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Casino boat’s permit denied
Published February 7, 2007
FREEPORT — Despite acknowledging mismanagement and pledging to do better, Texas Star Casino officials’ request for a specific-use permit to operate onshore was shot down by City Council.
The move, which came in a 3-2 vote Monday, means the company doesn’t have permission to allow its patrons to board a vessel destined for federal waters to gamble.
Texas Star also won’t be able to operate redemption games or have a bingo parlor in the onshore area next to the docked 167-foot casino boat, though about two years worth of work already has gone into the project.
“This was a blow to us, a severe blow,” said Grant Poynor, a spokesman for the company’s owner, C.J. Perme.
Some council members said the company’s time “had run out,” referring to its expired permit and about former contract workers with complaints against the company’s management over issues of delayed pay and alleged verbal abuse. Yet, other city officials said Texas Star should have another chance.
Council members Clan Cameron, James Saccomanno and Norma Garcia voted against granting the permit, while Mayor Jim Phillips and Mayor Pro Tem John Smith III voted for the permit. Texas Star may reapply in a year for the permit, Phillips said.
During a public hearing on the issue, several contractors who did business with Texas Star spoke against what they called poor treatment by former Texas Star CEO Michael O’Brien, and a failure of the Branson, Mo.-based owner to correct personnel problems.
John Corder, a plumbing contractor, told council he had “never seen such a display by management of disrespect for contractors by management. You ought to hear the language he (O’Brien) spoke to me.” Corder said his pay from Texas Star was delayed until Phillips interceded to help resolve the issue.
A key step in addressing problems was the Jan. 8 appointment of Larry Kirkland to replace O’Brien, Poynor said. “I am sorry for the unpleasant experiences people had. I wasn’t here. I offer my apologies.”
Poynor told council, “I’m here to fix things. There’s been mismanagement, but we’re going to get our act together.”
However, Saccomanno said Texas Star was too slow in correcting problems.
“They had every opportunity to correct their management troubles, which have been going on for some time,” Saccomanno said. “Time just ran out.”
Saccomanno added “it wouldn’t have hurt” for the council to have heard directly from Perme, but he emphasized “communication with us wasn’t as critical as just correcting problems. That took too long.”
During the Planning Commission’s meeting in an upstairs conference room Monday, Poynor more directly addressed complaints that Perme should have taken corrective action sooner.
“Mr. Perme does not have system management experience,” Poynor told commission members. “I fight with him. He only gives up when he acknowledges he’s whipped. Does he listen to the wrong people sometimes? Yes. Is he a good man? Yes sir, he’s a family man.”
The commission voted 4-1 to issue the permit, but council didn’t approve it. Phillips said he didn’t think it was right for the council to bypass the commission’s recommendation.
“They have a new group of people and the person who caused all the problems is gone,” Phillips said. “They should have an opportunity to make a go of it.
“Mr. Poynor was very forthright when I met with him last Thursday,” Phillips said. “He told me, ‘We’ll do it right.’ He visited with our city attorney, Mr. Shaw, who was also very impressed with Mr. Poynor.”
Smith concurred with Phillips that Texas Star should have another opportunity.
“They are going to operate within our ordinances,” Smith said. “And we are trying to bring economic change to Freeport. If they do not operate as per our ordinances, we have the tools to shut them down.”
Texas Star plans to regroup, Poynor said Tuesday.
“The Texas Star boat will stay there,” Poynor said. “I talked to Mr. Perme last night, and he expressed regret he was unable to attend the council meeting.”
But Poynor didn’t know whether the company would reapply for the permit.
“There’s all kinds of things we can do to produce revenue down there,” such as live music events featuring some of the country music stars who play in Branson, Mo., Poynor said. He mentioned in the planning commission meeting that he had been talking with an agent for singer Moe Bandy about possibly playing in Freeport.
“We’re reviewing our options, including contacting the city, to see what else we can do,” Poynor said.
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