slamming a countersuit into Perini Building, MGM has extended an olive branch to subcontractors, in the form of a payment offer. This defuses a political time bomb for the company. Archon Corp. Secretary-Treasurer Sue Lowden (left) had fronted a rally of CityCenter subs (footage that S&G featured last week), wisely sidestepping the Perini/MGM fight to position herself as the champion some of the biggest losers in this mess: the third-party contractors. Lowden imputed that Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) ought to be intervening on behalf of the subs, just as he had gone to bat for CityCenter with the banking industry.

Like it or not, Reid “owned” CityCenter the moment he made it a campaign talking point. Lowden’s speech made good political theatre and, whether or not the senator from Searchlight had a quiet word with MGM CEO Jim Murren or not, the casino giant was quick to spray her fire.

The Archon heiress was certainly smarter than either Perini or Gov. Jim Gibbons (well, no mean feat there). The former’s attempt to use the governor’s office as a hammer to club MGM into submission — including a two-page newspaper ad — seems to have infuriated MGM all the more. MGM spokesman Alan Feldman (left) had made it clear from the outset that his company wouldn’t be dickering via Gibbons over Perini’s complaint. By agreeing to meet with Perini and its subcontractors all the same, Gibbons now looks like he’s in the tank for the construction industry, as opposed to remaining above the fray. He should have left this one to the courts but Midnight Jim is desperate for any free ink he can get (his reelection campaign is running on empty, moneywise) and couldn’t resist a little posturing of his own.

CityCenter has at least one non-MGM fan, judging from the writeup it received from Susan Kime. Her critique basically posits the question, “could Las Vegas actually be perceived differently because of one grand multi-use venue?” Her tentatively affirmative conclusion, unfortunately, appears to have been arrived upon independent of actually visiting CityCenter. The piece reads as though it were written off of press releases and mostly rehashes the existing apologia pro CityCenter sua rather proffering new insights.

For all his tone-deafness on just about any business issue you could name, Gov. Gibbons has actually amassed an excellent track record vis-a-vis appointments to the Nevada Gaming Commission and Nevada Gaming Control Board. Given his odd circle of advisors, I have no idea who’s got Midnight Jim’s ear about gambling regulation but he was saved from a serious misstep and made a distinguished choice in the same moment.

Early speculation had the NGC vacancy becoming a soft landing place for Mendy Elliott, a gubernatorial crony who has bounced around various Carson City posts these last few years. Her primary claim to fame actually involves the administration’s one casino-related scandal, when she and Gibbons’ office interceded on behalf of Boyd Gaming (a “george” donor to Midnight Jim’s 2006 campaign) and against Nevada OSHA, following a horrific incident that is the one lingering stain on the Boyd escutcheon.

Thankfully, Gibbons passed on — or was warned off — Elliott, punting her name in favor of outgoing state Sen. Randolph Townsend. Were it not for a Road to Damascus moment that the legislator had prior to the ’05 Legislature, Nevada might not having the (modest) amount of funding for treatment of pathological gambling that it now enjoys. Townsend’s change of heart on compulsive-gambling issues is considered the decisive factor that got lawmakers off their duff after years of not doing the right thing. Let’s hope he brings continued enlightenment to his new regulatory role.

Are players getting stiffed at the slots? Anecdotal experience and cursory examination of NGCB-reported numbers may say “yes.” However, Dr. David G. Schwartz crunches the data and makes a contrarian case. It’s definitely worthwhile reading.

Trivia question: In the bonus features to what set-in-Vegas feature film does Prof. Schwartz make an appearance? Hint: The plot involves someone (actually, a lot of someones) taking six hours to drive from Fremont Street to the Arizona side of Hoover Dam. Nowadays we’d call that a normal commute.