This morning, after only 20 days of petitioning, Casino-Free Philadelphia delivered 27,254 signatures of Philadelphia voters supporting a referendum to vote on casinos in neighborhoods.
WE MADE IT!!!
I'm exhausted, but not nearly as exhausted as the volunteers who took off work, stood out in the freezing cold all last week, or stayed up to 4:30 this morning copying and counting signatures.
If you were part of the effort: THANK YOU for making this the largest binding petition drive in Philadelphia in over 30 years.
Our next move: Getting 9 City Council members to vote "YES" to putting our charter change referendum on the May ballot. If you aren't sure where your City Council member stands on the issue, why not give them a call?
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People Said This Could Not Be Done
One of the very first peopleI asked to sign the Petition was my own committee person from the 8th ward. This person just happened to be at the mayoral forum hosted by PFC and other great organizations back in January. After hearing my question to the mayoral candidates about the casinos and the effort to get the ballot question, he asked me "what are you doing? why are you wasting your time? Getting all those signatures can't be done". Maybe hearing this type of response made us all work hearder. Maybe these comments made it a bit easier to stand out in the cold and protest as traffic jammed and people honked in support. The most important fact, however, is that he was wrong. I was proud to be a part of this effort. Personally, I took this opportunity to bring this issue to life for many residents who live well outside the shadow of these casinos. Sadly, many people in the neighborhoods in my part of the City just were not engaged in this fight because they believed, erroneously,that it did not or would not effect them. All they needed is information. And through this effort, they got it!
But the work is just beginning. We need the Council's support. Then we must educate and inform people about what the ballot question means and why it needs to pass. The primary season will help in this effort. I am sure we will continue to hear about these issues from candidates like Vern, Frank DiCicco, Marc Stier, Matt Rubin, Andy Toy, Jim Kenney, and all the rest who will be working to give the voters the information we need to make choices. I believe the efforts against the casinos will benefit from this campaign season.
So to my committee person, now your 0-2 (but whose counting :)
Larry
support of the ballot initiative should be an election issue
If sitting council members aren't supporting this expression of democracy, they should be on the hot seat as to 'why not?'
Pressure from progressive activists and online communities were instrumental in getting a pause in changing campaign funding at the last minute, and many candidates for city council were onboard with our efforts, creating an effective and persuasive arguement to councilmembers.
Any councilmember or candidate who does not support putting an issue like this in front of the citizens on the ballot does not represent true democracy, and is opening themselves to accusations of pay-to-play influence...
Why We Went This Route
When I first suggested using the charter change petition process, this was exactly my goal, and was why the other folks sitting around the table at Reading Terminal Market--Daniel Hunter, Jethro Heiko, Anne Dicker and perhaps one or two others, thought it was a good idea.
We had all fought together to save the City's right to zone for casinos. And yet Council was simply not willing to use that power. Indeed, apart from Frank DiCicco and Jim Kenney, no member of Council was saying anything about Casinos. And DiCicco and Kenney were not willing to propose the legislation--which Anne Dicker had had drafted--that is now embodied in the Charter Change proposal. Most members of Council were, as I said at the time, hiding under their desks, waiting for the issue to go away.
Now the members of Council can't avoid the issue. They are going to have to say what they think about the casinos at this location and tell us whether they are willing to fight against them.
And, just as as on the campaign finance issue, we need an upsurge of public opinion--and maybe another gathering of Council Candidates (and some incumbents if they care to join us)--to get some movement on this issue.
I support
the ballot initiatve. Why then, do the PA State Reps. and the State Senators avoid the complaints? City Council was not culpable in this whole thing. Why are not people protesting outside the people's offices that actually gave you gaming and this dilemma?
We do that too!
But ya'll are so conviently located in City Hall!
In all seriousness, Casino-Free Philadelphia and Casino Free Pennsylvania have been visiting officials all over the state to get citizen's voices heard. Unfortunately, our local daily papers do not cover us much when we go to Harrisburg or elsewhere. Case in point: on Dec 11, when 14 members of Casino-Free Philadelphia were arrested in Harrisburg during "Operation Transparency" (and later acquited, with the judge actually admonishing the Gaming Board), CFP made front page headlines, in the major dailies in PITTSBURGH and around the state -- with one exception: Philadelphia.
Around the state, this is *the* issue, with breaking news almost every week...and yet in Philadelphia, not much is heard from our two main daily newspapers on our actions outside of Philadelphia. I understand that Brian Tierney made a lot of cut-backs, but it seems that perhaps they could afford to have their Harrisburg correspondent pay some attention to what is one of the most important state-level issues in the past 5 years.
Casino Culpability Suggestion
Don't protest in Harrisburg. Protest your state legislators right here in Philadelphia! They all have local offices. Go on a protest tour to each local state rep. office who voted for casinos.
Just a suggestion. I mean... Councilman Kenney is right on this one.
You are totally right...
If you are part of Casino-Free Phila -- you should, in addition to calling your councilperson, call on your State Rep and State Senator.
I have a strong feeling some
I have a strong feeling some state Legislators are going to lose their jobs in 2008. Unless of course, people decide to look past this terrible misdeed, which in my opinion is considerably worse than a midnight pay raise.
You're right, City Council is not culpable in the casino thing.
Supporting Michael Nutter in 2007!
Response to Kenny: city and state
Councilman, you're right that we could be doing more -- and there will always be more to do. And to be fair, we've given State Reps a lot of grief about voting for Act 71 in the first place. Anne talked about Operation Transparency, which I organized and was one of the 14 arrested in Harrisburg. But we've picked multiple strategies.
So while I wish the best for Mike O'Brien's bill to repeal category 2 licenses (so the racinos stay but the big stand alone casinos, inc those in Philly, would go) -- I think the state's not where the energy is to shift this dilemma at this moment. I think the city will bear the brunt of the tax burden (increased social programs for addicts, increased divorce rates, homeforeclosures, etc) and I think the city should take some initiative.
Still, I'd be happy to work with you to write a letter to the State Reps about their responsibility. Specifically, I think all the State Reps and Senators -- especially from Philadelphia -- should sign on saying that they would stand against any attempt to try to take away zoning control in Philly.
bump?
Can we get a bump or a 'sticky' for this post at the top for a couple days?
This action is still on going and I think deserves some 'above the fold' attention.
Thanks!
Not thrilled with the idea
Not thrilled with the idea of putting zoning regulations in the charter.