The Newspaper of the San Francisco Bay Chapter
May - June 2008
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North Richmond casino can be stopped
There is still a good chance to stop the 3,000-slot Sugar Bowl Casino proposed for the Richmond Parkway at Parr Boulevard in North Richmond, though the Bureau of Indian Affairs has released a Final Environmental Impact Statement for the project.
The BIA has not indicated a willingness to certify the required connection of the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians with the North Richmond area. The tribe, with its team of developers and Las Vegas casino operators, has retained powerful Washington lobbyists to win certification, but Contra Costa County and many local residents and environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, oppose this casino.
Such a casino would have devastating environmental impacts on the North Richmond area, especially on traffic and services. The tribe, as a sovereign nation, is exempt from state and local laws. Tribes typically agree to standards for safe drinking water since they do not want patrons drinking polluted water, but will not agree to obey Clean Water Act protections against filling of wetlands. The growth-inducing impacts of a casino so near the Richmond shoreline would undermine efforts to acquire this shoreline as parkland to protect its many acres of wetlands. Developers have eyed these wetlands for years, and Richmond has usually favored development over protection.
A casino would not create good jobs, and studies of urban casinos have shown negative economic impacts on surrounding communities. Even with casinos Atlantic City NJ, for example, still has a high unemployment rate. Detroit likewise has experienced continued major economic decline (in 2007 alone it lost 27,000 residents) even with a downtown casino.
Nonetheless, Richmond has been supportive of this casino and the one proposed at Point Molate. In 2006 the city even signed a Municipal Services Agreement with the Sugar Bowl developers, but Citizens for Eastshore State Parks, SPRAWLDEF, and Whitney Dotson have sued, challenging that agreement. Assemblymember Loni Hancock (now running for state Senate with the Sierra Club's endorsement; see article, page 5) has been an outspoken opponent of this casino, as has the West County member of the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors, John Gioia.
WhatYouCanDo
It is important for the Bureau of Indian Affairs to hear that local people oppose the casino. Please write to secretary of interior Dirk Kempthorne at:
Department of the Interior
1849 C St., N.W.
Washington, DC 20240.
Urge him to reject the designation of the North Richmond site as tribal lands. Point out that there is no real historic connection, and that the only reason for claiming one is to build a casino.
Voters in the 14th Assembly District (Berkeley, Albany, Richmond, El Cerrito, San Pablo, and Kensington) should ask candidates about their stance on the Sugar Bowl Casino and what they have done to oppose it. The Club has endorsed both Nancy Skinner and Kriss Worthington, who have expressed their opposition to this casino.
Richmond residents should ask councilmembers if they voted for the Municipal Services Agreement and if they support the casino.
To get involved with stopping this casino and saving the North Richmond Shoreline, contact conservation organizer or call (510) 848-0800, ext. 312
© 2008 San Francisco Sierra Club Yodeler