Waukegan Mayor Pushes for License

As reported by the Chicago Tribune: "Ratcheting up the pressure on the Illinois Gaming Board, Waukegan Mayor Richard Hyde on Tuesday testified before the five-member group, imploring them to award the state's last casino license to his town.

"Although its unclear when the board might make a decision on who gets the license because the Emerald Casino is appealing the Gaming Board's decision to revoke it, Hyde appeared before the board during the public comment portion of its meeting to let it know that his town needs a casino.

"…"I'm trying to get the casino license, just like any other city would be doing,' he said. 'And I think it's very important for Waukegan. We need money. We need jobs. We need in our area, in Lake County, about 680,000 people, what that casino can do for us. This is their first meeting of the new year, and I figured why not let them know exactly what Waukegan's position is.'

"Waukegan, which was aligned with the casino company Harrah's, bid for the license in 2004, but lost when the Gaming Board, made up of different members, awarded it to Isle of Capri, which planned to build a casino in Rosemont on the same site Emerald had chosen years earlier. But because the new board members have stripped Emerald of its license, Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan has said the state is no longer legally bound by that first bidding process…"