MGM Resorts International has only just handing in its plans for National Harbor, near Washington, D.C., and already the tin cups are rattling. The project doesn’t sound half-fancy: “a 
300-suite glass-tower hotel, 3,600 slot machines, 140 gaming tables, a concert theater, several restaurants, a spa, and high-end stores. The resort will have about 4,700 parking spaces.” No wonder that local groups are acting as though MGM is made of money. “Residents and community leaders say they want improvements made to busy Oxon Hill Road and Indian Head Highway. Others have discussed pressing MGM to invest in low-income and distressed neighborhoods near National Harbor and in the county school system.” Excuse me but isn’t much of that the responsibility of local government — and why aren’t they doing something about it?
In keeping with its diversity commitment, MGM has hired a minority-owned architectural firm and taken on a minority investor, Radio One owner Cathy Hughes. There will be plenty more such opportunities for MGM to address inequalities and provide opportunity in the minority community, I’ve no doubt.
The spending habits of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission have come in for scrutiny. The group has blown through $15 million in 20 months, living rather high on the hog. Budget items raising an eyebrow include “nearly $78,000 on parking, approximately $85,000 on air travel and around $37,000 for food, with many meals tallying at triple the rate the state allows for per diem reimbursements for employees of other agencies.” Every commission meeting is catered, at $1,600 a pop. Although much investigative work was outsourced, the MGC managed to generate $20,000 in airfares to Las Vegas, Europe and Asia. Licensing fees from casino applicants will cover some of this largesse but John Q. Taxpayer isn’t entirely off the hook for it.
