As the North Bay’s premier business publication, I thought you’d be interested in seeing actual casino traffic projections—not the fairy-tale projections the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria (FIGR) has pulled out of thin air. Susan Moore claimed in a Dec. 12, 2007 article in the Argus-Courier that the figure of about 18,000 trips per day (apparently provided by Graton Rancheria) was high, because the tribe wanted to err on the side of caution. “The tribe put that out because it didn’t want anyone to come back and say, ‘You misled us.’ It didn’t want to give a low number.”
Unfortunately, Susan Moore didn’t do her homework. If she had, she’d have realized the figure was unrealistically low. A traffic study [by KOA Corporation], which was presented at State Assemblymember Loni Hancock’s 2005 Town Hall, estimated 34,000 to 68,000 daily trips, depending on number of slot machines.
FIGR has always given a figure of 2,500 slot machines for its casino, but that was when the project was at half its current size of 729,000 square feet—almost one square foot of casino space for every man, woman and child in Marin and Sonoma counties. However, FIGR was very careful not to mention a figure for slot machines in its Draft Environmental Impact Study (DEIS), a fact I’ve confirmed with the county. Perhaps this omission was purposeful—as the KOA traffic study shows, the number of slot machines directly correlates with the number of patrons a gambling facility will attract. This is a well-known formula in the gambling industry.
Regardless of whether FIGR has 2,500 slots (34,000 trips/day) or 5,000 slots (up to 68,000 trips/day)—a distinct possibility given the Governor’s current frame of mind—casino traffic will bring a crippling amount of additional traffic to Highway 101. That’s why the Petaluma Chamber of Commerce has asked Mike Kerns to support an advisory vote against the casino. There are well-grounded fears that casino traffic may very well negate the improvements planned for Highway 101.
The “1,000 members” claimed by the Friends of Graton Rancheria may or may not be true. Immediately before “Friends” ran its ad in the Press Democrat in December, its website said it had “700 members” and was going to print a list of them soon.
“Friends” ran the ad listing only about 75 names and immediately took the website down, but not before I was able to capture the web page in PDF format. We know from the letters to the editor of the Press Democrat that at least some of the names in the ad were bogus.
Opposition to the casino includes a broad base of business people; professionals including doctors, nurses, lawyers and teachers; students; college professors; democrats, republicans, greens, union members and elected officials; the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi- and transsexual) community; people of diverse religious beliefs; and every ethnic group. The casino is a hot, hot topic in the environmental community right now, with many believing you can’t support it and call yourself an environmentalist. That’s why the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, which has received money from Station Casinos via FIGR, has come under fire for its support of the casino despite the fact the casino’s DEIS calls for dig and fill measures that are in direct conflict with the Foundation’s own management plan for the Laguna (which recommends no dig and fill).
Stop the Casino 101 (STC101) has always checked and double-checked its facts. As a result, over the years, it’s become a trusted source for the community, government officials and the media. It intends to remain dedicated to presenting the community with the truth about the proposed Rohnert Park casino.
Marilee Montgomery is a resident of Sonoma County. Since August 2003, she’s volunteered as the director of community and media relations for Stop the Casino 101 Coalition (www.stopthecasino101.com), a grassroots organization founded by Pastor Chip Worthington. She has one daughter, Suni, and a new granddaughter, Zoe Elizabeth.
