Yo, Mike: Casinos

It disturbs me to see that the location of the casinos has been determined without any input from the community. That's not right - at least not in a democracy. Unfortunately, this is part of a disturbing trend whereby the city of Philadelphia has lost control of its most important assets -- the schools, the parking authority, and now - zoning for casinos. So, I hope that you can bring competance, responsiveness, and vision back to city government - and find locations for the casinos in partnership with the affected communities.

 

Congratulations on your win. I look forward to having a mayor who speaks out and does the right thing even in the face of controversy. There are so many concerns and ideas for our city on this blog, but I worry that many of our hopes for this city will only be made worse if casinos are allowed to open so close to residential areas. It is a statistical fact that crime increases in areas with casinos, as well as social problems such as bankruptcy, addiction and broken homes. These problems will end up costing Philadelphia more money.

And this is besides the fact that Philadelphians have fought to have a voice in the decision concerning casinos in their backyard and have been denied their rights to vote, to comment in a timely fashion and to have the unanimous decision of City Counsel ignored.

Please, it is time for you to take a public stand in this fight and do whatever you can to keep casinos out of Philadelphia, so that when you are mayor the city doesn't have one more hole to dig itself out of.

Thank you for this blog and for giving people the opportunity to say what they feel.

 

Yo, Mike, the one thing I really need you to do is to address the casino situation when you take office. I've conceded to the inevitability that casinos will become a part of Philadelphia's future. We must now consider ways to offset the social costs that accompany these venues. I believe that Philadelphia can reduce the negative social impacts by implementing a bill designed to limit the flow of Philadelphia dollars into the casinos. It is illegal for native Bahamians to gamble in casinos on their islands; Philadelphia should draft similar legislation barring any Philadelphian from gambling in the city's casinos. That way, we'll be able to collect casino revenues from tourists while minimizing the criminal and social implications of gambling.

 

Jethro Heiko
Fishtown, Philadelphia

Yo, Mike, the one thing I really need you to do is understand how casinos will bring increased crime and corruption to our city and do everything in your power to stop them. As Mayor you should put a stop to casinos, regardless of where they are in the process of forcing them down our throats.

 

Yo, Mike, I want you to understand how distrustful I have become of my elected officials. I live a few blocks away from what will be the Sugarhouse casino and feel like the health and wellbeing of my children are being sacrificed to satisfy the greed of a few. Please do everything possible to stop the construction of casinos in Philadelphia's residential neighborhoods.

 

Yo Mike, please keep the casino from being forced down the throats of the residents in South Philadelphia. Casinos feed off of the poor and elderly. If you look at the stats in today's Daily News you will see that in only 4 months the crime rates for both Philadelphia Park and Harrah's Chester have been abismal. We need to stop the construction that was put forth by crooked politicians in back room deals based on illegal contributions. Please save the future of Pennsport and Whitman.

 

Keep the casinos AT LEAST 1,500 feet from our institutions. We cherish our homes. We cherish our children and of course, we cherish our many churches.

You know you will have THOUSANDS standing shoulder to shoulder with you if you can be brave and do the right thing. Do the right thing, Mike; you know you want to.

 

I support the casinos and welcome them to Philadelphia. Please don't let the vocal minority hijack these venues. The casinos will bring in tons of tax revenues that can and should reduce my wage tax, which needs to be reduced. The casinos have been tremendously beneficial to our state and I hope Philadelphia can share in this prosperity.

 

The one great thing you could do would be to stand up for the citizens of this city and not let the casinos have their way. They have no business in residential neighborhoods. The uproar that will come from the first shovel in the dirt on Delaware Ave will be deafening, as well as bloody for the city in lost tax revenues. I'm sure you know the casinos will pay NO property taxes for 10 years. So why should I?
If I have to pay property taxes I will live somewhere where I get a voice and so far that hasn't been here.

 

...fulfill your pre-election promise to support the 1500 foot buffer restriction for casinos located in Philadelphia. Neighborhoods that have been carefully built and nourished by its citizens for generations should not be sacrificed for a quick buck that benefits only corrupt outsiders.

 

Yo, Mike the one thing I really need you to do is protect my neighborhood from casinos. My family and I have lived in the Pennsport area our whole lives we take great pride in this area. My husband and I were married at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church our children recieve all their sacrements there and went to Sacred Heart School. My daughter continues to live in this neighborhood and raise her child here. We would like her children to be able to enjoy this neighborhood as she did when she was a child. We do not need casinos in walking distance of our churches, schools and playgrounds. One of the things that made me take a better look at you as being our mayor was the commercial you did with your daughter, it showed a strong commitment to your family. Please protect our families,stop the casinos.

 

Read “Without Reservation,” by Jeff Benedict.

I urge you to read Benedict’s book because I believe you to be both intelligent and moral, and that having read this book you will recognize that Pennsylvania has made a Faustian bargain with the casino industry and that unless we renounce this compact we will never regain our soul.

Much has rightly been said about the travesty of placing casinos on the waterfront; the danger to vulnerable citizens who become addicted; the promise of “jobs” which aren’t going to provide a decent wage. Less has been said about the addiction of governments to casino money. You will learn about this in Benedict’s book. And you will see that casinos present a real and present danger to democracy itself as governments accede   ever increasing control to casino investors who step in to bail the state out of ever recurring shortfalls in exchange for greater spheres of influence, which extend from local governments all the way to the White House. Indeed, our current “reform” Democratic party has recently granted a loophole in the lobbying bill to the gambling industry.

Your win as the Democratic candidate for Mayor is a measure of what you represent to Philadelphia voters and to the success of the reforms you led which were critical to the outcome.   We are counting on you.