The unofficial balloting will be for the exact same proposal City Council passed overwhelmingly, that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down. It would prohibit any casino from being placed within 1500' of a school, church or residential neighborhood -- restricting possible slots parlors to a few tiny patches of Philadelphia in remote industrial areas and effectively outlawing all five proposed slot parlors, the three that didn't win the State's nod as well as the two that did -- Foxwoods in the Whitman area of South Philadelphia and Sugarhouse in the Fishtown area of the River Wards.
The objective of the unofficial balloting is to demonstrate massive popular opposition to the casinos the Commonwealth currently aims to impose on the city. Harrisburg long ago seized total control over Philadelphia casino development by passing laws that stripped Philadelphians of any local right to govern any aspect of casino choosing, planning and regulating. Rendell, who is totally pro-casino (he needs the revenue to pay for ambitious state social service expansions and tax cuts), is unleashing every weapon in his formidable arsenal of influence to stifle any expression of local control over casinos. Opponents of casino gambling are the people running the unofficial vote and the only people who stand to gain from it. If you are opposed to slot-machine casinos in Philadelphia, you should seek out an "unofficial" polling place for this measure and cast your "vote", as a high total will have undoubted PR impact that will further your cause. Proponents of casino gambling cite the huge revenues Philadelphia loses every year to its citizens who run down to Atlantic City to lose their money to New Jersey residents and tax-collecting agencies. Simply by losing their money at home, they should redirect their losses into the coffers of Pennsylvania governments and the pockets of Pennsylvania citizens. -- Tony West ----- Original Message ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, May 14, 2007 11:12 PM Subject: Re: [UC] Casinos: can someone summarize the issues? But there is supposed to be some sort of unofficial balloting conducted outside of the polls by the casino opponents. According to the paper, the banned proposal would prohibit placement of a casino from virtually the entire city.
