Petersburg mayor says city ‘told the truth’ about casino pressure from legislature

Petersburg Mayor Sam Parham (standing left) speaks with City Manager John "March Altman Jr. prior to a closed meeting in the city's casino project. (Graham Moomaw/Virginia Mercury)

Petersburg Mayor Sam Parham said Wednesday that he stands by the allegation that his city faced political pressure from the General Assembly to choose a particular casino developer or risk losing the opportunity to have a casino altogether.

Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, whom the Petersburg City Council has alleged had a hand in that pressure, has disputed the city’s characterization of events as “revisionist history.”

Speaking with reporters late Wednesday afternoon following a closed council meeting on the casino project, Parham didn’t back down.

“We have a council of seven that is unified on the fact that we told the truth,” Parham said, referring to the resolution he and his City Council colleagues passed on April 24 that suggested Petersburg’s city manager was coerced into signing a letter saying the city would partner with Bally’s Corporation to build and operate its casino.

The council resolution claims City Manager John “March” Altman Jr. only signed the April 17 letter to avoid having the General Assembly kill legislation allowing Petersburg to have a casino.

“We don’t do this to appease any groups or take any type of favors or any type of slanted deals out of Richmond,” Parham said. “We do this for the people of Petersburg.”

One week after the April 17 Bally’s letter, the Petersburg City Council voted unanimously to select The Cordish Companies as its casino partner, re-upping with the Maryland-based developer the city seemed to prefer all along. Petersburg had already selected Cordish in 2022 for an earlier, failed attempt at a casino, and the City Council claims the city was told it had to “reconsider” its decision to go with Cordish as a condition of its casino bill moving forward.

“I don’t know if there were some problems in Richmond with Cordish,” Parham said. “I don’t see how because they have a solid, family-run operation. They take care of their employees.”

Aird didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday evening on Parham’s remarks.

The mayor also pushed back on the notion that Cordish isn’t friendly to labor unions while Bally’s and other bidders were, emphasizing that Cordish has agreements in place with the Maryland-based Seafarers Entertainment & Allied Trades Union.

“Cordish does have union jobs,” Parham said. “I’m not here to pick between which union is better. I want the best product for the citizens of Petersburg.”

The city could have a legal fight coming with a hospitality workers’ union that had a deal in place with Bally’s. Unite Here, a union whose PAC that contributed heavily to Aird’s 2023 Senate campaign, has threatened to file a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against Petersburg officials alleging that their closed-door decisions on the casino have violated Virginia transparency laws.

The City Council held another lengthy closed-door meeting Wednesday, spending an hour and a half holding private discussions on legal matters related to the casino. When the council returned to open session, the body approved a change to its earlier resolution to correct a factual error. That error misstated the date of the April 14 town hall meeting Aird hosted in Petersburg to allow residents to hear directly from the five bidders vying for the casino project.

Asked if he knew why Bally’s was named in the letter the city manager signed three days later, Parham indicated he couldn’t say.

“That is the amazing caper here,” the mayor said. “The why.”

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