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California City Warms Up to Casino Idea

SAN PABLO, California – As reported by the Baltimore Sun: "This gritty little San Francisco Bay Area city ran short on luck decades ago.

"…This week the blue-collar town of 31,000 saw its fortunes turn.

"…Residents learned that a 255-member Indian tribe plans a gargantuan casino - the nation's third-largest - at the front doorstep of San Pablo. With 5,000 slot machines spread over a floor space bigger than a half dozen Home Depots, the gambling palace would be nearly triple the size of the state's largest existing tribal casino. It also marks the deepest potential incursion by tribal gambling into California's urban core.

"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger concluded a deal recently with the Lytton Band of Pomo Indians for San Pablo's mega-casino, one of five tribal compacts up for possible ratification during the Legislature's final frenzied week. While the state stands to gain 25 percent of the revenue from the casino's slots and game tables, the deal would allow a mammoth metropolitan gambling emporium never before seen in California.

"In many cities, such news might be as welcome as a visit by Godzilla. Indian casino proposals regularly spawn hostility around the Golden State, but no big move to organize and oppose has surfaced here.

"City officials have embraced the idea, and so have many of San Pablo's underdog denizens. To them, a multistory, neon-bedecked casino represents progress, the prospect of civic renewal and jobs, a dash of hope.

"…San Pablo's median household income of $16,400 is the region's lowest, and its unemployment rate is mired in double digits.

"The extra millions the city would likely reap from a bigger casino would be sorely welcome, said City Manger Brock Arner. Meanwhile, the expected 2,000 union-wage jobs would be a boon for a city with nearly 11 percent unemployment…"

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