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Casino-Free Philadelphia Launches: Operation Transparency
Submitted by Daniel Hunter on Mon, 10/30/2006 - 11:22am.
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?
We can’t answer these questions without quality information. Our right to know is being violated by the secrecy of the PA Gaming Control Board.
IF THE GAMING CONTROL BOARD REFUSES TO MAKE THESE DOCUMENTS PUBLIC BY DECEMBER 1, 2006 AT NOON, THEN WE WILL HAVE TO TAKE THEM OURSELVES.
On December 1
if the documents are still not public…
We will have to resort to nonviolent direct action. December 11 is when we will attempt a Document Search operation in the office of the PA Gaming Control Board.
For a copy of the ultimatum, to sign on to the campaign, and more information: www.casinofreephila.org
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the fax heard round the state
nice job working that fax machine today daniel
possibly the most highly covered fax transmission in philly history, which might put it high in running for worldwide.
(for those not there daniel et crew faxed the Gaming Control Board from Mayor Street's Office demanding the requested documents).
i'm confused
i must admit to not understanding the tactics of the anti-gaming folks in Philly. correct me if I'm wrong, but all the people who are rallying against preemption and riparian rights and now non-disclosure of documents are all opposed to casinos in Philly, correct?
so why fight on the margins? you win all those battles and there will still be two casinos in Philly. perhaps they will be slightly better casinos, but your fight doesn't appear to really be about improving the casinos. leave that to Inga Saffron and DAG.
why not organize to push for the gaming bill's repeal? why not organize against Governor Rendell, who never seems to be the target of these protests but is the only reason why Philly is going to get two casinos? the man ran for office on a platform of slots for tax cuts people....
i just hate to see activism misguided in the wrong direction....
How we fight the casinos
We fight this battle in many ways, and in many arenas. We work politically, we work in our neighborhoods, we talk with other groups in the state. We also get all kinds of suggestions about how we should do our work.
We believe that the lack of transparency in the process itself is an essential connection to the concept of reform in government. Operation transparentcy is not just about the discloure of design documents, but economic studies, traffic and impact studies and revealing information that will by its very exposure lead many more people to conclude that this is the wrong choice for our city.
Wardwatcher - our meetings are open to the public and we encourage suggestions and involvement from anyone who is concerned about casinos. If you want to make suggestions about strategy, we would love to hear more about what you have to say. Just come to a meeting (check the website for details).
Meredith
http://nabrhood.org | Neighbors Allied for the Best Riverfront