MR. KOJO NNAMDIFrom WAMU 88.5, at American University in Washington, welcome to "The Politics Hour," starring Tom Sherwood. I'm Kojo Nnamdi. Later in the broadcast, we'll be talking with Alexandria Mayor William Euille about the controversy over that city's waterfront space and about BRAC coming to the Mark Center and more. We'll soon be talking with Buddy Roogow, head of the D.C. Lottery, who's responsible for the rollout of D.C.'s online gambling set for September, even though we've just started the public discussion on the issue.

MR. KOJO NNAMDIBut, first, meet Tom Sherwood. He is our resident analyst. He's an NBC 4 reporter and a columnist for the Current Newspapers. Tom, how is it going?

MR. TOM SHERWOODGood. I'm ready for the Fourth of July. Can I mention a Marist poll that shows that 40 percent of Americans don't know that July 4th is celebrated as the day -- of the day for the independence of the United States, that it's not connected to their idea? Forty percent, four and ten.

NNAMDIWhat do they think it is?

SHERWOODI don't know. The reason we have a three-day weekend, apparently, and then another 25 percent of people don't know that this country broke away from Britain.

NNAMDITwenty-five percent. Wow.

SHERWOODOne in four adults does not know.

NNAMDIAnd how many of those people think that the president was born on another country?

SHERWOODAnd is Muslim.

NNAMDIYes. It's absolutely amazing.

SHERWOODAnyway, I just thought that would be a nice little thing for the Fourth of July weekend festivities as we begin here.

NNAMDIIt's annual cookout day as far as some people are concerned. Today is Canada Day, in case you did not know that.

SHERWOODI did not know that.

NNAMDISee, we always bring new information here to the broadcast. Prince George's County Councilmember Leslie Johnson...

SHERWOODWished she were in Canada.

NNAMDI...pleaded guilty -- I guess so -- pleaded guilty on Thursday to destroying evidence. Under Maryland law, however, and this is the controversy, elected officials convicted of felonies must step down, but a conviction is not considered final until sentencing, which would give Leslie Johnson more than three months in office before she has to step down. She's expected to be sentenced in September. There are a lot of people calling for her to step down right now, but she does not seem to be so disposed.

SHERWOODWell, she said at her little press conference after pleading guilty to a felony -- for those who's not sure what she did, she pled guilty to a felony, you know, destroying a $100,000 check, putting $79- or $76,000 into various parts of her underwear.

NNAMDIThank you for not saying bra.

SHERWOODShe said, don't hold that -- don't hold this one indiscretion, I mean, you know, probably, I guess, all that I've done and, you know, I want to continue to serve. But if she wanted to serve, I think a lot of people believe she can serve best by not serving at all, and that she -- whether or not -- she just apparently is not going to do it.

NNAMDIWell, we will have to see what happens in that situation. Here in the District of Columbia, former chief of staff to Ward 1, Councilmember Jim Graham was sentenced to eight months in prison for accepting illegal gifts. He got the minimum sentence because a lot of people apparently wrote letters on his behalf. It is speculated that he may be facing deportation because it is my understanding that he is not a citizen of the United States.

SHERWOODNo, he's not and -- but that's a separate issue. The prosecutors can't have any say about...

NNAMDIThat's true.

SHERWOOD...whether he would be deported or not, but -- and yet again, this is a case where someone took about $20,000 in various payments and gifts -- I guess, we called them Father's Day gifts, as he attempted to call one of them -- and then, he says, oh, don't judge me on this. Look at all these nice letters I've gotten from people for all the nice work I've done. Twenty thousand dollars, accepted $1,500 directly, was part of a two-year investigation by the FBI, pled guilty.

SHERWOODHe wasn't found guilty where he's proclaiming his innocence, just like Ms. Johnson. You know, she pled guilty. She admitted she's guilty. And he says, oh, don't judge me on this.

NNAMDIBecause...

SHERWOODWe all get one chance to violate the law like that 'cause I want to go big.

NNAMDIAnd then say, look, at all the nice things I used to do...

SHERWOODYeah.

NNAMDI...in the past.

SHERWOODLook at all those nice Kojo shows I did. You know, who knows that I was buying the radio station secretly...

NNAMDIExactly.

SHERWOOD...with stolen money. So, really, you know, this is public service, folks.

NNAMDIIndeed.

SHERWOODSo I just think they ought to do the right thing and step out of the limelight.

NNAMDIThe Montgomery County Council has passed new disability rules for public employees. Fundamental changes creating a two-tiered system that distinguishes incapacitated workers from those who can, oh, find a job doing something else. Those changes coming nearly three years after the county's inspector general called attention to the unusually large number of Montgomery County police officers who retire on disability.

NNAMDIOfficers who had received that package had to show that only one injury affected their performance, a bad shoulder, and they got the same benefits as someone else who was paralyzed on the job. This points out to me in some respect how public safety officers can, in some ways, hold the public and the government at ransom in a number of ways because this was very difficult for the Montgomery County to do for one reason and one reason only, and that was because we were talking about police officers.

SHERWOODWell, that's part of the problem. The public safety people have very difficult jobs, whether they're firefighters or EMS, emergency medical people, or police officers. They have very difficult jobs. Here in the District, you know, they had difficult jobs, but they used to retire at 20 years with half their pay. And the city has raised it through a lot of yelling and screaming to 25.

SHERWOODBut if you haven't hurt your shoulder and then you go out on, like, 70 percent disability payments and you have another officer who maybe is paralyzed because he or she was trying to, you know, protect the citizens, and he or she gets the same amount of money.

SHERWOODThe system was just flawed. And so it has been corrected. It will not be fixed, though -- it won't go into effect until June -- I think, June or July of next year. So let's watch to see who tries to go out on disability. It ought to be a very -- this is part of the whole thing of county government, state government getting control of their pensions, getting control of all their -- all the things that cost, you know, billions of dollars.

NNAMDIAnd look for some more protests before it actually goes into effect. It's "The Politics Hour" with Tom Sherwood. He's our resident analyst, an NBC 4 reporter and a columnist for the Current Newspapers. I suspect a number of you will want to be calling in on this next issue because the public discussion about it has just begun to take place. The District is about to roll the dice on a plan to allow Internet gambling to take place within city lines.

NNAMDIIt would be the first of its kind across the country. The D.C. lotto would essentially be the casino boss in this venture. And joining us now in studio is Buddy Roogow, executive director of the D.C. Lottery and Charitable Games Control Board. Buddy Roogow, thank -- Roogow, what am I calling you?

MR. BUDDY ROOGOWRoogow.

SHERWOODRoogow is correct.

NNAMDIRoogow.

SHERWOODWhat kind of name is that? What is the...

ROOGOWI have no idea. It was changed 100 years ago or more. And it became Roogow.

NNAMDIBuddy Roogow.

ROOGOWI tell people think of moocow and say Roogow, and you got it.

NNAMDIBuddy Roogow is executive director of the D.C. Lottery...

ROOGOWOr casino boss.

NNAMDI...and Charitable Games Control Board.

SHERWOODOh.

NNAMDICall us at 800-433-8850. What do you think about online gambling in the District of Columbia? 800-433-8850 or send email to kojo@wamu.org. You told The Washington Post that you're going to postpone launching most of the hot spots for betting -- that's in today's paper -- to have more conversations in the community about it. Where and why do you think there needs to be better understanding with the community about the iGaming D.C. plan?

ROOGOWI think it's clear that there is misunderstanding. We want to try to dispel that misunderstanding or certainly give people the correct information. We are the first. Right now, no one other than -- no one at this point in time can go and legally participate in Internet gambling anywhere in the United States. Those sites that were offering it, many of them have been shut down. They were shut down by the Justice Department several months ago.

ROOGOWThere are still a few sites. I believe people try to get on. But it's illegal, and the only legally authorized program is what we're building in terms of a platform in D.C.

NNAMDIAnd, Tom Sherwood, please tell our listeners who may not be aware of it because there was not a great deal of public discussion...

ROOGOWRight.

NNAMDI...before this became law, how it became law.

SHERWOODLast December, after some back -- you know, preparation and all that by the lottery board and others...

NNAMDIThought you were about to say, after some backscratching, but go ahead.

SHERWOODWell, I was trying to say a polite word. Here's what happened. Councilmember Michael Brown, at-large Councilmember Michael Brown and then Council Chairman Vincent Gray, without a public hearing, inserted a legislation into the budget support act or whatever one of those budget bills, which passed over the holiday. And then I think the mayor signed it when he became -- got into office.

SHERWOODIt did not have -- I mean, while it was mentioned in what Councilmember Brown calls administrative meetings with the council, there was no press conference. There was no heralding of a way to raise more money to pay for government services. It simply happened, and it's still not clear if Mayor Gray was on Bruce DePuyt's show this morning. So it had plenty of publicity, but he didn't say what it was.

SHERWOODAnd unless I was asleep for the last two years, I didn't know about it until I actually did a study with -- a story with Buddy in March or so about how it was going to work. And I was astonished that no one knew about it. So it was slipped in. Councilmember Brown said it wasn't snuck in. Well, whether snuck or sneaked, it got in there without a lot of publicity.

NNAMDIOkay. For those who have not been following this as closely, Buddy Roogow, what exactly does the city's plan call for? And what's your role in carrying it out?

ROOGOWOkay. So our role is the same as it is essentially with the core lottery games. We're going -- we're responsible for the platform. It's being built by our vendor with our oversight. We're going to offer on a website, not yet available -- it won't be available till the latter part of July -- called iGaming -- or August rather -- igamingdc.com.

ROOGOWLater in July, people who are interested, who meet the requirements that we're going to impose when the site becomes a cash site, we're going to have those requirements even in late July when the free site begins, when they can go to dclottery.com, click on a button and take them to the free site where they'll be able to play a couple of different games for free.

ROOGOWThose games will mostly be blackjack and another game called Victory at Sea, which is very much like what most of us know as Battleship. Those two games will be available for free. Even on the free site, you'll have to be 19 years of age or older. And you'll have to have a -- you have to be in the District, on your computer in the District and nowhere else in order to participate.

SHERWOODSo to be clear, the controversy was that you were going to start first with hot spots around the city...

ROOGOWYeah.

SHERWOOD...where people would come and...

NNAMDIYou envisioned some public hotspots, yes.

SHERWOOD...to whatever those hotspots were...

ROOGOWRight.

SHERWOOD...but now, since that's on hold, you're going to go ahead with individuals?

ROOGOWNo. There's always...

NNAMDIWhat is your vision for these public hotspots?

ROOGOWWell, let me answer both. It was always our plan to begin as a free site through the lottery website. Then, in later August, the free site would be expanded to include more games, still only play for free on igamingdc.com. During that time, over the summer, we would be talking to interested retail outlets that are -- or hotels that are interested in participating.

ROOGOWThe only thing that happens is that a link, meaning an -- through the air is set up whereby people would be able to be at a particular location, have their own laptop with them and get on a website, just like they can get on any other website right now. So that's the only thing. We're not talking about building any casinos. We're not talking about providing machinery of any sort. We're not talking about having a specific room set aside.

ROOGOWIt would be the same thing as if you were to go into a Starbucks, and you were to get on your laptop. You'd have the same ability. That was the plan. What we -- when the hearing was scheduled, which was held several days ago, it became clear that the council, Chairman Evans, wanted to have more community input and wanted to know -- wanted the community to know what we were doing, where the sites were and also have an opportunity to comment on those sites.

ROOGOWI agree. The lottery has determined that it has to develop -- he asked us to develop rules and procedures. We're going to give those rules and procedures by the end of next week, publish them on our website. Essentially what we need is we're going to give people the opportunity by going to all the different wards, working with the ANC and have community input.

ROOGOWWe're going to give them the opportunity by telling them, here are the sites we're thinking of essentially lighting up in terms of being able to get service, and we want to know your opinion of this. Well, here's the impacts. Here's what happens at these particular locations, and we're going to get their opinions. We don't plan to turn on anyone until we get community input.

NNAMDII watched those hearings this week...

ROOGOWYeah.

NNAMDI...and I think Tom Sherwood was also there in those hearings.

ROOGOWYes.

NNAMDIAnd most of the people I saw testifying seemed to be people who were opposed to online gambling coming to D.C. in the way that it did. Yet Councilmember Michael Brown said at the hearing that the hospitality industry wants online gambling and has been pushing to avoid any delay in it. What evidence can you provide us of that? I didn't hear a great deal from the hospitality industry in these hearings.

ROOGOWI don't think you probably heard too much at all, maybe nothing from the hospitality industry. The...

NNAMDIWell, I turned away for a few minutes.

ROOGOWYeah, the conversation...

SHERWOODWell, you didn't miss it 'cause they wasn't there.

ROOGOWYeah.

NNAMDIThank you.

ROOGOWThe conversations with the hospitality industry, with hotels and restaurants, have been general in terms of with the associations. We've had very little conversation with specific hotels who wanted to have this hearing. We had -- the platform isn't fully built yet. We don't expect any kind of activity. We didn't, at that time, expect any kind of paid activity until September.

ROOGOWWe're now going to make sure that before any kind of paid activity, meaning cash play -- excuse me -- begins on the websites, that we're going to get full community input by virtue of going to those wards, meeting with the community, giving them an opportunity on the website to ask questions, get back to them with the answers to the questions and explain the -- how this site is going to be developed and how we intend to raise revenues to the District.

SHERWOODLet's be clear for the people who are listening.

ROOGOWYep.

SHERWOODYou had planned to start the actual betting of moneys on Sept. 8?

ROOGOWCorrect.

SHERWOODSo, now, you've agreed with the council. Mr. Evans asked that that be delayed. You've agreed that that would go beyond Sept. 8 and will not start on Sept. 8. Is that correct?

ROOGOWLet me say this. It won't start until we get -- and the council agrees -- we get satisfactory community input, meaning the communities had a chance to comment. They've had a chance to tell us they do or do not want it...

SHERWOODBut Sept. 8 is...

ROOGOWSept. 8 is not a magic date.

SHERWOODOkay. Because the problem -- this is across the city as Mr. Evans spelled out in detail -- community groups -- the council goes on recess during the summer.

ROOGOWRight.

SHERWOODThe ANC members, which are very close to the ground, and each one person representing about 2,000 people, are all on vacation. They don't meet during the summer months.

ROOGOWRight.

SHERWOODYou can't have -- even if in your most diligent way, if you wanted to have public hearings between now and Sept. 8, you couldn't possibly do it because the ANCs have to have notice to their members. They have -- there's -- so it's -- I know it -- it seems to me -- can you say this won't start before Sept. 8? There will be something -- date later.

ROOGOWIt will not start by Sept. 8...

SHERWOODOkay.

ROOGOW...and, you know, I will say this, that our goal is -- and we -- when -- remember, when we say start, we don't necessarily mean the whole community at one time. If we determine that in a particular area there seems to be support for it, then we would be able to get moving in that particular area. But it's a cumbersome thing for us to do, Tom and Kojo, for us to develop the linkages.

ROOGOWIt's going to take us time to do that any way in terms of making sure that they're linked properly. So Sept. 8 is obviously not a hard date. And it's not a target in the sense that we're saying it has to happen on Sept. 8. We do want to try to meet the goal of the -- when the law was passed, $2.2 million was included for revenue in fiscal year of 2012, which begins Oct. 1.

ROOGOWSo we want to try to meet our obligations and implement the program in such a way that we can raise revenue of that nature. But we got to do it right, and we have to do it with Chairman Evans' blessing, in a sense, that we've gotten adequate community support.

SHERWOODEvery...

NNAMDIIn case you're just joining us, we're talking with Buddy Roogow. He is executive director of the D.C. Lottery and Charitable Games Control Board, which is responsible for rolling out online gambling in the District supposedly by September, even though there may be some delay. What is your opinion about online gambling coming to the District? Call us at 800-433-8850. Allow me to go to Daniel in Brookland. Daniel, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.

DANIELThank you, Kojo. I understand the D.C. Lottery would have oversight on this new gambling scam, you know, plan. First of all, I'd love to see the city council start serving our needs and stop figuring out ways to soak money out of people. And when does the D.C. Lottery -- where do they get credibility? What did they do about the television campaign that they ran that had an advertisement showing a woman stepping in dog feces?

DANIELYou know, Mr. Roogow, I, as a citizen, would like to know who was fired for that, who was reprimanded, and how much money...

NNAMDIWell, you're raising two issues here. One, Daniel, I get the impression you are opposed to online gambling in the District, period. Correct?

DANIELYes. I think that...

NNAMDIAnd you are also opposed, even if there is online gambling, to it being under the control of the D.C. Lottery, correct?

DANIELExactly...

NNAMDIOkay. Well, allow me to have Buddy Roogow respond.

ROOGOWThe council -- whatever method was used, the D.C. Lottery responds and has a mission to implement the programs with the council. The council passed it in December. It was signed in January. All D.C. legislation has to go through a 30-day legislative vetting period at Congress. That 30-day period ended with their silent ascent on April 8.

ROOGOWI think we heard the attorney general offer D.C. -- indicate that he felt that we could move forward legally if we were consistent with what federal law requires and what local law requires, so our program -- we've been advised or we've been tasked with the mission of carrying out this program. We're going to do the job in the best way we can, should the program move forward.

NNAMDIThank you for your call, Daniel. Here is Tom.

SHERWOODI'm wondering how development -- if you've publicly committed to dealing with the ANCs and if you deal with anybody who deals with the ANCs, it is a torturous procedure. And I'm not being that -- saying that critical, but the ANC members want to know. I'm just trying to -- and you say you might partially row it out, maybe like a pilot, find a couple of places. I'm just wondering where it will be.

SHERWOODDowntown is overseen by Jack Evans, who's signaled he's worried about it. You would be politically foolish, probably, to go to just a really poor neighborhood.

ROOGOWAbsolutely.

SHERWOODLooks like you're attacking poor people.

ROOGOWRight.

SHERWOODI think if you can get one on Connecticut Avenue, you might have a shot.

ROOGOWI, you know -- I -- let me remind everybody, and I'm -- there is no magic to that date. We can't move forward till we've had adequate community input and that we receive that input in a way that gives them a chance to weigh in on the pros and cons of specific sites where we want to do this. We're going to make sure we do that. And we're going to do that effectively, and we won't be able to move forward until that's done.

ROOGOWAnd you're saying, Tom -- and you're probably right -- that we can't possibly get that kind of community input in the next two months. And if that's the case, that's the case, and we won't be able to move forward.

SHERWOODIf -- and our viewers may -- our listeners may not know. You know, he ran the -- did you say that in your introduction, he ran the Maryland lottery?

NNAMDIWhich brings me to this. You used to run the Maryland lottery...

ROOGOWYes.

NNAMDI...and you have said that we are in this to make money. We're in it to create revenue for the city.

ROOGOWYes.

NNAMDIIt is my understanding that the city does not get your tax revenues because you are still living in Maryland. So how can you be providing revenues for the city while withholding your own? And when do you plan on moving into the District of Columbia?

ROOGOWI live in Maryland, and I've been there in the same home for 31 years where my family lives and my children and grandchildren and very happy there at that location.

SHERWOODYou're all in one big house? All your grandchildren?

ROOGOWIt's -- not quite.

SHERWOODThat's a heck of a house.

ROOGOWFive grandchildren.

NNAMDIBut don't you think it would be appropriate for the head of the D.C. Lottery to provide an example of providing revenue to the city by giving us some of his own?

ROOGOWI said -- again, I'm very happy where I live right now, and I certainly spend a great deal of my money, since I'm here most of the day, in the District.

SHERWOODWell, you know, I'm big on this issue, but I do not believe -- you're not under the rule...

ROOGOWNo, I'm not.

SHERWOOD...that mayor's cabinet members must live in the city...

ROOGOWThat's correct.

SHERWOOD...or move within 180 days.

ROOGOWThat's correct.

SHERWOODBut maybe that's a flaw that could be fixed...

NNAMDIHere is Arnold in Washington, D.C. Arnold, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.

ARNOLDGood morning, Kojo. I'm a big fan of yours, and I'm also a big fan of the game of blackjack. You know, I still play it on my Droid phone regularly. I go to casinos maybe two or three times a year. But the reality of this situation is online gambling does exist. In the state of Maryland -- I'm from D.C. I live in Maryland now -- they have slot -- parlors in Terryville...

NNAMDITrue, true.

ARNOLD...which was, you know, in Pennsylvania, and in another location, so it's not important. What Virginia has...

NNAMDISo you're in favor of them?

ARNOLDI'm 100 percent in favor of it, but with a caveat.

NNAMDIYes.

ARNOLDI used to think the lottery was that those people who couldn't afford food would take their food money and buy lottery tickets.

NNAMDIOkay.

ARNOLDAnd the addiction to gambling is just like heroine or nicotine or alcohol. And there is a group -- I'm not a member. It's Gambler's Anonymous. I would like to see some sort of publicity and encouragement. And nobody wants somebody to take their (unintelligible).

NNAMDIEven as we rule out online gambling, you feel that, presumably, some of the funding should be used to help people to avoid gambling addiction. Gives me the opportunity to ask you, Buddy Roogow, about the limits on people participating in this. It's my understanding, it's limited -- it will be limited to...

ROOGOWYes.

NNAMDI…$250 a week.

ROOGOWYou know -- yes, and I take the question. I accept it. There's demographic studies about who participates in online gambling. But beyond that, $250 a week is the maximum. If you go to the British Columbia Lottery Corporation in Canada, I believe they allow deposits of up to $10,000 a week. We have no desire to have the professional gambler who could lose or win $250 in one hand and, therefore, in our case, would no longer be able to play for another week.

ROOGOWWe don't want to attract those people. We have no desire to do it. We're going to have an -- I think, one of the most robust, if not the most robust responsible gaming program in the world. We're working with the National Council on Problem Gambling...

SHERWOODLet me -- just let me interrupt. But you say you don't want the pro gambler...

ROOGOWNo, we don't.

SHERWOOD...and you don't want the poor person to spend his or her family...

ROOGOWOf course, not.

SHERWOOD...dinner money.

ROOGOWRight.

SHERWOODSo who is targeted? Are you -- I don't think I've ever heard you say it, but I think you actually want to target the tourists who come to town, the 20 million tourists that come to town.

ROOGOWOh, I'm happy to say it. We would be -- we think one of the most important elements here, in order for the site to be successful, is, in fact, for all those people who do come in town every day or who are visiting the city as tourists to give them the opportunity if they wish to participate. Look, it surrounds us. People are leaving the District every day in buses and cars to go to the sites that the gentleman caller just mentioned.

ROOGOWThey're going to West Virginia. They're going to the sites in Maryland, and they're playing in a much more aggressive way at bricks and mortar casinos. And we'd like to be able to have at least, to a minimal extent, some kind of attraction to keep those people here and bring them here.

NNAMDISpeaking of tourists, here is Karen in Washington, D.C. with a comment related to that. Karen, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.

KARENYeah, hi, I'll try to be succinct. I was at the budget hearing in May when you were speaking about the great revenue potential from this. And there was no number in the budget from gaming, the online gaming, where the revenue would seem to generate. And you just made a comment about, you know, the income taxes that you would get from the non-residents, people staying at hotels, what a great way to incentivize people coming to the District.

KARENYou know, something new and different you can do in D.C. you can't do anywhere else, but isn't there a provision on taxing non-resident incomes currently? So how do you expect to generate revenue from the tourists?

ROOGOWWell, the revenue is generated in two ways. One is it's generated by the fact that they're participating in the game. And there are -- obviously, there are house odds in which people play in which they win, in which they lose. And also, yes, it depends on where they live, but if they make over a certain amount of money, if they're able to accumulate high winnings, then that will be taxed. It depends on where they live, where that tax is paid.

NNAMDIYou've tried to make it clear that this would really be intranet gambling, that...

ROOGOWIt totally.

NNAMDI...that the betting will take place on a closed network only available to people...

ROOGOWYes.

NNAMDI...located inside city lines. What safeguards are you planning to put up to prevent people from busting into the system from outside the city?

ROOGOWHas to be inter-jurisdictional meaning within the city. That means the play must originate and end within the District boundaries. We have an -- there's filters that have been built. And we're going to use several of them to try to ensure that all play occurs within the District. One of those, of course, is to determine the IP address and make sure it's a trusted IP address. Trusted means that it's legitimate, it's been certified, that it's within the District.

ROOGOWWe're going to make sure it's not right on the border, but there's going to be a buffer zone. We're also going to make sure to the best of our ability and consistent with federal law, which is what the UIGEA is, which is the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which requires that we take all precautions, all reasonable precautions to make sure that the play is intra-jurisdictional. So there'll be other filters to try to determine where the play is coming from.

ROOGOWIf collusion occurs, we will eventually determine that that collusion occurs. Then those people who are violating the law, they will be prosecuted. We have filters and technology to give our best shot at making sure those don't happen.

NNAMDIJust for people who are wondering about how much money this is intended...

ROOGOWYes.

NNAMDI...to make, the District is projected to yield $30 million (sic) for the city gambling. It's $13 million from the city.

ROOGOWRight.

SHERWOODThirteen.

NNAMDIThirteen million dollars from the city -- for the city between fiscal year 2012 and fiscal year 2014, over three years. Tom.

SHERWOODSo if I'm a smart person and I take my latest Apple computer or Dell computer and I go to a hotspot, assuming they start up, and can someone -- how do you -- how will you know whether someone links with me in Maryland or anywhere else?

ROOGOWGreat question.

SHERWOODAnd how do you -- how are you going to stop that kind of linkage so that you -- And I want to ask about the age limit.

ROOGOWOkay.

SHERWOODTechnically, how do you (word?) ?

ROOGOWThat's a great question. First of all, it costs money to buy the kind of equipment that -- it's software and hardware to do the linkage. Second of all, you won't be able to play if you're in the District and somebody is linking on to your computer. Third of all, we're going to have records of where the -- if there are winnings, where those winnings came from. And we're going to be able to have access to every site.

ROOGOWSo let's suppose you try to do it from your home. You may have more than one terminal in your home to allow you to do that. We're going to know that you have more than one terminal. And we're going to be able to determine it, whether we determine it on the first try.

SHERWOODSo the answer is technical...

ROOGOWYes.

SHERWOOD...technically, yes, you can detect. Secondly, you say you must be 19.

ROOGOWYes.

SHERWOODBars and restaurants, of course, who said that alcohol-serving places have trouble with people with fake IDs.

ROOGOWYep.

SHERWOODSo my computer is set to -- I can do it 'cause I'm older than 19.

ROOGOWYeah.

SHERWOODBut how are you going to know that a teenager or somebody or...

ROOGOWUnder 19...

SHERWOOD...under 19 is going to come in and use a computer? How's that going to work?

ROOGOW'Cause we have technologies that -- first of all, you -- anyone who wants to get on this site is going to -- when they want to get on, they're going to have to register for the site.

SHERWOODRight. I registered my computer and me.

ROOGOWAnd you. You're going to have to show identification, federally accepted identification that verifies that you're 19 or over. And we're going to have filters to confirm that. And there's going to be challenge questions and passwords and everything else that will help us to determine that you're 19 and over. And if -- I believe we're using at least three filters. If any one of those filters don't give us a green light, then you won't be able to get on.

SHERWOODI can just -- I can -- I know there's some guys in town who would love to set up a computer and let people under 19 play and take part of the cut.

NNAMDIAnd just -- absolutely, you're right.

ROOGOWBut, remember, you're also going to have to set up a bank account or set up an account by which...

SHERWOODIt could be -- well, that's what bookies do.

ROOGOWYes. You know, I'm not saying there aren't -- but, we will weed those out. I'm convinced from our technology we'll be able to determine that.

SHERWOODAnother call.

NNAMDIHere is Natalie in Washington. Natalie, you're on the air. We're running out of time in this segment, but go ahead, please.

NATALIEThank you. Well, once again our city council and its members have acted in a manner that assures that we continue, the District of Columbia, the capital of the United States, we remain the laughing stock of the world. Get serious, guys. Who -- why do I have to pay this guy about gambling and you guys talking about technology? Let us get rid of these councilmembers. Let us get a mayor and people who are caring about people in this city.

NATALIEAnd never mind all this how it's going to work. Get rid of it. We are the capital of the United States. We can't even vote here. And we're wasting time and wasting people and encouraging them to go gamble. My God, you should be ashamed of yourselves.

NNAMDIThank you very much for your call, Natalie. One more example that we allow all opinions here on "The Politics Hour."

ROOGOWSure.

SHERWOODBut there is...

NNAMDIAnd we'll be talking with Councilmember Michael Brown in the next couple of weeks about his role in all of this and what he sees for the future. Buddy, thank you very much for joining us.

ROOGOWThank you for having me.

NNAMDIBuddy Roogow is executive director of the D.C. Lottery and Charitable Games Control Board. You're listening to "The Politics Hour" with Tom Sherwood. Tom Sherwood is our resident analyst. He's an NBC 4 reporter and a columnist for The Current Newspapers. One of the people, Tom, who was opposed to the way this was rolled out -- and I suspect opposed to online gambling in general -- is an activist that we've all known pretty well for quite a long time.

NNAMDIMarie Drissel. I saw her testifying before the city council on this issue. And she now joins us by telephone. Marie Drissel, thank you for joining us. What is the nature of your objection to all of this?

MS. MARIE DRISSELWell, my objection is that this is like a big fairytale with a very bad ending, and we're going to -- they snuck it into the budget. They actually signed it into the contract in March of 2010, and they still couldn't find any time to hold a hearing. I want to know who's going to lose money. I want to know what kind of sound financial data they have to prove that this is the way we should go.

MS. MARIE DRISSELAnd I really want to know why Gandhi, Brown and Gray collaborated together in December 2010 and stuck this into the budget with no hearing. I'm really concerned about the ANCs. My ANC does -- cannot make an announcement and have a meeting until Sept. 15 of this year. So there's no way they can meet and have any statement about what they feel about this situation.

MS. MARIE DRISSELANCs throughout the city are not going to have any other opportunity to be involved. So this is what going to do, I'm announcing today that I'm going to put -- pay for a competition to produce a financial analysis on the pros and cons to show the CFO and the D.C. Lottery what they should have had available last year for ANCs, churches, civic groups and councils -- and the council.

MS. MARIE DRISSELAnd then I'm going to put -- I'm going to give an award and pay for somebody to come up with a really simple way to explain what this is all about because this CFO, Gandhi, and this lottery person who lives in Maryland haven't given us anything to really understand what's going down. So...

NNAMDIYou clearly believe, Marie Drissel, that in some way, shape or form, the fix is in, that this is a foot-in-the-door, so to speak. What do you believe is going to be the result of all of this?

DRISSELThere are going to be gaming sites to go to all over the city and in bars where we already have problems. There are going to be situations where you're going to be in hotels. And there are private clubs in D.C. It's going to be anywhere anybody wants it. And it will be little casinos. And then, next, it's going to be big ones. And then we're going to have a casino on the Potomac. And then we're going to have riverboats. And that's what's going down.

NNAMDIWe will have to see whether that, in fact, occurs. Marie Drissel, thank you so much for your call.

DRISSELThank you very much.

NNAMDIIt's The Politics Hour with Tom Sherwood. He's our resident analyst and an NBC 4 reporter and a columnist for The Current Newspapers. You know that there are now new rules in the Commonwealth of Virginia, Tom Sherwood, regarding, well, booze. You can now take your own wine with you when you go to a restaurant, and the restaurant has to permit you to have your own booze there. And I speculated earlier...

SHERWOODHas to permit you?

NNAMDIYes. Under the new rules, they have to permit you. They can charge you some kind of little corking fee.

SHERWOODA corkage. I've never heard of a little corking fee.

NNAMDIWhy, what's a corking fee like?

SHERWOODCorking -- well, $10, $20, $30. It could be -- well, that's nice that people now have joined, that, you know, Virginia has joined the 21st century in terms of wine and stuff like that. But they also have a tough rule on teen -- on drinking if you're a...

NNAMDISo if I float in there with bottle of Ripple or Thunderbird or a Mad Dog 20/20, I still get to...

SHERWOODI think you have to have some decency. I think that would be a rule for them, you know, to -- not only to throw you out, but to break the bottle as you go out the door. That'd be terrible.

NNAMDIWell, it says any kind of wine (unintelligible).

SHERWOODBut there is a very serious law about -- just so we could, very quickly: .02 will be the teenage drinking age limit, not .08.

NNAMDICorrect.

SHERWOODYou lose your license for a year.

NNAMDIAnd it used to be six months, but it's now up to a year which you could lose your license.

SHERWOODYes. It's very tough. If you're a young person...

NNAMDII don't know what kind of wine Bill Euille likes to drink, but he is available to tell us about that. William Euille is the mayor of Alexandria, Va. He joins us in studio. Mayor Euille, thank you so much for joining us.

MAYOR WILLIAM EUILLEThank you. Glad to be here.

NNAMDIMr. Mayor, what's your favorite wine? What do you intend popping open when you show up at a restaurant when these rules take effect?

EUILLEWell, believe it or not, I'm not a wine drinker. So I...

SHERWOODYou actually...

EUILLEI don't have that problem.

SHERWOODAt the correspondents' dinner, you had a nice dark -- looked like a nice dark beer on your table at the correspondents' dinner.

EUILLEI believe that was one of the other guests sitting with me. But, no, I...

SHERWOODI thought it looked pretty close to your plate.

NNAMDIIs this the kind of thing you look for when you go to a correspondents' dinner?

SHERWOODI try to see all, tell all.

EUILLEThat was a lovely event, by the way, the RAMMY Awards.

NNAMDIMayor Euille, if it seems like people have been debating on the future of Alexandria's waterfront space for decades, it's because they have, quite literally. This week, the Council voted to create a citizen advisory group to look at the issue this summer and, hopefully, wind the process down. Before we get in to what your hopes for this group are, we have to ask, how did we get here?

EUILLEWell, you know, the -- again, it's been decades, at least -- almost two decades in discussion in terms of folks wanting to have a vision for developing and redeveloping the waterfront in the old town of Alexandria. And one of the things that's really important here is the fact that Alexandria is a city. We're one of very few cities throughout America that can actually claim, one, that we have a waterfront and, two, that we actually have a river that flows, you know, by it, past us.

EUILLEAnd so the opportunity is there to make sure that not only is the waterfront available for, you know, commerce, per se, if indeed that's an opportunity, but for citizens and visitors to be able to have a place to go to relax, to enjoy. It's a large waterfront, and it's in the heart of the old town district. But yet it's -- you know, the days of real active commerce have gone away, and so we have some buildings, warehouses that are still sitting on the waterfront.

SHERWOODThe waterfront itself lacks the ability to be both accessible and connected so that you can -- whereby one can walk, bike or push a stroller or jog from one end to the other without having to zigzag from a bike path or a walking path to go out in the streets, go maybe a block out of the way, then work yourself back on to the pathway.

EUILLEAnd so as we move forward and continue to grow and expand as a city, we believe that the opportunity is here for us to at least take another hard look at what is it that we want to see for our waterfront, work with the community to come up with a -- some ideas and let's move forward.

NNAMDIIf you have opinions, and I'm sure you do, about what you'd like to see on the Alexandria waterfront, call us at 800-433-8850. Send us a tweet, @kojoshow, email to kojo@wamu.org. Or go to our website, kojoshow.org. What do you think -- what would you like to see happen with the Alexandria waterfront? What, in your mind, Mayor Euille, are the fundamental points of disagreement at work here?

EUILLEWell, that's interesting, a very good question because we believe that there is broad base support. I say we, meaning the electorates, my -- the city council, but more than just the city council.

EUILLEI think a majority of the citizens in the city -- I honestly believe that we -- what we do, indeed, have an opportunity to move forward to develop our waterfront, one that provides both recreation, passive use, can have some museums and that also signifies the history that we have in the city and along the waterfront, a lot of things that can indeed be there and take place.

EUILLEI don't think anyone wants to see the waterfront built up with a lot of housing, residential that will block the vista. We want it to be open and accessible.

SHERWOODWhat are people objecting to? I know that the -- at the end of King Street, the yacht club there and the long suits, and they -- I think they have -- it has actually prevailed now. It can't be forced to change. Is that correct? Or is that -- don't tell me that lawsuit is still going on.

EUILLENo, no. The lawsuit has been resolved.

SHERWOODOkay.

EUILLEBut the city has ongoing discussions and conversations.

SHERWOODBut you have to reach agreement on that, and then you...

EUILLEYeah, with the boat club in terms of opening up the front of King Street, the vista, so that there's access where folks, as you're approaching the water -- the river, the waterfront, you can actually see that there's something there. And you know which way to go...

SHERWOODRight.

EUILLE...as opposed to thinking that it's -- you're hindered by this parking lot that's right there facing you.

SHERWOODIt looks really industrial down there. But then also the Robinson terminals, which are the two terminals that are warehouses owned by The Washington Post, which they have a major stake in what happens on the northern end of the waterfront. So when do you think you can get this? I thought your guys were going to vote on this by the end of June, and now you've delayed it again.

SHERWOODAre we going to have gambling in the District before you get the waterfront redone?

EUILLEProbably. But I -- you know, again, we've been 20 -- two decades at discussing it, but I think we're getting close. We're getting awful close to moving forward to come up with something and hopefully a decision -- formal decision can be made by year's end, this year in 2011.

SHERWOODTarget date by Dec. 31.

EUILLEYeah, by Dec. 31, if not before. Again, the four -- the major areas of discussion has to deal with density, has to deal with parking, and those things certainly impact the quality of life for both the businesses and residents that already are about that waterfront, how much open space will there be or not be, whether or not there will be hotels and if so, how many hotels.

SHERWOODAnd you're competing within the District who's doing a $2 billion dollar waterfront, National Harbor across the river. Every time you delay, you're delaying the economic benefits.

EUILLEYeah, you're absolutely right.

NNAMDIBut here is the thing, Mayor Euille. You come to this job with a background in construction and in development. In your heart of hearts -- I know you're open to the democratic process. But in your heart of hearts, what do you think the most reasonable plan for the waterfront space would look like?

EUILLEI think the most reasonable plan for the waterfront is to, again, provide the connectivity, the accessibility, folks to move about from one end to the other, have open space, both passive and recreational, for use, have arts and historic aspects of it captured so the people can enjoy that. And if an opportunity can exist to have at least a one boutique-type hotel that doesn't block the vista and/or add another couple of restaurants on the waterfront, which we don't have -- we only have one now, and that's the Chart House. I think that is a very sensible, doable plan that we can all agree on.

NNAMDII'd like to hear from some Alexandrians. Please put your headphones on. We're going to the telephones, starting with Janice, who is in west -- on the west end of Alexandria. Janice, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.

JANICEYes. Thank you for taking my call. And, Mayor Euille, thank you for postponing the decision until there is further study. I emphasize the west end of Alexandria because I don't want people thinking that it's only Old Town folks who are complaining about this. The top problems that will be developing with this further development in -- on the waterfront, especially the so-called boutique hotels, the Morrison House's Boutique Hotel, 150-room hotels are not boutique hotels.

JANICEI have attended so many of the many planning and council meetings that have discussed this. And we seem to keep going over the same ground. But I know you've responded to many of our complaints. You talk about the value of history to Alexandria, but demonstrate that by including history in writing, in the plan, instead of just, well, we think it's going to be valuable. And, again, I don't live in Old Town, but...

NNAMDIHow would you like to see that history included, Janice?

JANICEI'd like to see an archaeology museum in a better place. Right now, the archaeology museum is on the third floor of the Torpedo Factory. People have to search it out, and they do find it. The city could not find money in their budget to fund it on Sunday afternoon.

NNAMDISo you see an archaeology museum in a more prominent place on the waterfront. Anything else?

JANICEYeah, just not putting in all -- like I say, all of these huge hotels that are...

NNAMDIOkay. Here's Mayor Euille.

EUILLECertainly, Janet, I don't disagree with you, nor will the council disagree with you. The reality of it all is that a museum of any type -- and let's not kid ourselves. There's all kinds of stakeholders, from folks that want an archaeology museum, to folks that want some type of museum that reflects the water significance, the boating significance of Old Town Alexandria. But yet we can't have all of these things on the waterfront without the ability to finance and pay for them.

EUILLEAnd so the -- what has to happen, first and foremost, is to address the flooding impacts along the waterfront. And that's an estimated cost of about $10 million before anything can happen there. And then the city has invested dollars already over the past several years to acquire certain parcels of land to consolidate so that we can protect and be able to provide, in the future, spaces for open space and parkland use.

EUILLEBut one would -- the reason why they thought of having some other commercial uses on the waterfront was to be able to generate the revenues that would be able to pay for things that will not be revenue generators.

SHERWOODThat's exactly what the hotels would do. That's why you would have the hotel.

EUILLEPrecisely.

NNAMDIHere...

SHERWOODAnd they bring people who spend money, and they pay taxes.

EUILLEMm hmm.

NNAMDIHere now -- thank you for your call, Janice. Here, now, Nancy in Alexandria. Nancy, your turn.

NANCYHi, Mr. Mayor, I just sat last Saturday and -- for nine hours and watched the city council in progress and watched them approve the Harris Teeter Project, 52,000 square feet and 175 apartments. In the north end of Old Town, there's also 204 apartments being built near the post office. There's five blocks of townhouses being built on the other side of the Charles Houston Recreation Center.

NANCYYou and your council are overbuilding, overdeveloping the city. Please don't do it on the waterfront. Please make this a livable waterfront and not add traffic to our city by building big hotels. Thank you.

NNAMDIMayor Euille.

EUILLEThank you, Janet, (sic) for that, your comments. And, certainly, that's not what is intended to happen here. That's why I mentioned earlier, the vision -- and, again, this isn't the city council's plan. This is a plan, the vision plan that was developed, evolved by the community over 100 meetings that took place, that started in the spring of 2009.

EUILLEAnd that has gotten us to this point with a lot of input from various stakeholder groups, including the Historic Preservation, the Arts Commission, the Parks and Recreation Commission, the Archaeology Commission. So everybody's had a say into this. The reality of it all is, is that -- and it's a beautiful thing that, as we have -- all care about our waterfront.

EUILLEAnd a crown jewel and something that we want to see happen in the near future, because whatever we do there, we're only going to have really one time to do it right. And -- but the fact that folks are being able to express themselves and voice their opinions is the right thing to be happening. But yet there are more than, you know, several hundred different perspectives in terms of what folks want, what they don't want.

EUILLEOur job as the elected officials is to narrow this down to something that's more reasonable and sensible, cost-effective and manageable. And so while we thought the process that was employed -- had been employed was a good one, we've come to realize that it didn't work.

EUILLEAnd so, now, we have agreed to create a smaller workgroup to give them the opportunity to look at the current plan that's on the table, to make some revisions to it and then report back out recommendations to the city council in the fall.

NNAMDINancy mentioned traffic. I've been studying BRAC, the base realignment and closure more than you can possibly imagine. We've done shows about the process every Monday for the past month. You have said that, even though it's going to bring thousands of jobs to the Mark Center in your city, you don't think it's been worth it. Why?

EUILLEWell, not for the frustration, the headaches and the time that it's taken, both in terms of city government personnel resources and the dollar resources to address the quality of life impacts that this building, this huge building that's there now in a billion-dollar facility, will have on the budding neighborhoods. And, certainly...

NNAMDI6,400 jobs.

EUILLE6,400 jobs are nice, but they're not new jobs. I mean, these are folks coming in, being consolidated, brought in -- being brought in from other surrounding facilities that aren't too far from the Pentagon. It's a consolidation. There may be a couple of hundred new jobs that will be created as a result, but, certainly, it's not worth the headache, one, because it lacked the proper transit capabilities or opportunities for a facility of this magnitude.

SHERWOODYou know, we talked about the waterfront and now the BRAC. Now let's go to the other phase, Potomac Yard. I remember the fight to keep the Redskins stadium out of there, but Doug Wilder brought it there. And people said, oh, we don't want 100,000 people coming to our neighborhood every Sunday and clogging the roads. And, of course, now the Potomac Yard is 100,000 minimum, it seems like, every day there. So what is the status of getting the public -- of the Metro stop there and...

EUILLEWell, very good question, Tom. And, as a matter of fact, I -- last night was the first meeting of the reconvening of the Potomac Yard Metro Feasibility Workgroup. And this is a group representative of citizens reps, including myself and the vice mayor, who are the conveners. And this group will continue to work with staff and with WMATA to monitor the EIS process, which is required to move forward to...

SHERWOODRight. Environmental impact.

EUILLEEnvironmental impact analysis for this project to move forward.

SHERWOODDoes that include -- excuse me -- the traffic? I mean, the traffic around there, of course, is just horrendous.

EUILLEThe traffic, everything. Everything will be looked at as part of the EIS, yes. But the city is committed. And that development and that whole development plan has been approved by the city council more than a year-and-a-half ago.

SHERWOODCan I just say something real quick for him? This -- we're talking about development. The good news is you're talking about an Alexandria that's come out of the recession, and you're trying to move ahead with all of these things as opposed to cutting back more and more.

EUILLEPrecisely. And -- but this Metro station, new Metro -- proposed Metro station could cost up to about $270 million. And we have a commitment from the property owners, developers in Potomac Yard that they're committed to help pay for some of their costs, as well as having a special taxing district.

NNAMDIWilliam Euille is the mayor of Alexandria, Va. He is a Democrat. Bill Euille, thank you so much for joining us.

EUILLEGlad to be here anytime.

NNAMDITom Sherwood is a resident of the District of Columbia who just displayed an alarming knowledge about Alexandria, Va., suggesting...

SHERWOODForty-six percent drop in crime. Mr. Mayor?

NNAMDI...indicating...

EUILLEThe lowest in 41 years.

SHERWOODThat's it. That's what it is, the lowest in 41 years.

NNAMDIYour knowledge indicate -- did you actually go to Virginia, to Alexandria to find out...

SHERWOODI made a wrong turn and found myself over there. Took me two hours to get back.

NNAMDITom Sherwood is an NBC 4 reporter and a columnist for the Current Newspapers. Thank you all for listening. Happy Fourth. I'm Kojo Nnamdi.