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Opinion
Editorial: The Dry Creek Rancheria casino threat


"When 80 percent of Petaluma voters went to the polls in late 2006 and said “no” to a casino in their back yard, they meant no casino.

So imagine the community’s collective dismay at the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors’ unfortunate agreement this week with the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomos stipulating that no casino may be built on the tribe’s 277-acre property just south of Petaluma ... for eight years.

Eight years? Petaluma voters put no such time limit on their overwhelming opposition to a casino in their community. Petaluma does not want a casino here, period.

Well then, if the city doesn’t want to see a casino sprout up here in eight years, it can ensure that never happens simply by providing water and sewer treatment service to the property, says the tribe, which could then build any other massive, non-gaming commercial development on the pastoral site located between the Petaluma River and Highway 101. Super Wal-Mart, anyone?

The tribe’s brazen, bullying tactics, documented in this unfortunate agreement with the county, sound a lot like blackmail: Give us a large chunk of your increasingly precious water supply or risk a massive casino development on your doorstep. Your choice, Petaluma."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Casino threats surround Petaluma (The Petaluma Argus-Courier 3/20)

Related Story:
Tribe won’t seek casino if Petaluma site gets water (The Petaluma Argus-Courier 3/20)