Gilroy has had its share of development controversy. Outlet
center,
”
big box
”
retail and rapid residential development have raised fundamental
questions about traffic, infrastructure, density, health and
safety, economics and quality of life. Do the benefits outweigh the
costs?
Gilroy has had its share of development controversy. Outlet center, “big box” retail and rapid residential development have raised fundamental questions about traffic, infrastructure, density, health and safety, economics and quality of life. Do the benefits outweigh the costs?
The proposed Indian Casino is conceptually no different. In many ways it is like the Cisco campus in the Coyote Valley. The notion of out-of-town developers planning a huge development behind closed doors without local input is distasteful. The opportunity of millions of dollars for local public needs is real.
We call for adequate local participation to explore the impacts – physical, cultural and spiritual – on our community. Our local Indian tribes’ cultural and political leaders need to lend their voices to the public debate on this immense development proposal. The opportunities and the impacts will be regional in scope. We will all live with the traffic and demands on public safety resources and other impacts.
We can all share in the new schools, roads, public health facilities and possible other advantages that the income from a casino development could bring. If this happens, there must be local benefits commensurate with the local impact.
We need to better understand how the concept of state and federal sovereignty will impact our local lives and values. Will our children be allowed to gamble? Will the spiritual values of our local Indian tribes be compromised? How will the culture of our community be changed?
Public debate is critical to these public policy decisions.
The discussion must come from behind closed doors into the public light. We must have a local voice in deciding whether this concept is an opportunity or exploitation.
Class members of Leadership Gilroy ’04 co-wrote this editorial after a lively discussion Friday during a visit to The Dispatch and a hands-on Media Day experience. Participating editors included:
Art Barron, Lloyd Lowrey, Lynn Noto, Vilma Pinheiro and Antoinette Price.
