Stop the Casino

[danmonte]

On Tuesday March 24, we should ask the Board of Supervisors to delay action on the Graton Ranchoria Casino. We need many folks in their chamber with that message. Please add to the talking points below and circulate widely. We should act with urgency, before the weekend if we are to get help on Tuesday.

BoS agenda item below

Dan
*****

We should ask the Board of Supervisors to put off accepting the provisions of the FEIS as there has only been four weeks to review the 70,000 + pages.

We as a group have great concerns over many of the impacts of the proposed Casino and related business activities.

They include increase in crime that will be associated with all casinos.

We are concerned with the increase in the traffic at the Rohnert Park portion of HWY 101, Petaluma Hill Road, and Stony Pinot Road. This increased traffic will be one impact on the environment.

Another will be the detriment to habitat for the California Tiger Salamander and other species.

Our County is now in the process of developing a water plan and a ground water management plan. Approval of this casino complex will nullify those efforts and will cause water planning to become a matter for the courts. It has been estimated that the casino complex will use as much water as the whole of Rohnert Park.

We object to the procedural faults where the BIA granted tribal status prior to the acceptance of an EIS.

In addition the Federal Supreme Court has ruled against the Federal Government in a recent ruling disallowing its granting of tribal status over property for tribal groups not in existence prior to 1932.

***
COUNTY COUNSEL/COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR

49. Proposed Graton Rancheria Casino and Hotel Project

Authorize comments to the National Indian Gaming Commission ("NIGC") on the Final Environmental Impact Statement ("FEIS") and Conformity Determination for the Federated Indians of the Graton Rancheria Proposed Casino and Hotel Project

Authorize staff to incorporate direction from the Board and to submit the comments to the NIGC by March 30, 2009

CAO Recommends: Approval

[NudeTea]

Crime is already rampant in the area. There was a significant anti-drug maneuver staged just this morning (Friday am) by the police in the Wal Mart area.

I'm curious as to how you come to your predictions:

Crime increase. Is there a place where studies have documented crime in relation to casinos? Otherwise, crime is known to happen everywhere already. It's been my experience while reading the paper that crime happens in rural settings as well as metropolitan.

Have impact studies projected real numbers as to how much traffic will increase on Stony Point, Petaluma Hill, etc? It's my personal presumption that in ten years, population will have grown with or without the casino. Growth is a natural trend in all cities and so the streets are already showing stress. With or without the casino, these roads will see an increase in load as the years move forward.

The Tiger Salamander. The county is currently conducting a 5-year-long sweep of all the creeks in this area according to what I read on the City of Rohnert Park website. With the foliage being raped to the very dirt of the channels, what impact studies document how the casino's presence will cause a worsening of the endangerment?

The water demand of the casino: How has it been projected that the casino will use as much as the rest of the City of Rohnert Park's current 32 or 33 well sites? Where are those allegations coming from?

I would really like to find out which side of the fence to stand on. At this point though, population growth in the area is one of the easist predictions a futurist could assert, and the area will suffer the brunt of it with or without a casino.

Thank you.

[danmonte]

Crime is already rampant in the area. There was a significant anti-drug maneuver staged just this morning (Friday am) by the police in the Wal Mart area.

I think you are making the point that these large corporate chains are disassociated from community. There sole function economically is to export profits to corporate headquarters. However, Rohnert Park City Council claims that RP is the safest city on the 101, not an indicator of a high crime area.

I'm curious as to how you come to your predictions:
“In general, each local law enforcement agency with a casino within its jurisdiction reported an increase in law enforcement service demand after the opening of each casino. All reported that the typical crimes and/or calls for service that have increased include, but are not limited to, drivingt under the influence, personal robbery, credit card fraud, auto thefts, disorderly conduct, and assault.” FEIS 4.7-14 Graton Rancheria

[danmonte]

Have impact studies projected real numbers as to how much traffic will increase on Stony Point, Petaluma Hill, etc?

The FEIS estimates that rush hours will be impacted by 1,384 cars per hour in the AM and 2,287 cars per hour in the PM.
FEIS 4.8-19 Graton Rancheria

I believe that their estimates of 18,000 plus trips a day is well below what will actually occur. Most concerned citizens I have spoken to think the real number will be 2 to 4 times that figure.

But I must have stated my concerns without clarity. I can only speak to those who deny global warming from the heart now that projections of the loss of polar ice varies from 4 to 20 years. We have already discovered the Northwest Passage. This casino and recreational facility is an attractive nuisance for carbon production. We will not be able to stop this trend by waiting for some other entities to act. Global warming is the by-product of local planning decisions. If the loss of surface ice doesn’t sway you then we are headed for an impending disaster.

[danmonte]

The Tiger Salamander. The county is currently conducting a 5-year-long sweep of all the creeks in this area according to what I read on the City of Rohnert Park website. With the foliage being raped to the very dirt of the channels, what impact studies document how the casino's presence will cause a worsening of the endangerment?

Creek restoration and the removal of invasive species is good for local flora and fauna. The Tiger Salamander survives because of the vernal pools that remain after the rains.

I would really like to find out which side of the fence to stand on. At this point though, population growth in the area is one of the easist predictions a futurist could assert, and the area will suffer the brunt of it with or without a casino.

Yes here we agree. Rohnert Park is planning to become the second largest city in Sonoma in the very near future. The structural basis for their budget is unsustainable growth. They need our help, not our despair.


Thank you.[/QUOTE]

[NudeTea]

Thank you, Dan. I appreciate your resources.

This also reminds me, when you mention driving under the influence, that someone here recently posted a warning that Sebastopol Police are waiting outside HopMonks.

As for me, when any crime increase occurs as a result of the casino, it will be happening in my backyard, as I will be able to see the casino from my kitchen window.

Any traffic increases will probably appear on my adjacent streets; the narrow and pot-holed Wilfred and Millbrae streets, more than Stony Point or Petaluma Hill.

[Dynamique]

Here is a response to your questions from Marilee of the Stop the Casino 101 Coalition:

Q- Crime increase. Is there a place where studies have documented crime in relation to casinos? Otherwise, crime is known to happen everywhere already. It's been my experience while reading the paper that crime happens in rural settings as well as metropolitan.

A- A nationwide study entitled "Casinos, Crime and Community Costs" was commissioned by Congress in the 1990's. It was conducted by Grinols and Mustard of University of Chicago and Dilley of the University of Georgia, all respected economists. It studied crime statistics from every county in every state in the country except Nevada and New Jersey as they already had long-established casino gambling at that point. A comparison of those statistics before and after casino gambling came into the counties showed that casinos actually create crime, and furthermore, that crime "slops" over to neighboring counties with no casinos. They recommended to Congress that there be a moratorium on new casinos. This study remains the largest, most comprehensive study ever done on the subject in this country. This study can be found on the web site STOP THE CASINO 101 COALITION on the "Hot Links" page.

More recently, former CA Attorney General Bill Lockyer produced a report entitled "Gambling in the Golden State - 1998 Forward". This also examines the rise in crime that accompanies the establishment of Class III casinos, and the problems it causes to the host community (we pay for all the law enforcement and criminal justice costs). Read it at https://caag.state.ca.us/gambling/pdfs/GS98.pdf

These are but two studies. Studies that show no increase in crime are always paid for by gambling concerns. And its not just garden variety cash crimes, but includes crimes like loan sharking and illegal gambling. That's right. When legal gambling moves in, so does the illegal gambling and the loan sharks who give the gambling addicts money to gamble. In Southern California, they're having a big problem with illegal slot machines in gas stations and convenience stores.


Q- Have impact studies projected real numbers as to how much traffic will increase on Stony Point, Petaluma Hill, etc? It's my personal presumption that in ten years, population will have grown with or without the casino. Growth is a natural trend in all cities and so the streets are already showing stress. With or without the casino, these roads will see an increase in load as the years move forward.

A - In 2004, the Sonoma County Transportation Authority issued a letter of concern to the State about casino traffic. THe casino FEIS projects 18,000 car trips per day, but that is probably low. Casino traffic is generated according to how many slot machines the casino has. This casino in this location with 4,000 slots would generate in excess of 30,000 trips daily. Both Assemblymember Jared Huffman and former State Senator Carole Migden commented on the fact that the casino traffic will negate the improvements to Highway 101. These improvements did not include casino traffic in their planning, and will not accommodate an even the low-estimate of 18,000car trips per day from the casino, so it'll back to square one on 101. The SCTA, Migden and Huffman letters can be found on the web site STOP THE CASINO 101 COALITION on the "Traffic Woes" page.


Q- The Tiger Salamander. The county is currently conducting a 5-year-long sweep of all the creeks in this area according to what I read on the City of Rohnert Park website. With the foliage being raped to the very dirt of the channels, what impact studies document how the casino's presence will cause a worsening of the endangerment?

A - Tiger Salamanders don't live in creeks. They live in burrows during the summer, and emerge to breed in vernal pools in the wet season. The casino site is one the last large continuous pieces of vernal pool/salamander habitat in Sonoma County - over 250 acres. Unless the argument is that its already so bad that we should just give up, anyone concerned about habitat loss in Sonoma County can figure out why that's important. It's also the headlands of the Laguna de Santa Rosa, is part of the Pacific Flyway, and is habitat for several endangered and threatened species of flora and fauna.


Q - The water demand of the casino: How has it been projected that the casino will use as much as the rest of the City of Rohnert Park's current 32 or 33 well sites? Where are those allegations coming from?

A - From, in part, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, which voiced its concerns in its June 4, 2007, comments on the casino DEIS saying, "We have concerns regarding impacts to groundwater resources from the proposed project, which the DEIS has determined would be significant to neighboring shallow wells. Regionally, the project would represent approximately 4.5% of all current and future pumping in the Southern Santa Rosa plain, a relatively large percentage for a single project." Anyone wishing to see this letter, email [email protected] for a PDF copy. There are other sources as well, including info on ground subsidence due to over-pumping in that part of the aquifer. The aquifer is collapsing. For more info, go to the Stop the Casino website and click on "Show Me the Water"


Q - I would really like to find out which side of the fence to stand on. At this point though, population growth in the area is one of the easist predictions a futurist could assert, and the area will suffer the brunt of it with or without a casino.

A - Not a question, but here's something to think about: the casino will bring AT LEAST 15,000 patrons per day to the area, probably more. That's the equivalent of a small town with regard to sewer, water, traffic, energy, social services, criminal justice and greenhouse gasses. It will be 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It will never sleep. At least small towns mostly sleep at night. And it will not be subject to local law.

There's a wealth of information at STOP THE CASINO 101 COALITION with documentation from reputable sources to back it up.