Casinos in Richmond: 3 Views

Four members of the Richmond City Council have voted to extend the agreement to build a Las Vegas style casino resort project on one of the most awe-inspiring and incredibly breath-taking shoreline sites in Richmond, our very own Pt. Molate.

The expiring 5–year old Land Distribution Agreement (LDA) would transfer Pt. Molate into the hands of the Guidiville Indian Tribe, who are partnering with developer Upstream, for the purposes of building, owning, and operating the casino.

The four council members (Bates, Viramontes, Rogers, and Lopez) voted on Monday night to give Upstream, the developer, a 60 day extension on the LDA, without even making this 60 day extension a hard closing date. Come March 15 (the new closing date) the developer can very easily state he needs more time again. Expect this to come back on March 15th again!

On top of all the concerns about gambling, its impact on the Richmond community and the misuse of Pt. Molate, it turns out that there are now grave financial concerns which can leave the city holding the bag. To date, this developer has not provided the required financial documents and financial plan, identifying who is paying for this 1.8 billion dollar project.

The main defense of the casino project now is that it will bring jobs. But this project will not occur for 10+ years, even if approved by the city. State and federal approvals are needed, and there are signs of difficulty here. Lawsuits are in the making from surrounding cities, from environmental groups, from citizen groups, and from other tribal communities in the region. Regulatory clean-up issues have been challenged. And of the jobs created who will get them and at what price to the community?

A different vision for Richmond

The word “vision” was used by a councilmember as she defended an extension of the agreement to keep this project alive. This “vision” is waiting to embrace us all. Should we not reach back and embrace it? Or is this “vision” a false vision, disguised as a cure for our economic ills? Are we simply to forget the well-documented facts stating that urban casinos (disguised as an “economic solution”) clearly bring more addiction, crime, drugs, alcohol, and violence to communities?

Oh, but this casino project will bring jobs, they say. For five years we’ve heard the same thing, and the unemployed remain unemployed.

Oh, but this casino project will bring money to the city, they say, while the historic buildings continue to decay, and this incredible site lays dormant.

Oh, but this project will bring tourists, they say! Does anyone really expect tourists to come to Richmond instead of Las Vegas and any other casino destinations? Or is it our local residents that will be pouring their hard-earned dollars into the hands of casino owners, as their pockets get picked and they gamble away their homes, savings, and children’s future?

This is the “vision” that was extended last Monday night. We should break from this pathetically hollow pretense of a vision. We should not be wasting our time on trying to mitigate impacts that shouldn’t be allowed in the first place. The environmental impact report for this project states that gambling addictions are expected to increase, but the developer says there will be contributions made to addiction treatment centers and therefore all is okay. For whom? Certainly not for the person struggling with his or her addiction.

We should not sell Pt. Molate. We should utilize it for public/non-profit/private collaboratives. We should seek out developers who have real vision – vision to create an inspiring project, helping us in our upward spiral to raise a positive image for our city. We should make it a true destination spot that speaks to the courage, history, and resilience of the people of Richmond. Richmond needs a truly unique and spectacular project, one that says to the world: We are Richmond – come see what we have to offer. Not one that says: welcome to Richmond – we invite gambling addictions – oh yeah and while you’re here you can also visit our gambling addiction treatment center.

We need a powerful vision that reflects and advances our transformation as a community. We should be thinking of museums, galleries, theaters, and education centers at Pt. Molate and we should be using our creativity to seek out financing to make this happen. Some community groups are doing just that. Pt. Molate is currently being nominated by Richmond citizens and community groups to be listed as one of 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. I am supporting this nomination, for which there is expressed interest by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. This could raise the profile of Pt. Molate (which is already gaining more and more attention) and also bring resources for its development and preservation.

It does take vision to create an incredible project for Pt. Molate, but let me assure you that the casino project isn’t it! We need a vision that affirms who we are and celebrates our strength and resiliency. We can break with the casino project. In fact, that is the only life-affirming thing to do.

Gayle McLaughlin is Mayor of Richmond

Anyone who identifies as a progressive in Richmond faces a very simple proposition: What can I do to ensure that the future of Pt. Molate is developed into something that is both healthy and sustainable?

The first thing is to join with other community members in urging the Richmond City Council to take the idea of a casino at Pt. Molate off the table, one of the most greedy and ill-conceived development ideas dangled in front of a community desperate for jobs and economic development. The Coalition for a Sustainable Pt. Molate is a new group of neighbors working to stop the casino.

Second, we must demand an inclusive and open community visioning process where the people of Richmond can express their ideas for a healthy and sustainable Pt. Molate, not the usual backroom cabal of special interests seeing how they can line their pockets at our expense.

Together we need to organize our neighbors and friends. Together we need to ask important and informed questions of the City Council and the administration. Together we need to hold accountable so called “progressive” elected officials and “community leaders” who support the casino idea.

There is a primary election in June 2010 for District 1 Supervisor. Progressives must let incumbent John Gioia, who engineered Contra Costa County’s flip-flop to support the Pt. Molate casino; their support for him cannot be taken for granted. A recent poll shows a progressive can beat Gioia in June on the casino issue alone!

In the November 2010 Richmond elections this issue will again be a cutting edge.

Unfortunately, with so much money at stake, we have also seen some prominent environmentalists going out and twisting arms of other environmental groups to support the casino in exchange for settling a lawsuit and getting paid off with promises of millions of dollars. Together we must tell Bob Cheasty, president of Citizens for East Shore Parks, and Sierra Club leader Norman LaForce that environmental deals do not make up for the damage to our community.

The Richmond political establishment has thwarted an open community visioning process every step of the way. The Council pulled the plug on funding for the General Plan Advisory Committee when it became clear the majority of the Committee, just like a majority of Richmond residents, oppose a casino and want to preserve open space and restore its historic and natural resources. The Pt. Molate Reuse Advisory Board has been stacked with special interests.

Together we must demand the Richmond City Council go back to the drawing board and open up the planning process to allow many of the new ideas community members have been suggesting get a fair examination.

Not long ago many thought the casino at Pt. Molate was inevitable. Persistence by many community members has scraped the patina off and exposed the false promises and lies about the casino proposal.

Together we advance the cause of progressive politics in Richmond in a way few thought possible.. Congratulations to all. Adelante Progresistas!

Andres Soto is a well known community leader on many issues.

The decision of the Citizen’s For East Shore Parks (CESP) board of directors to allow leaders of CESP to negotiate with Jim Levine and his Upstream-tribal group over the casino proposal at Pt. Molate, has brought CESP a lot of criticism and accusations of “selling out” the community for promises that may either never materialize or are not worth the sacrifice of principle.

We are faced with difficult choices when it comes to the Casino development and what options are available to us. In this case there are legitimate differences of opinion among progressives in Richmond about how we should respond to these options.

We can all agree that casinos can not be the center pieces of our picture of a Better Richmond or a better world. But when Citizens for East Shore Parks and Levine began negotiations over the CESP lawsuit last fall there was a context.

1. It appeared that the casino at Pont Molate was a done deal as far as the city was concerned. The city, over our opposition, had negotiated the deal. The majority of the City Council still strongly backed it. Plans were moving ahead. While there was community opposition it was not overwhelming and part of the organization of it was based on the interests of the card-clubs and the San Pablo casino.
   
   
2. Rather than local opposition it appeared that the best hope for the unraveling of the deal between Levine and the city depended on a failure to clear all the hurdles in the Federal bureaucracy. Some of the conditions for approval of the casino hinge on decisions at the state level bureaucracies. In the end, the ultimate fate of the casino proposal may rest with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington and the Secretary of the Interior.
   
   
3. The tribe seeking to make the casino its reservation has succeeded in gaining its status as a federally recognized tribe, one big hurdle out of the way. They are now in the process of finding a suitable piece of land; that needs to meet a number stipulations and no one on the local level that I have talked to can say with any confidence, how this process may shake out.
   
   
4. The county politicians have caved in and withdrawn their opposition, driven not by a sudden fondness for Levine Upstream, but a massive budget deficit.
   
   
5. There are not a lot of viable alternative development/use plans or money around right now. Public money has dried up. We can not even keep our current state parks open to the public let alone develop them. There are not other developers, let alone progressive ones, clamoring to take on the challenge of Point Molate’s redevelopment in a lucrative fashion for the city. Shoreline McMansions are likely to become the city’s Plan B.
6. In response to community organizing Levine and his partners began promising the most environmentally sensitive, greenest, big casino project on Earth. Levine and the tribe are holding out a long list of goodies that should/would appeal to the community at large, the environmental community and the shoreline preservationists.
   
   

So given this context many environmentalists were faced with the question: If the casino is going ahead, what can we do to insure the best environmental outcome for the area? What can we put in place to make sure that Levine comes through with his green promises? What is our Plan B? CESP decided on working on a Plan B. (Since this decision, and the lengthy and complex negotiations which continue, there is new information that suggests the casino development is on a shaky financial footing. See Tom Butt: Show Me the Money These developments are beyond of our control.)

There are clearly difficult questions and there are progressive environmentalists with different views. As a coalition, CESP must get agreement from area environmental groups, many of which have different concerns about the Pt. Molate development and any one of whom is at liberty to take actions that will nullify the tentative agreement with Levine and the tribe.

No one has sold out and no environmentalist involved is seeking to line his /her pockets or guild their organizations treasury. There are many principled issues involved and it is important that progressives understand that a difference on how to handle this situation does not put someone across the line. Or we all lose.

Tony Sustak is a member of the steering committee of the RPA and a member of the Board of Directors of Citizen’s For East Shore Parks (CESP). He has actively supported the Committee to Save Point Molate and participated in lobbying activities organized by this group. "I am opposed to casinos. Period, In Richmond and anywhere. I have never purchased a state lottery ticket in my nearly sixty years. These comments are mine and are not intended to reflect the views of these organizations or their leaderships."