Advance Indiana has learned that Indianapolis City-County Council President Maggie Lewis (D) has accepted a new job as human relations director for Indiana Grand Casino in Shelbyville. Indiana Grand is one of two horse racing tracks/casinos operated by Indianapolis-based Centaur Gaming, which also owns and operates Anderson's Hoosier Park horse racing track and casino.
Lewis has been working as the executive director of the Dove Recovery House in Indianapolis for the last several years, which has posed a conflict of interest insofar as it relies on city grants for part of its funding.
Centaur Gaming operates an off-track betting parlor in downtown Indianapolis, Winner's Circle. The company's main issue of concern before the City-County Council has been the city's smoking ban ordinance, which has provided a special exemption for its facility. A lawsuit brought by several area tavern owners challenging the constitutionality of that ordinance was dismissed earlier this year by the Marion County Superior Court.
UPDATE: An observant reader tells me that Centaur Gaming also recently hired Frank Thompson, husband of State Sen. Jean Leising (R), for a marketing job at Indiana Grand. Looks like Centaur's CEO, Rod Radcliff, is up to his old tricks. God only knows how many other of our other public officials are on Centaur's payroll in one form or another. Radcliff's influence peddling with state lawmakers was in the spotlight back in 2005 when it was discovered that State Rep. David Frizzell (R) and State Sen. Jeff Drozda (R) were hired by the company around the time it was lobbying to legalize slot machines at horse racing tracks. Then-Senate President Robert Garton declared the legislative efforts dead that legislative session because of the lawmakers' hiring. Frizzell later resigned his job, while Drozda later left the Senate to become a full-time lobbyist like he was before he became a lawmaker. He now lives in Louisiana.
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