North Side concerns take center stage at casino meeting
Feedback from North Side residents will top the agenda of a meeting tonight on Pittsburgh's slots casino.
Northside United, a campaign of the group Pittsburgh United, will host the meeting, which starts at 6 p.m. at Martin Luther King School, North Side. Music and entertainment will be provided.
Surveys completed by more than 1,000 residents in at least eight North Side neighborhoods will be discussed, as well as issues such as workforce and economic development, the environment, housing and quality-of-life issues, said Khari Mosley, campaign director for Pittsburgh United.
"It's just an opportunity for us to present to the community what we're working on," he said.
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Mosley said his group has held 30 public meetings on the casino. The group, in a release Wednesday, also claimed there has been no public process on the casino development -- despite hearings held by the state Gaming Control Board and events sponsored by the Northside Leadership Conference, a coalition of 14 neighborhood groups formed in 1980.
The leadership conference signed an agreement for casino developer Don Barden to pour $3 million into community improvements.
"We encourage Northside United to have additional meetings. The more community process, the better," said Mark Fatla, who heads the conference. "As for public process? The casino has gone through more public process than any project in this region."
The conference has hosted nine casino employment workshops that attracted 400 people interested in the North Shore casino, Fatla said.
Mosley, however, said the conference's public outreach should have included more door-knocking in North Side neighborhoods.
"They may be doing a public process in their idea of what a public process is," Mosley said. "What we're trying to have is a very exhaustive, democratic process. ... We're trying to go above and beyond the call of duty."
Northside United, a campaign of the group Pittsburgh United, will host the meeting, which starts at 6 p.m. at Martin Luther King School, North Side. Music and entertainment will be provided.
Surveys completed by more than 1,000 residents in at least eight North Side neighborhoods will be discussed, as well as issues such as workforce and economic development, the environment, housing and quality-of-life issues, said Khari Mosley, campaign director for Pittsburgh United.
"It's just an opportunity for us to present to the community what we're working on," he said.
story continues below
Mosley said his group has held 30 public meetings on the casino. The group, in a release Wednesday, also claimed there has been no public process on the casino development -- despite hearings held by the state Gaming Control Board and events sponsored by the Northside Leadership Conference, a coalition of 14 neighborhood groups formed in 1980.
The leadership conference signed an agreement for casino developer Don Barden to pour $3 million into community improvements.
"We encourage Northside United to have additional meetings. The more community process, the better," said Mark Fatla, who heads the conference. "As for public process? The casino has gone through more public process than any project in this region."
The conference has hosted nine casino employment workshops that attracted 400 people interested in the North Shore casino, Fatla said.
Mosley, however, said the conference's public outreach should have included more door-knocking in North Side neighborhoods.
"They may be doing a public process in their idea of what a public process is," Mosley said. "What we're trying to have is a very exhaustive, democratic process. ... We're trying to go above and beyond the call of duty."