Clout: Rep.'s Foxwoods flip-flop?

CLOUT FINDS that the most interesting thing about some political news conferences can be who doesn’t show up.

Consider state Rep. Bill Keller, who voted in 2004 to legalize gambling and then battled plans to build two riverfront casinos here.

Keller was listed to attend a news conference organized Wednesday by his cousin state Rep. Mike O’Brien at the site of the planned Foxwoods casino in South Philly.

O’Brien and a group of local legislators object to Foxwoods’ request this week to delay a deadline for information on when the long-stalled project will be built.

Keller was a no-show. Which seemed strange since Foxwoods is planned for his district. And Keller’s cousin didn’t want to talk about why he wasn’t there.

“I would suggest you direct that question to the right honorable representative,” O’Brien said.

Keller did not respond to our e-mails or phone messages left at his district office, his Harrisburg office and on his cell phone.

Keller also didn’t join with O’Brien and other local legislators in June when they asked the state Gaming Control Board to deny a Foxwoods request for more time to build a casino.

The question: Is Keller flip-flopping on the Foxwoods issue?

He wouldn’t be the first.

Keller is tight with John Dougherty, business manager for Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and past president of the Pennsport Civic Association.

Dougherty told the city’s Gaming Advisory Task Force in 2005 that Pennsport didn’t want a casino nearby. He cited heavy traffic already present on Columbus Boulevard at Reed Street, now the site for the Foxwoods project.

Dougherty declined to comment yesterday about his 2005 remarks. While running for the state Senate last year, Dougherty said that he would not oppose Foxwoods if the casino dealt with potential impacts that it could have on surrounding neighborhoods.

Dougherty penned an opinion piece in February in the Daily News, calling for construction to start immediately on Foxwoods and SugarHouse, the city’s other casino now being built in Fishtown. He cited the sour economy and jobs created around the state to build and staff casinos.

Foxwoods in February was flirting with a move to Center City but later dropped that at the urging of the Gaming Control Board.

Dougherty told Clout yesterday that he still supports Foxwoods now that it has shifted focus for the project back to South Philly.

An open seat draws interest

State Rep. Kathy Manderino announced this week that she won’t seek re-election next year after nine terms in the 194th District, which includes Roxborough, Manayunk, Wynnefield and Lower Merion Township. Manderino, now mulling several job offers, told us that she hasn’t made up her mind about who should replace her but that she would like to see the seat taken by another woman.

“I am always aware of how few women we have representing us in the Pennsylvania Legislature,” Manderino said.

There’s no shortage of potential candidates. Lou Agre, head of the 21st Democratic Ward, which makes up a big chunk of the district, has met with U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, head of the city Democratic Committee, and has reached out to Mayor Nutter, who heads the 52nd ward, another big section of the district.

“At this point, I am certainly thinking I’m the best person for the position,” Agre told us.

Other potential candidates include Deborah Mahler, chief of staff to City Councilman Jim Kenney; Josh Cohen, director of constituent services for Councilman Curtis Jones Jr., and Keith Newman, a public-school teacher.

Dems trade jabs in the ‘burbs

Two Democrats seeking the 6th Congressional District seat being vacated by Republican Jim Gerlach traded political punches this week. It began when Doug Pike, a former Inquirer editorial-board member, wrote on PA2010.com that he was “currently the only publicly pro-choice candidate” in the race.

That came as a surprise to Dr. Manan Trivedi, who says that he, too, is a pro-choice candidate.

Trivedi’s team, having combed through Pike’s hefty archive of opinion-writing, pounced on a 1990 Inquirer column that he wrote to endorse then-state Rep. Stephen Freind for re-election. Pike called Freind a “zealous opponent of abortion” but praised his work on other issues.

Pike’s campaign this week complained about Trivedi’s “extremely negative and personal attacks.”

Not so, said Trivedi.

“I have no intention of running a smear campaign here,” Trivedi said, “but I think it’s important to show what is in the public record.”

Pike stands by his column on Freind, who unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter in the 1992 Republican primary. And he maintains that Trivedi has not been pro-choice in public.

“I have never heard him speak on that issue,” Pike said. “I’m confident that the statement I made is factually correct.”