Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett will meet with a top U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs official today in Washington, D.C., to determine prospects for federal approval for moving the Potawatomi casino downtown.

He described his visit with George Skibine, an acting deputy assistant secretary in the bureau, as an effort to find out what obstacles such a shift would entail, rather than a lobbying effort.

Barrett said, however, that he thought it was possible to craft a casino deal that would benefit city taxpayers, downtown business interests and the Potawatomi tribe.

"I don't think it would be a bad thing," he said in an interview Wednesday. A downtown casino "would be in many ways a better site" than the Potawatomi casino location in the Menomonee Valley, Barrett said.

While falling short of a solid endorsement of a downtown move, Barrett's friendly reception to the idea stands in stark contrast to former Mayor John O. Norquist's stance. Norquist vehemently opposed a downtown location, saying a casino there would hurt other entertainment venues and restaurants.

Barrett noted that no organized opposition to a downtown casino has emerged. In fact, the Milwaukee Development Corp., a business promotion arm of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, has helped suggest potential downtown casino sites for the tribe.

Barrett said his request for the bureau meeting was prompted by the push for development of PabstCity, which has been mentioned as a potential downtown casino site, and the tribe's interest in expanding soon either at its Menomonee Valley location or downtown.

He noted that PabstCity, the Park East freeway corridor and property adjacent to the Bradley Center have been suggested as potential sites.

As to his own preferences, Barrett said: "I don't have any geographic location as a prime site."

PabstCity is the proposed development of the former Pabst Brewery complex on the northwest edge of downtown. The project would include a nightclub, movie theaters and other commercial uses.

A spokeswoman for Wispark LLC, one of the PabstCity developers, declined to comment on the possible downtown casino.

High payments needed

Barrett stressed that any deal for moving the casino downtown would require bigger payments from the tribe to the city. He noted that both PabstCity and the Park East corridor have been designated tax incremental financing districts, meaning property taxes are temporarily waived to encourage development on the theory that the city eventually will recoup the money through future taxes.

That could be an issue if the casino were to move to either site because tribes don't pay property taxes, Barrett said.

"If there was to be a move, it would be contingent on the city getting more money," he said.

Under the current agreement, the tribe pays both the city and Milwaukee County 1.5% of annual casino revenue. That came to about $3.9 million to each governmental unit last year. The tribe took in a total of about $260 million from its Milwaukee casino.

Potawatomi spokesman Ken Walsh said Wednesday that the tribe's view on a possible downtown move remained the same. Tribal leaders have said they are open to the idea if it makes good business sense to the tribe and if the city is supportive.

"The tribe has made it quite clear that if this is going to happen, it's going to have to happen on a relatively quick time frame," he said.

The tribe has announced plans for a $240 million expansion in the Menomonee Valley, but those plans are on hold until a case challenging the legality of Indian casinos is decided by the state Supreme Court.

Another potential hang-up for the tribe to moving downtown: disposing of its current casino complex in which the tribe has invested about $135 million.

Barrett said it might be easier to win federal approval for shifting the site of the casino from one Milwaukee location to another than for a brandnew proposal for an off-reservation casino.

Nedra Darling, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, said she couldn't comment on that because no specific proposal had been filed.

The Potawatomi casino in Milwaukee is one of only three places nationally where off-reservation casinos have won both federal and state approvals needed since a 1988 law was passed, according to congressional testimony by Skibine last month. The others were for the Kalispel Tribe at a site near Spokane, Wash., and for the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community near Marquette, Mich.

The U.S. Indian Gaming Regulatory Act calls for the U.S. Interior Department to rule that an off-reservation casino would be in the best interests of a tribe and not detrimental to the surrounding community. The move also requires the approval of the state. In Wisconsin, Gov. Jim Doyle has that authority.

Doyle hasn't given an opinion on a downtown casino move, spokeswoman Melanie Fonder said. But Marc Marotta, Doyle's top aide, said a move downtown "would result in a lot more revenue for the Potawatomi."

Relocating the casino also "would help to mitigate any effect that Kenosha would have on them," Marotta said. He was referring to the Menominee tribe's proposed off-reservation casino complex in Kenosha, which the Potawatomi say would cut deeply into their Milwaukee casino revenue.

Two mayors, two views

Should the Potawatomi casino move downtown?

Mayor Tom Barrett: It "would be in many ways a better site" than the current Potawatomi casino location in the Menomonee Valley.

Former Mayor John O. Norquist vehemently opposed a move from the valley. He said a downtown casino would hurt other entertainment venues and restaurants.

Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

Copyright 2005, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved. (Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media.)

Copyright 2005 Journal Sentinel Inc. Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media
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