Friday, August 12, 2005

Study Reinforces Concerns About Casino Expansion

Friends,
This is a great article from today's edition of the Berkeley Daily Planet.
Expansion of Casino San Pablo Could Pose Major Problems, Study Charges

Should Casino San Pablo eventually win approval to expand to a full-scale casino with 2,200 regulation slot machines, the result would cost Contra Costa County medical services a minimum of $3.6 million annually, according to a study released Monday.

The report comes on the day that the casino opened for play with 500 electronic bingo game machines, an interim measure installed after the Lytton Band of Pomos shelved an application to install 2,500 regulation slot machines at the site.

That proposals could be reactivated at any time. The county commissioned the study earlier this year when the larger casino proposal was still pending before the state legislature.

Doug Elmets, the Sacramento-based publicist for the tribe, ridiculed the study.

“Government, academic and industry studies have repeatedly refuted tired and inaccurate studies like this that are always trotted out when casino proposals are made,” he said. “This is just one more ‘the sky is falling’ scam. It isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. There aren’t 2,200 slots. There are 500 electronic bingo games.”

Bad location

“We are very concerned about the public health impacts of an urban casino,” said county Public Health Director Wendel Brunner in a prepared statement. “This is especially troublesome because the negative impacts would be concentrated in San Pablo, Richmond and North Richmond, communities that already have severe community health problems.”

Read the rest of the article by Clicking Here.

1 comment:

Roberto Iza Valdés said...
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