TACOMA — A report commissioned by the Puyallup Tribal Council last summer is severely critical of the tribe’s two Emerald Queen casinos, across I-5 from each other in Fife and Tacoma.
According to a confidential analysis by Lamar Associates, a security investigative firm based in Washington, D.C., the casinos are being mismanaged and have poor morale, inadequate security and dismal ambiance.
The auditor’s report says the casinos essentially throw away millions of dollars each year in potential profits. The Lamar report said, “The Emerald Queen Casino is leaving approximately $40 million a year in revenue on the table. Immediate changes are necessary to protect the tribe’s gaming assets and to ensure that maximum revenue is generated.”
The News Tribune says the findings were supposed to be confidential, but a casino employed leaked a copy of the final report to the newspaper this month.
The Lamar investigation was headed by Joe Manno, a former senior vice president at Caesar’s World and manager of Las Vegas’ Bally Casino. Manno and six other investigators spent four days at the casinos last summer and several subsequent weeks going over casino records.
The report did not mention the casinos’ general manager, Frank Wright, by name.
The Lamar group’s strongest criticisms concerned internal security. The report said various lapses make the casinos vulnerable to theft and scams.
“Gaming agents have been essentially relegated to plainclothes security and reportedly have not been provided internal controls updates or addendums since 2004,” the report said.
The auditors recommended that the tribal council create an autonomous regulatory body “without the appearance of undue influence from the council or gaming operations.” The new body should have five members, the auditors said, at least two of whom should be nontribal members with significant gaming experience.
The report harshly criticized the casinos’ ambiance and marketing.
“It is the unanimous opinion of the team that the physical atmosphere in both properties needs adjustment,” the report said.
The Lamar report said Emerald Queen workers are unhappy and that their discontent is obvious and off-putting to customers.
The Emerald Queen casinos’ gross gaming revenue in 2007 was $275.5 million, according to the report. That was $79.5 million less than what the auditors considered to be its fair share. The tribe’s net profit should be $40 million higher, they said.
Wright nearly lost his job last week. The tribal council deadlocked 3-3 Tuesday on a motion to oust him. He was saved when council chairman Herman Dillon cast a tie-breaking vote in his favor.
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