Governor, Recall the National Guard!

Friends,

Here is a local article on a press conference held with Cindy Sheehan, myself, Assemblyman Mark Leno, Gold Star Families for Peace and Code PINK. We have joined together in a growing Coalition to support Assembly Joint Resolution 36. I introduced Assembly Joint Resolution 36 to request the Governor to recall the California National Guard from Iraq. Once home, they can act and function in the manner they were originally designed for, namely, domestic security and serving in relief efforts during national emergencies. Please read the following article about this important resolution.

http://www.berkeleydaily.org/text/article.cfm?issue=10-18-05&storyID=22543

"Bay Plan Connects the Dots..."

Friends,
Another great article about our Bay Trail Bill by Herbert Sample of the Sacramento Bee...

Bay plan connects the dots for paddlers
Trail: Plan could eventually include adding launch points
BERKELEY - With an eye on education, environmentalism and a little bit of commerce, efforts have begun to link several dozen locations along San Francisco Bay's shoreline where kayakers, canoeists and human-powered watercraft enthusiasts can launch into the bay.
A measure recently passed by legislators and signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger kick-started the San Francisco Bay Area Water Trail. Much as bicyclists can find their way around the region via the San Francisco Bay Trail, the water trail will eventually provide nonmotorized watercraft users with information on where to enter or leave the bay, as well as improvements to those sites.

Read the rest of the article by clicking here.

Great Article About Great Community Activism

Friends,
This article in the Berkeley Daily Planet is a great piece on local level community involvement... go skaters!

Skate Park Wins Lease Agreement
By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

The Caltrans sign at the end of the back road out of the Best Buy electronics store parking lot in Emeryville gives an odd command: Left Turn Only. The odd part is that the sign sits in front of a two-way street, Hollis Street, where a right turn appears permissible.

To the left of the Caltrans “Left Turn Only” sign is the East Bay Bridge Shopping Center and the gleaming condominiums and auto-packed streets that mark the entrance to Emeryville. To the right of the “Left Turn Only” sign is Oakland.

The Oakland side is a community so much in transition it cannot be easily characterized.

The neighborhood is evenly divided between small, well-painted, older Victorian houses where old black women still put out neat flower gardens—blocks that once housed Oakland’s thriving middle class African-American community—and gritty, dirty industrial buildings. A demolition contractor’s headquarters sits on one corner. A recycling center—featuring cash for aluminum cans—sits on another.

Two churches—one a solid-built Baptist, the other a ramshackle put-up—sit a couple of doors down from the combination liquor store and check-cashing establishment. In front of the store, two black men sit on a concrete wall, drinking beer from cans barely hidden inside paper bags. Around the corner are two tiny, triangle-shaped parks where the homeless sleep and addicts come at night to shoot or snort their dope.

Intermixed with all of this is the sign of the North Oakland-West Oakland coming gentrification: condominiums, newly painted, with “For Sale” signs on their fences. One of the rows of two-story condominiums shows the schizophrenia of the area: they are made of corrugated tin, purposely constructed to look like the side of an industrial building.

This is Bordertown, the center of all the conflicting social and economic and racial trends blowing across the northwest section of Oakland where it intersects with Emeryville. In the middle, in the shadows under that part of the freeway where I80 splits east and west, Sacramento and San Francisco, sits the Bordertown skatepark.

Earlier this year, Bordertown was a rogue squatters development on vacant Caltrans land where local skateboarders had built themselves an acre-wide skate park, complete with concrete ramps and metal framework. Last July, Caltrans officials discovered the illegal park while preparing plans for construction of a new freeway on-ramp, fenced off the property, and announced they were demolishing the park. But Bordertown quickly became a political issue after the skateboarders took their story to the local media, and Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown and City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente—both with tough election campaigns next year—jumped in to save it. Also intervening in negotiations with Caltrans were U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, State Senator Don Perata (D-Oakland), and State Assemblymembers Wilma Chan (D-Oakland) and Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley)....

Read the rest of the article in the Berkeley Daily Planet by clicking here.

Break out the kayak!

Friends,
Good article about legislation helping create a new & beautiful way to see the bay.

Bill will boost access to the Bay for boaters
By Denis Cuff of the Contra Costa Times
California is blazing a new path to recreation on San Francisco Bay.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed legislation that will create the San Francisco Bay water trail, a network of launching, landing and camping spots for kayakers, canoers and others in small, nonmotorized boats.

Read the rest of the article by clicking here Contra Costa Times

Governor, Recall the National Guard!

Friends,

The national disaster of Hurricane Katrina cannot be measured. The lack of a response by the federal government compounded the problem risking the lives of thousands of Americans. This is unacceptable! In addition, the relief effort required necessitates substantial public infrastructure investment to levees, ports, roads and the rebuilding of homes. This effort requires all the resources at the federal and state government's disposal. To this end, I introduced an Assembly Resolution to request the Governor to recall the California National Guard from Iraq. Once home, they can act and function in the manner they were originally designed for, namely, domestic security and serving in relief efforts during national emergencies. Please read the following article about this important resolution.

http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/7713/1/286

With your help... we will keep winning!

Friends,
The fight isn't over... This article is from the San Francisco Chronicle...

Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, asked state Attorney General Bill Lockyer on Monday to investigate the new video bingo machines at Casino San Pablo, charging that they were nearly identical to slot machines.

Hancock, whose district includes Casino San Pablo, said the Lytton Band of Pomo Indians had taken advantage of a loophole in state law when it added 500 video bingo machines in August.

"Technology has blurred the lines between traditional slot machines and bingo," she said Monday. "These electronic bingo machines are exactly like slot machines, and therefore I'm asking the attorney general to investigate it. If we don't do something, we're totally vulnerable to casinos' taking advantage of this loophole."

Bingo and card games are legal across California, and, with state permission, Indian tribes may install slot machines on federally recognized sovereign land.

California's Legislature last year rejected the Lytton Band's plan to install 5,000 slot machines at Casino San Pablo, based on its location in an urban area.

"Bingo is supposed to be a communal game. But with these, who do you play against? I don't know, and the player doesn't know either," said Hancock aide Armando Viramontes. "The whole experience -- the spinning reels, bars and cherries, lights and sounds -- is like a slot machine. Not bingo."

View the rest of the article here: San Francisco Chronicle

Investors, Lawyers, Lobbyists... oh my!

Friends,
Here is a great article in Gambling Magazine that shows the slow evolutionary process of how investors, lawyers, and lobbyists use their collective influence to build casinos.  This is what we have witnessed in the Bay Area, in California and throughout the nation. It is because of these abuses of federal law, that has prompted investigative hearings in Congress and legislation by Senator Diane Feinstein and Richard Pombo. Read the article by clicking here.

More on Campaign Finance Reform...

Friends,
Here is a great article that expresses the need for real campaign finance reform. Public financing of elections or what is commonly referred to as the "Clean Money" system is the only reform that will deal with the impact that special interest money has in campaigns. Please read this inspiring article, and join me in creating real reform.

http://insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_2980949

"Clean Money" Real Campaign Finance Reform

Friends,
Not a day goes by that you don't read an article in the news about “gift giving” by special interests, millions of dollars flowing into campaign coffers or out-of-state fundraisers provided by major corporate contributors with an interest in legislation. The time, energy and money spent in fundraising shifts the focus of our representative democracy from working on solutions for everyday people to focusing on solutions for special interests. It is because of this dysfunctional system that I have made campaign finance reform a top priority on my legislative agenda. This year, I introduced legislation to establish a “Clean Money” public financing system for our elections. A Clean Money system, based on a successful Arizona model, would allow anybody to run for office without taking a single dime from special interests.

Clean Money is the only solution that eliminates the corrosive influence that money has on cogent public policy. It is the only solution to deal with sneak attack ads by independent expenditure committees. It is the only solution that will make legislators beholden to the people that elected them...you.

Join our growing Coalition of Clean Money supporters in California! Here is sample list of our growing supporters:

* California Clean Money Campaign

* Common Cause

* League of Woman Voters

* National Organization of Woman

* Grey Panthers

You can see a copy of my legislation at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=ab_583&sess=CUR&house=B&author=hancock

Our Efforts Are Being Heard!

Friends,
Our efforts in the Bay Area to curb the rampant abuses seen in urban casinos are being heard around the nation and across our state. This article from LA's City Beat details how effective our efforts have been and what they are similarly facing in Southern California. A great read. But the moral of the story is simple: we must not let up.

SIN CITY
Indian gaming interests are working to create gambling sites in urban areas far from any reservation

To critics of urban gambling, this was almost the attack of the killer casino: a roughly 65,000 square-foot, four-story gambling venue to be located in the congested middle class Bay Area community of San Pablo, directly off the heavily traveled Interstate 80, and down the block from Doctors Hospital, where emergency vehicles already have trouble plowing through traffic. But when the Lytton Band of Pomo Indians rolled out its 500 bingo machines in an expanded San Pablo card club on August 1, it was a far cry from the gambling Mecca of the west, and the 5,000 Vegas-style slots originally negotiated with the governor.

But the San Pablo Casino opening was not entirely without fanfare. It came just days after U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein’s bill to halt the casino hit the senate floor. It fueled a growing national debate about “reservation shopping” – the process by which tribes can acquire off-reservation gambling sites, sometimes in heavily populated urban areas.

Read the rest of the article from LA City Beat.

This is Happening Everywhere!

Friends,
It is not just in our neighborhood, or even in California that we are experiencing this uncontrolled casino growth. It is happening everywhere. This opinion piece in The Advocate details the continuous problem.

Vitter pushes casino curbs

The law of unintended consequences never was demonstrated more vividly than when the U.S. Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988. Then, gambling on Indian reservations was a tiny industry based mostly on bingo.

It is a behemoth today.

At about $18 billion a year, with 400 casinos in 30 states, the tribal casinos are not only ubiquitous. They are also a considerable political force, having contributed very heavily to campaigns for Congress.

Read the rest of the story by Clicking Here.

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.

Protestors Gather Outside Casino San Pablo!!

Friends,
This is how it is done! One way or another they are going to get the message that we do not want casino expansion on any front.

(KCBS) SAN PABLO A coalition of groups opposed to the Indian run casino in San Pablo held a protest Saturday outside the urban casino complaining the new outlet for gambling is not a positive development for the community.

"This is all based on greed," said one of the protestors. According to KCBS reporter Henry Mulak a few dozen people gathered down the road from the casino to hear speakers and march in protest over the casino expansion.

In particular the group is opposed to the addition of 500 video bingo machines which critics say are really just slot machines.

Read the rest of the story by clicking here.

Bingo Games "Confusing" and "Addictive"

Friends,
Here is a great education as to why Video Bingo has the same impact on the community as the highly regulated slot machines they are intended to replace. Read the article below and pay close attention to the responses of some of the patrons who spent good money, while not even really understanding the machines. Because, in one man's words it's "kind of addictive."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/08/02/BAG2EE1I811.DTL

Gambling Opponents (that's us!) Criticize Electric Bingo

Friends,
This article from the Associated Press appeared in the San Jose Mercury News on Monday. As you can see we are NOT going to let them sneak anything through this loophole. Gambling machines are gambling machines, no matter how they are built, maintained, operated or provide revenue to their owners. We need to continue to make our voice heard until they remove these machines.

SAN PABLO, Calif. - Electronic bingo machines may be popular with gamblers, but they've raised the ire of critics who claim they are slot machines in disguise.

The Lytton Band of Pomo Indians on Monday began offering 500 electronic bingo machines, the first in the state, at its Casino San Pablo. The tribe was previously rebuffed in its efforts to turn its cardroom into a Las Vegas-style casino, and the machines are seen by many as a way to entice more gamblers.

"They're still one-armed bandits. They're still raking in dough at players' expense. There's no difference," said Dean Marshall, a nine-year San Pablo resident and co-chair of the East Bay Coalition Against Urban Casinos.

Critics say the video terminals look, sound and act like slot machines. They say they'll also lead to the same problems: crime, traffic, and addictive gambling.

"Technology has created a loophole big enough to drive a truck through in that these electronic bingo machines really are slot machines, and they are totally unregulated," said Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley.

But Casino San Pablo spokesman Doug Elmets said electronic bingo and slot machines are "inherently different."

Elmets said video bingo players play against each other and not the house, though the house takes a cut. The bingo machines also "operate more slowly and generate substantially less revenue" than slot machines, he said.

The Lytton initially proposed building a casino with as many as 5,000 slot machines on the site of its cardroom near Interstate 80. The tribe couldn't rally enough support for a casino in the state legislature.

NO SLOTS MACHINES MEANS NO SLOT MACHINES!

Friends,

You may have heard the Lytton tribe plans to put in electronic "bingo" machines at Casino San Pablo.  These machines look, act and feel like slot machines. Many of my constituents have expressed to me their opposition to the casinos expansion. Unfortunately this is another attempt by the proponents of the casino to expand against the objections of the local community. Federal law allows for unlimited and unregulated "bingo" machines. Therefore, it is vital that we support Senator Feinstein's Senate Bill 113. This bill would require the Lytton tribe to go through the standard public process that every other tribe has gone through to open a casino.

This article in the San Francisco Chronicle tells the story: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/07/31/BAGKCE0QES1.DTL

Casino expansion has additional health risks.

Friends,

Today Contra Costa County released a study that shows the substantial health risks associated with the expanded casino at Casino San Pablo.These health risks include increases in gambling addiction and the impact of second hand smoke. Here are quotes from two of our local County Supervisors on this issue:

“The bottom line is that this proposal has not demonstrated that it is good for the local community,” says Supervisor Gayle B. Uilkema, whose district includes the impacted communities. Pointing to a recent policy approved by the Board of Supervisors, Supervisor John Gioia says, “No matter what dollar amount is suggested, the negative affects from casinos would conflict with our Environmental Justice Policy. We don’t want to do anything to increase the environmental burden that low-income communities already face. This would be a step in the wrong direction.”

The study on health impact of Casino San Pablo can be found at www.cchealth.org.

Bi-partisan Bay Bridge Solution

Friends,

Here is a succinct overview of the Bay Bridge legislation by a local columnist Lisa Vorderbrueggen. Read on and let me know... "How do you feel about the Bay Bridge Deal"?

Click here to read the article.

Sorry for the absence...

Friends,

The blog has been down for the last two weeks and we apologize for the delay . We  are now back on track! 

Bay Bridge Deal

Friends,

As you may know I am carrying the Bay Bridge Bill. Here is a great article on where the process currently stands and what obstacles stand in the way.

Click here to read the article in the Contra Costa Times.