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Joyce Clark Unfiltered

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Apr 16

28

E is for the Economy, Part II

Posted by Joyce Clark on April 28, 2016
Posted in City issue and actions • City of Glendale • Glendale finances  | Tagged With: , , , , | 2 Comments

The second piece of my platform in my run for the Yucca city council district seat is the Bag of Money ClipartEconomy. Glendale is just beginning its climb out of the Great Recession. Westgate and the surrounding area will continue to add new development that has already been approved by previous city councils. The next great economic frontier is west Glendale past the Loop 101 out to the Loop 303 and beyond to Sarival Road. Glendale’s future opportunities include building a diversified economy and providing good jobs for our residents. How can we achieve such goals?

  • I am committed to ensuring that Glendale’s local economy is vibrant and diverse to ensure that our city budget continues to become healthier and that well-paying jobs are created for Glendale’s residents.
  • I am committed to ensuring that Glendale’s planning and approval process for new business development is continually updated and made faster and more efficient through the latest technology available
  • I am committed to strengthening our partnerships with existent businesses by ensuring that Glendale’s business development department is constantly seeking new ways of assisting them and solving their needs
  • I am committed to making sure that Glendale’s business climate is diverse. For years Glendale has struggled to identify a business cluster to develop. That has not occurred and may be an opportunity in the years to come. In the meantime we must create new policies that attract all sorts of business to locate in Glendale

Without continual economic growth Glendale will not maintain its ability to keep its infrastructure in good repair nor will it be able to add amenities necessary for our residents’ quality of life. These elements go hand in hand with building an attractive economy. Businesses that look to locate in Glendale look for a well maintained city with amenities that are attractive to its employees.

© Joyce Clark, 2016

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such material. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Feb 16

25

Fox 10 Newsmaker Sunday…fair and unbiased?

Posted by Joyce Clark on February 25, 2016
Posted in Casino • City issue and actions • Glendale elected officials • Glendale finances  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

It has been 18 years and 70 days since the city’s pledge to build the West Branch Library.

On Sunday morning, February 14, 2016, Fox 10 presented its weekly show Newsmaker Sunday. Here is the link: http://www.fox10phoenix.com/newsmaker-sunday . Guess who is one of the sponsors of this show? You would be correct if you said Desert Diamond Casino. So we already know how this show is going to go. John Hook is the moderator and his guests were none other than Councilmember Sammy Chavira and Trina Parvello, Director of Public Relations, Desert Diamond Casino. Hook, as will be seen, obviously had a difficult interview on his hands. Neither spokesperson appeared to be the brightest bulbs in the pack.

Hook asked Ms. Parvello how the Tohono O’odham Nation finally prevailed. Ms. Parvello attributed their success to “tribal leadership; the right to build a casino at that location and community support.” To many people it was tribal leadership based upon deceit; there was no “right” to build in Glendale under the state compact and majority community support came from Peoria and Avondale rather than Glendale.

Mr. Hook then asked Sammy if he supported the casino all along. Sammy said, “Oh yes sir. Even well before I was elected I supported the efforts of the Tohono O’odham Nation and uh…” Sammy certainly did support the TO and they repaid him with a boat load of campaign mailers.

When Hook asked Sammy how many jobs the casino created he said, I’m going to defer to my expert on that (referring to Ms. Parvello).”  Her response was, “…up to 600 jobs…”  

Hook asked Sammy what people in Glendale were worried about with reference to the casino. Sammy replied, “From my perspective it all started with misinformation. And it all, uh, started with, uh, the Nation not having their say, their time in the light to give their part of the story. And, uh, it wasn’t until, ah, 18 court cases later and I wish you were a baseball player because if you were you’d be batting a thousand. And the thing is, even with all that, you’re right. It was part of a bureaucracy. It was part of people thinking that, uh, that, uh, it wasn’t something that the Nation should do.” How’s that for being a responsive answer?

Chavira was asked what was the reason that all of those powerful politicians did not want a casino in Glendale. His response was, “Well, like I say, all of the above; politics, self interest. The longer a fight lasts the more billable hours you have depending on which side you’re on. But at the end of the day, the ones who suffered were the citizens. Ah, I mean just from jobs, from the economic impact we’re having not only in Glendale but in the whole West Valley. What people seem to forget is that the casino is already a sovereign nation and it’s on unincorporated land surrounded three sides by the City of Glendale and on the north side by the City of Peoria.” The mind freezes as one listens to him. I guess we can blame this entire issue on the lawyers. How Sammy can cite the great economic impact to Glendale now and later in the interview admit there is no way to gauge its impact is mind boggling.

Hook asked Sammy if the NFL was skittish about the casino and if the NFL supported it. Chavira responded, “I can tell you I heard nothing from the NFL on that issue. Me, personally, I didn’t hear anything. Trina, did you hear any concern from them?” Ms. Parvello neatly sidestepped the entire issue by saying, “…they are supportive of the community…” As for Sammy the NFL probably never even heard of him much less communicated anything to him.

Hook asked Chavira if people opposed the casino because it threatened the integrity of the neighborhood. Sammy responded, “Yes, it ran the gamut. It ran (sic) the integrity of the neighborhood, being across the school, uh, a street from the high school. Um, such things as it would bring crime, unsavory people and um…”

Hook asked Chavira if he had heard anything from his constituents. Sammy said, “Ok, well, I haven’t received anything negative from any of my constituents.” Could it be because Sammy has been unreachable and invisible to his constituency?

Hook asked Ms. Parvello if the Nation contributes to the larger community. She responded that the Nation has a strong responsibility to the community. However she failed to mention that it is mandated through the state compact that a percentage of their net must go to the non-profits and communities throughout the state. It is distributed through a grant application process.

Sammy was asked how much does Glendale benefit from having the casino in terms of dollars. He responded, “Well, right now because of the Nation being an entity that’s a sovereign nation, um, they don’t get taxed. But at the end of the day what happened, the agreement was to receive a payment from them annually. For how many years, Trina?”  She said, “Throughout the life of the compact.”  You would think Sammy would have prepared for this interview by obtaining some facts and figures instead of continually punting to Ms. Parvello.

Hook again asked for clarification about the financial benefit to Glendale and Sammy melts down by saying, “So what we’re doing now is that we’ve moved forward with our partnership. But at the end of the day, um, where we’re at today is…sorry, I lost my train of thought.”

Hook responds with that’s ok but will there be money going to the city? Sammy, in an attempt to recover says, “Oh. Absolutely. I’m, I’m, let me apologize for that. The money we will be receiving…Let me take you back to the liquor license. Liquor is, is, is taxed, is taxed by the state before it even goes to the, uh, store. Well, at the end of the day, now we’re having an opportunity. We’re avoiding an opportunity to make money by not letting us have that liquor license. So right there, we, I don’t think we’ll have a metric to measure the economic impact the casino is gonna have on the entire West Valley.” Can you figure out what Sammy said?

Ms. Parvello was asked how many jobs would be created at final build out and her answer was, “1500.”  Hmmm…that’s a far cry from the figure of 6,000 jobs the TO has used routinely.

Thank God this show runs at the ungodly hour of 5:30 AM on Sunday mornings. The viewership is probably 3 people. I bet John Hook wishes this is one of the interviews that could be erased forever. So much for the Fox slogan of “fair and unbiased.”

“At the end of the day,” sorry Sammy. We “lost our train of thought.”

© Joyce Clark, 2016

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such material. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Jul 14

31

“They looked us in the face and lied”

Posted by Joyce Clark on July 31, 2014
Posted in Casino • City of Glendale • Tohono O'odham  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

“They looked us in the face and lied.” Those are the words of Diane Enos, President of the Salt River-Pima-Maricopa Indian Community when she testified, under oath, on July 23, 2014 before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Her words are blunt and unequivocal. It is an expression of utter frustration and betrayal perpetrated by Tohono O’odham (TO) on virtually every Tribe in the state. What other lies may be on the horizon?

Here is one. What about the 6,000 construction jobs promised by the TO in its effort to sell the casino to an unsuspecting public? Large casino construction projects across the country generally average about 2,000 jobs. In California the Graton Rancheria Tribe constructed an $800 million entertainment and gaming destination. It resulted in 750 construction jobs. Mike Sunnucks in a July 28, 2014 story for the Phoenix Business Journal quotes Libby Francisco, COO of of the Tohono O’odham Gaming Enterprise as saying, “…the first construction phase will employ 3,500 workers…” If my math is correct, that is a little over half of the construction jobs promised by the TO. So much for their promise of 6,000 construction jobs. Might this be lie #2?

The Tohono O’odham do not have approval to place gaming on their newly designated reservation but that has not deterred them from hiring construction companies. Sunnucks says, “The Tohono O’odham Nation has picked Hunt Construction Group and Penta Building Group…” as their contractors. These companies will, in turn, hire sub-contractors for electrical, plumbing, concrete work, etc. These subs will put out a call to hire for this project. Men and women will come from all over the country and be hired. It will not matter where the workers come from as long as they can do the work at the hourly wage that Hunt and Penta’s sub-contractors will offer.

My family members are or were union members. Some are still actively employed and others are retired. All their work lives at one time or another, for short periods of time and sometimes for a year or better, they have worked out-of-state on large, mega construction projects. They go where the work is and the competition for these jobs is fierce.

Arizona’s unions have been most vocal in their support of the proposed TO casino as visions of local, union construction jobs dance in their heads. If these unions have a behind-closed-doors, back-slapping “understanding” with the TO about using local, union labor exclusively they better get it in writing and insist on a waiver of the Nation’s claim to sovereign immunity. Without a waiver they cannot sue for breach of contract. The TO will not be directly hiring any of the construction workers. The sub-contractors hired by Hunt Construction and Penta Building Group will do the hiring and they will decide based upon what works to maximize their bottom line. Might this be lie #3?

There is more to come, such as the wages paid for permanent jobs, but I’ll save that for another blog. You may consider the Tohono O’odham’s word as suspect and many do. It certainly should be on the minds of the Glendale city council for just like the Tribes throughout the state they may learn, painfully, that any promises, understandings, compacts or contracts are not worth the paper they are written on without a waiver of sovereign immunity. The TO could promise anyone anything and not deliver on their promise – just as they did to their sister Tribes – and then use their shield of immunity.  Remember President Enos’ words, “They looked us in the face and lied.” Who wants to take that chance?

© Joyce Clark, 2014

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Apr 13

24

Casino…it’s lose, lose for everyone, Part 5

Posted by Joyce Clark on April 24, 2013
Posted in Casino  | Tagged With: , , , , , | No Comments yet, please leave one

Image2

Professor
John Kindt
Biscayne Times

Professor of Business Administration since 1978, John Warren Kindt from the University of Illinois, is perhaps one of our country’s foremost experts on the effects of gambling and casinos in the United States. He has a distinguished and creditable background. He received an A.B. in Business from William and Mary; an M.B.A. from the University of Georgia; a J.D. from the University of Georgia; an LL.M., International Law from the University of Virginia; and an S.J.D., International Law from the University of Virginia. Kindt has written numerous papers on antitrust, tax, commercial, environmental, and international law. However, his main expertise is the economics of gambling — from Internet poker games to lavish casinos.

The Biscayne Times of Florida quoted him extensively in a February, 2012 article entitled The Casino Effect written By Erik Bojnansky on the issue of off-shore corporate interests building a mega resort/tourist destination with casinos in Miami, Florida. You can connect to the article here: http://www.biscaynetimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1073:the-casi .

I have taken the liberty of quoting some of his remarks:

“Generally there is a bump lasting about two to three years,” says Kindt, who has studied casinos for two decades. ‘There are new construction jobs and a lot of activity as money is coming in’.”

“But Kindt warns that the bump won’t last: ‘Once the project is completed, and slot machines come in, [the casino] takes everything. After that Miami will lose jobs as businesses within a 35-mile radius of casinos… see their profits shrink…’. ”

slot machine“Kindt also says that casino games such as poker, blackjack, and roulette are merely ‘window dressing’ designed to draw in players. Slot machines, which include video poker and other electronic gambling machines, are at the heart of all casinos. ‘Every slot machine brings in a minimum of $100,000 a year,’ he asserts. ‘Slot machines don’t create jobs — you just dust them off. And that’s 90 percent of the money.’ According to Kindt, most of that slot-machine money comes from middle-class and poor individuals living near casinos.”

“Each slot machine costs the surrounding community one job per year, Kindt says. In a 2003 article for the Ohio Law Review, he reported that within a newly established casino’s ‘feeder market,’ business and personal bankruptcies increase between 18 and 42 percent, while ‘impulse’ business transactions in the area decline by 65 percent.”

“ ‘When billions of dollars are going into slot machines, where are those billions of dollars coming from’?” Kindt asks. ‘They are no longer buying cars, refrigerators, or even food and clothing’.”

Here are more quotes from scholarly publications and testimony before state and national fact-finding committees: The link is:  http://www.casinowatch.org/john_kindt/kindt_index.html

“Every video [slot] gambling machine takes $60,000 out of the consumer economy.”

“$60,000 spent in a consumer economy multiplies by respending into $180,000.”

jobs gone“For every slot machine you add, you lose one job per year from the consumer economy. Therefore 5,000 new video gambling machines costs the economy 5,000 lost jobs each year.”

 

gambling 2“Legalized gambling cost taxpayers $3 for every $1 in state revenue to government”

“Any legislator who says he doesn’t see the downside hasn’t done his homework”

“My bottom line is this is no time to be gambling with our economy”

“Gamblers spend 10 percent less on food; 25 percent less on clothing and 35 percent less on savings”
gambling 1
“Thirty-seven percent of gamblers dip into their savings to fulfill their habit”

“In 1993, 40 percent of Minnesota restaurateurs reported declines attributed to casinos”

bankruptcy“Bankruptcies and addictions increase in areas with casinos”

“An Osage tribal study found that between $41 million to $50 million left a 50-mile radius around their own casino”

“The gambling interests like to point to the construction jobs, but those jobs go away”

“Gambling interests hire lots of economists to do impact studies, but what you need is cost-benefit analysis, and you’ll never see the industry finance those”

“No reputable economist anywhere believes it’s [gambling] an economic tool”

“For every dollar of revenue generated by gambling, taxpayers must pay at least $3 in increased criminal justice costs, social welfare expenses, high regulatory costs, and increased infrastructure expenditures”

Courtesy Christopher B.

Courtesy Christopher B.

“Generally, traditional businesses were slow to recognize the way in which legalized gambling captured dollars from across the entire spectrum of the various consumer markets, but now they know”

“People will spend a tremendous amount of money in casinos, money they normally would spend on refrigerators or a new car. Local businesses will suffer because they’ll lose consumer dollars to casinos.”Quoting Donald Trump

“And as far as jobs go, for every one job that the casino creates, one is lost in the 35-mile feeder market”

“A study in Illinois in the mid-1990s found that 65 percent of businesses were hurt by the proximity of gambling”

From the travel math website , http://www.travelmath.com/cities-near/Glendale,+AZ,  one can find that the following cities and towns are within 26 miles of Glendale.

Cities, towns, and suburbs near Glendale, Arizona. The center of each city listed is within 26 miles of Glendale, AZ:

 

 

down the drainIf nothing else, this bit of information should give these cities pause when they learn that the economic impacts of a casino can affect anywhere from a 35 to 50 mile radius. I wonder if Mayor Barrett of Peoria would be so enthusiastically supportive of this proposed casino if he were to realize that the giant, economic sucking sound affecting Peoria was due to this casino?

As Professor Kindt suggests, it’s time for a cost-benefit analysis – not a fiscal impact study (having been fooled by previous fiscal impact studies I know they can be made to prove or disprove anything) – but an extensive and thorough cost-benefit study that proves or disproves once and for all, the impact of a casino in Glendale.  A local economist such as Elliot Pollack could perform such a study but who would pay for it? The Tohono O’odham? Not on your life. The State? Nope, again. Glendale? It’s tapped out. How about a consortium of the cities in the above list? After all, they would be affected… wouldn’t they?

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Apr 13

16

Casino…good, bad or indifferent? Part 3

Posted by Joyce Clark on April 16, 2013
Posted in Casino  | Tagged With: , , , , | 1 Comment

We know the proposed site of the casino. We know about the state voter approved gaming compact and how the Tohono O’odham acquired the land.  Is a casino is healthy for an urbanized area?

There is one disclaimer however. I am not commenting on the casino as a social justice issue. For this discussion this issue is not about the white man having treated Indians badly over several hundred years. It’s not about owing Tribes for past wrongs. Today’s society has crafted many solutions for ameliorating social injustice. What this is about is whether a casino, whether owned by Las Vegas interests, Atlantic City interests or the Tribes, is a good thing within a major city. Glendale is a major city with a population of nearly a quarter of a million people. It is the fourth largest city in the state. It definitely qualifies as an urban area within the Phoenix metropolitan area.

threaten 2How is crime related to a casino? Does crime go up, go down or stay the same? The following is an Abstract entitled Casinos, Crime and Community Costs by Earl L. Grinols and David B. Mustard, originally published in 1996 but this excerpt is from the Review of Economics and Statistics (February 2006). The authors say, “We examine the relationship between casinos and crime using county-level data for the United States between 1977 and 1996. Casinos were nonexistent outside Nevada before 1978, and expanded to many other states during our sample period. Most factors that reduce crime occur before or shortly after a casino opens, whereas those that increase crime, including problem and pathological gambling, occur over time. The results suggest that the effect on crime is low shortly after a casino opens, and grows over time. Roughly 8% of crime in casino counties in 1996 was attributable to casinos, costing the average adult $75 per year.

“Casinos increased all crimes except murder, the crime with the least obvious connection to casinos. Most offenses showed that the impact of casinos on crime increased over time, a pattern very consistent with the theories of how casinos affect crime. The crime-ameliorating effects of casinos through increased employment opportunities and wages for low-skilled people will be concentrated shortly after opening. Between 5.5% and 30% of the different crimes in casino counties can be attributed to casinos.

“This translates into a social crime cost associated with casinos of $75 per adult in 1996. This figure does not include other social costs related to casinos, such as crime in neighboring counties, direct regulatory costs, costs related to employment and lost productivity, and social service and welfare costs. Overall, 8.6% of property crime and 12.6% of violent crime in counties with casinos was due to the presence of the casino.

crime 1“According to the study, five years after a casino opens, robbery in the community goes up 136 percent, aggravated assault is up 91 percent, auto theft is up 78 percent, burglary is up 50 percent, larceny is up 38 percent, rape is up 21 percent and murder is up 12 percent, compared to neighboring communities.

“Crime-lowering effects, like additional police and the new jobs represented by a casino are overwhelmed by rising crime increased by the presence of the casino, according to the study.”

Since this study was published in 1996 many pro casino interests have attempted to debunk it. Be that as it may, this is a definitive study that has been repeatedly cited by many reputable public policy groups in attempting to determine the benefits and negatives of a casino.

The New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies in its April, 2010 report entitled Impact of Expanded Gambling in New westgate 1Hampshire concluded in part, that negative impacts could be substantial:

  •      Decrease in meals and room taxes away from other, traditional sources (a shifting of tax revenue away from hotels and    restaurants such as Westgate, toward gambling facilities)
  •      Visitors and residents spend money on gambling that would be spent on other goods and services (known as “substitution”)
  • The state will have increased expenses related to expansion of personnel to accommodate the new facility
  • Creates an atmosphere of increased competition for state investments and subsidies
  • Shifts workers currently in one industry to the gambling industry (known as “displacement”). This new development may take workers from other industries and moves them into the casino industry
  • Social costs increase related to increased crime and pathological gambling
  • Significant potential political influence from a single industry

This New Hampshire study also offered, “For a standard casino, most patrons come from within 30 miles and participation declines exponentially as distance increases. These markets do not conform to state or other political boundaries.”

casino 1Another issue identified by the study said, “In casino markets like Las Vegas and Atlantic City 8-10% of casino patrons are ‘problem gamblers” (National Opinion Research Center, 2000). A person is not going to have a problem unless they have access to gambling. Proximity to a casino impacts propensity to gamble. Proximity to a casino (e.g. within 50 miles) increases the risk of pathological problems (National Opinion Research Center, 2000). Problem gambling will impact communities closest to the gambling venue and decrease the further away you are.”

In addition, “An analysis by the New Hampshire Lottery Commission shows that scratch ticket sales have declined in the last six months of 2012 in the region of New Hampshire closest to the Oxford County casino.”

This New Hampshire study raises issues not previously discussed publicly such as a diminishment of state lottery sales in the geographic region closest to a casino or that pathological gambling increases in the geographic area closest to the casino.

roads 2What about the issue of traffic? The Connecticut South Western Regional Planning Agency issued a Casino Traffic Impact Study in 2009.  “The purpose of this study was to estimate the possible traffic and air quality impacts of the development of a casino in Bridgeport.” The study concluded, “that the development of a casino would have a significant impact on traffic congestion in southwestern Connecticut. Casino traffic is not seasonal because the number of trips to and from casinos is relatively consistent from month to month. Casinos operate 24 hours per day; there is no peak travel period to and from casinos thus traffic impacts of casinos may be experienced at all times of day.” Many transportation agencies in many states where casinos have located have done similar studies. All recommend new transportation infrastructure whose costs are borne by taxpayers.

roads 1The increased traffic in the area will not just be due to the number of visitors to the casino. Add to that, traffic from employees as well as vendors and suppliers making deliveries with their semis at all hours of the day and night. In Glendale a traffic impact analysis study was done for Westgate and the University of Phoenix Stadium. As a result of those studies, additional traffic mitigation was created and paid for by the developers of those projects. There is no mechanism to compel the Tohono O’odham to enhance road infrastructure in the area. As a sovereign nation there is no local, state or federal mechanism to compel another nation (think of it as another country) to reimburse the costs of enhanced transportation infrastructure to and from their site.

constructionIn return for the problems created by a casino in an urban area, supporters of the casino continually use the mantra of (1) it will pump up business in the adjoining local area. They say that customers will leave the casino environment and move to Westgate to eat and to shop.  I doubt the restaurants and hotels, or Tanger Outlet Mall in Westgate would agree with that notion. More likely, customers with limited disposable income will make choices and it will be one or the other – Westgate or the casino – not both; and (2) it will bring jobs – temporary construction jobs and later, permanent jobs servicing the casino. Keep in mind, 25% of the jobs created, whether temporary construction jobs or permanent service jobs later, are reserved for Native Americans. At Talking Stick Casino, “Chanen Construction, which has worked with Casino Arizona for 14 years, divided the enormous job of sheet-rocking the interior and exterior into 10 different bid packages. This resulted in five firms getting the work, instead of one, which is the norm. But Chanen wanted ‘to maximize opportunities for different project participants,’ the company told McGraw-Hill Construction in a profile of Talking Stick published last fall. ‘We have a process where we let tribal members who own businesses participate as subcontractors, so we want to make the packages in smaller bites so more participation could occur’.”

The Tohono O’odham has said repeatedly there will be 6,000 construction jobs. The Maryland Live! Casino is a 332,500 square foot facility (twice the size of the proposed TO casino) and anticipates creating 2,750 construction-related jobs (half that number would be approximately 1,400 jobs and reportedly a much more realistic number for this facility). In an effort to “sell” the benefits of the casino, it is quite possible numbers have been inflated. It is a subtle form of deception, no doubt, but not unexpected considering the TO’s actions with regard to Proposition 202.

Problems throughout the country related to casino construction have surfaced. Here is but one example – a Press Release from a coalition of unions in California issued on January 15, 2013, “ROHNERT PARK, CA: Graton Rancheria’s (my note: a coalition of Indian tribes) promises to Sonoma County union workers have been dashed by lay-offs of local union members as out-of-area workers are being brought in to take their places. Sonoma County union construction workers report that workers are being brought in from “Nevada and the L.A. area” and even as far away as Alabama to work on the Graton Rancheria casino/hotel project in Rohnert Park.

Reports started as early as November, as a local member of the Carpenters Union raised the first alarm about locals being replaced by out-of-area workers.   Now the complaints are coming from a union cement worker who believes that approximately 70% of the casino workforce is made up of the out-of-towners.”

Those who think the casino is the answer to Glendale’s problems, will dismiss the arguments made in this blog and take this as an opportunity to respond in the negative. As long as comments are respectful of one another and deal with the issue at hand, they will be posted as responses to this blog.

In the next blog we will look at the legal issues and a basket full of attorneys involved in the casino issue.

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