VOTE "NO" ON JUSTICE THOMAS G. SAYLOR

Casino-Free Philadelphia urges everyone to go to the polls on November 6th and vote "NO" on Republican Thomas G. Saylor.

Remember the ballot question to create a 1,500-foot buffer zone between casinos and homes? Remember how instead of being on the ballot, large white stickers were pasted over that said: "Removed by Court Order"?

Whether you agreed or not with the ballot question, you have a right to your vote. Justice Saylor is responsible for restricting that right.

THEN: TAKING POWER AWAY

When the original gambling act was slid beneath the public's radar in summer of 2004 with no public input, Saylor and the rest of the Supreme Court upheld the law. In doing so, they opened the floodgates for taking power away from the voters.

On Election Day (Tuesday, May 15th), every Philadelphian will have an opportunity to vote on whether to keep casinos 1500 feet from schools, places of worship, parks and homes. But it won't be in the voting booth.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court placed an injunction on the city removing Question #1 from the ballot, so we've created our own citizens' election process. We're giving Philadelphia three ways to vote on Tuesday, May 15th:

• securely online at www.PhillysBallotBox.org; or
• via voter hotline at 215-925-6380; or
• at a polling place near you (visit www.PhillysBallotBox.org to find the closest voting location)

As many of you know, the casinos made the unwise move of challenging the 27,254 people who signed to get a referendum on the ballot. Unwise because it further clarifies for people that their value of greed is attempting to trump the value of democracy.

Anyways, Jet, myself, and Anne wrote a letter to the investors... and wanted to share....

Send fax at: http://www.hallwatch.org/faxbank/optrans

(please forward widely)

Dear Friends and Allies,

Please take a few minutes and send a fax to Governor Rendell asking him to delay the licenses for one year. Most of us are very busy and have little time to feel we can have an impact, however, taking a few minutes over the weekend to write a fax to Governor Rendell will make a difference today.

Casino Free Philadelphia's campaign Operation Transparency, has organized two busloads of dedicated citizens to go to Harrisburg and publicly search for the casino license application documents. The Pennsylvania Gaming Board has refused to release these documents although it is public information. The collection of faxes will be released on Monday to Governor Rendell's office while this direct action is taking place. By acting together we will demonstrate to Harrisburg our unified organized coalition to stop the licensing of casinos until there is a viable and sustainable plan in place to mediate their impacts.

Thank you for your participation!

To send a fax go to:

http://www.hallwatch.org/faxbank/optrans

For more information on Operation Transparency visit www.casinofreephila.org.

Their Secrecy, Our Right to Know
Four weeks ago today we sent an ultimatum to Chairman Tad Decker of the PA Gaming Control Board (and we sent a copy to the Governor too) to release documents about what is being proposed in our neighborhoods. Despite our right to know, the Gaming Control Board continues to hide these documents, like updated traffic plans and impact studies.

Which leads us to December 11th
Two weeks from today, on Monday, December 11th, Philadelphians and our friends from across the Commonwealth are taking a historic action in our State Capitol.

Please join us in Harrisburg to help us liberate the documents and create a more democratic process. For background on Operation Transparency, go to http://www.casinofreephila.org/Operation%20Transparency.html.

The Plan

a nonviolent direct action campaign

October 30 - Today citizens and members of Casion-Free Philadelphia gave an ultimatum to the PA Gaming Control Board: make public basic documents relating to the casinos, or we will have to go take them ourselves. This ultimatum was faxed to Chairman Tad Decker from City Hall.

OPERATION TRANSPARENCY is a bold campaign launched by Casino-Free Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) legally has to post transcripts of its meetings on its website. But it has not. It used taxpayer money to determine if the revenue projections by the casino applicants are accurate. But it refuses to make these public, too.

* Is the revenue promised from casinos really as much as estimated?
* Will the casinos have more of a negative impact on our neighborhoods than a positive one?