Jim Herron
Zamora, Chronicle
Staff Writer
Friday, April 22, 2005
Several East Bay jurisdictions announced Thursday that they will
present a unified front in their legal and political fight to prevent a proposed
Indian casino near the Oakland International Airport.
The five public
agencies -- Oakland, San Leandro, the East Bay Regional Park District and both
the city and county of Alameda -- signed an agreement that allows them to pool
resources and develop a joint legal strategy to fight a proposal by the Lower
Lake Rancheria-Koi Nation on a 35-acre site adjacent to the Martin Luther King
Jr. Regional Shoreline Park.
"Individually, many of us have been working
to stop the casino from being imposed upon our city," said Oakland City Attorney
John Russo, who attended a news conference along with elected representatives
from each agency. "However,
there is often a limit to
what an individual can do.
Collectively, we have a lot
more power."
The Koi Nation, a band of Pomo
Indians based in Santa Rosa, announced plans in October for a
230,000-square-foot hotel and casino. Unlike similar urban casinos proposed in
Richmond and San Pablo, there is no local jurisdiction supporting the Koi
Nation's plan. The decision on the casino will ultimately be made by the federal
government.
The Koi Nation said its project
-- the casino, resort and
spa project will "directly" create 2,200 new jobs and indirectly add another
2,200 jobs. The project would generate annual wages and benefits approaching $80
million with "an estimated
$1 billion in overall economic
activity for the local area."
The Koi Nation also offered Oakland an annual payment of $30
million a year that was spurned by the City Council in January.
"Oakland
is not for sale," said Council President Ignacio De La Fuente. "The
reality is that the benefits
do not outweigh the problems.
A casino would destroy our
community and destroy our
environment."
Both Alameda Mayor Beverly
Johnson and San Leandro Mayor
Sheila Young emphasized that
traffic and crime from the
proposed casino would spill
into their cities without
any accompanying benefit. "It's a regional problem," Johnson
said.
The opponents held
their news conference with a vista of nearby Arrowhead Marsh as a backdrop. In
addition to the reasons many people oppose urban casinos, Koi Nation's site is
bordered on three sides by the marsh -- a wildlife refuge that is a nesting
ground for several endangered bird species, including the California clapper
rail and brown pelican.
"We're standing on an international highway" for
birds, said Doug Siden, who represents the surrounding area on the East Bay
Regional Park Board. "This
is an urban oasis."
Arrowhead Marsh, which
was once an unused industrial space and illegal dumping ground, was gradually
transformed and restored over the past 15 years through the efforts of hundred
of students and other volunteers as well as public and private grants. The marsh
serves as an environmental education center for students from all over the East
Bay.
Park Supervisor Joan Suzio
said that the proposed casino
would "totally dominate the
entrance to the park."
"I'm not sure parents would
want to send their kids here with a casino so close," she
said.
Russo
said his office intends to challenge the process by which the Bureau of Indian
Affairs approves the land for trust and warned that a drawn-out legal battle to
stop the casino could cost millions.
"This alliance is a smart use of
taxpayer dollars," said Russo. "Only
by cooperating and sharing
resources will we be able
to defeat this casino."
E-mail Jim Zamora at
jzamora@sfchronicle.com.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/04/22/CASINO.TMP