Sunday, June 30, 2002
Indiana track faces fine for failing to disclose all
The Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — A new horse racing track under construction in Shelby County is facing a $1.2 million fine, accused of failing to disclose details about contact between a paid consultant and lobbyist and a member of the Indiana Horse Racing Commission.
An attorney for Indianapolis Downs, which would be the state's second horse racing track, denied the allegations.
“Any suggestions that anything was designed to hide something is simply false and misguided,” attorney Robert Hammerle told The Indianapolis Star for a story published Saturday.
Hammerle said he will request a hearing on the matter with the horse racing commission.
The fine currently is only a recommendation from the commission staff.
The investigation of Indianapolis Downs alleges that lobbyist Larry Mohr of Carmel made several phone calls to commission member Janet Bozzelli and had dinner with Bozzelli and commission member Nick Stein in May 2001 — all during a three-day period in which the panel was considering Indianapolis Downs' application for the Shelby County track.
Joe Gorajec, executive director of the Horse Racing Commission, said the contact took place at a time when Mohr was not listed as representing the track in any of its paperwork, even though Mohr had been paid $71,000 in 2000 and 2001 for providing consulting services.
“The reputation and the image of the commission can be tarnished when an individual who has an interest in an ongoing permit proceeding, as Mr. Mohr did, communicates outside of the 'public view' with a commissioner,” Gorajec wrote in an executive summary of his investigation.
“Now knowing Mr. Mohr's direct involvement in representing Indianapolis Downs, and the substantial compensation he was receiving, what would a reasonable person infer by these contacts?” Gorajec wrote.
Hammerle rejected the implication that the meetings were improper.
He said Mohr is a longtime friend of Bozzelli and Stein and that they often discuss matters unrelated to the track.
“It is important to note there are no rules prohibiting such contact, and (the investigators) know that,” he said. “The report holds Indianapolis Downs to a standard that they hold no one else to, and they know that.”
The Associated Press left a phone message seeking comment from Mohr on Saturday. Stein and Bozzelli's phone numbers were not included in published listings.
Mohr has been described as a lifelong friend of the Estridges, the family who doggedly pursued a racing license until finally successful with Indianapolis Downs, which opens in December.
Bozzelli had been a supporter of Estridge Co., according to her voting record while serving on the Horse Racing Commission. In August 2000, she cast the only vote in favor of Estridge's plan to build a track in Lawrence.
Earlier that year, she again cast the only vote against a revenue-sharing plan between Hoosier Park and the proposed track in Lawrence, a measure Estridge also fought.
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Indiana track faces fine for failing to disclose all
