The Illinois Gaming Board rejected Waukegan's bid to put a casino at Fountain Square because of Illinois wheeler-dealer William Cellini. So who were the city officials that vetted this process and went along with the gambling consortium behind the bid? Is this a Democrat thing when it comes to failing to find out things in people's past --- like a treasury secretary nominee who couldn't figure his own taxes?
Cellini is well known in the state capital as a well-connected businessman who has done deals with Democratic and Republican administrations throughout the years from his Springfield base. He now stands indicted on federal charges of helping to shakedown a firm seeking state business for campaign contributions to Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the old "pay to play" politics so prevalent in Illinois.
According to Gaming Board Chairman Aaron Jaffee, Cellini and his family could have made deep six-figures if Waukegan had been awarded the casino. This is an odd finding since a member of the Waukegan group seeking the license contended Cellini had sold his stake in the consortium in 2007. Apparently, according to Jaffe, an associate of Cellini purchased the wheeler-dealer's investment for $32,450 and had to pay Cellini the balance of prior costs in the Waukegan project.
That's how things are done in Illinois and now we find out that's also the way it's done in Waukegan, which lost out to the lower casino bid offered by Des Plaines. If the city folks had done their homework, perhaps Waukegan's lakefront dreams could have been realized some time before the end of the 21st century.
As it is now, it appears to be another power broker gambit by an indicted political player.
