By Jessica Quandt – Staff Writer for the Freelance
Salinas – The Monterey County Board of Supervisors sent a letter
to their colleagues in San Benito and Santa Clara counties
Wednesday opposing the construction of a casino in either county,
but Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage called the letter
premature.
By Jessica Quandt – Staff Writer for the Freelance
Salinas – The Monterey County Board of Supervisors sent a letter to their colleagues in San Benito and Santa Clara counties Wednesday opposing the construction of a casino in either county, but Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage called the letter premature.
The board’s opposition to a casino was the result of several factors, according to Monterey County Board of Supervisors Chairman Lou Calcagno, who brought the idea before the board. After researching how a casino in San Benito County could affect its neighbors, Monterey County Sheriff Mike Kanalakis said opposing a casino was in the county’s best interest, Calcagno said.
“Our sheriff definitely feels it would be a bad thing for Monterey County. A casino would contribute to crime in Monterey County and traffic congestion between San Benito and Monterey counties. We at times are already roadblocked in the corridor between the two counties with the traffic conditions,” Calcagno said.
San Benito County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bob Cruz alerted Calcagno to the controversy the proposed Miwok Casino off of Highway 25 was causing among local residents.
“I told him we’d be more than happy to participate with some kind of action (against the casino),” Calcagno said.
Cruz was unavailable for comment.
In the letter to be sent to San Benito and Santa Clara County supervisors, Calcagno speaks on behalf of residents and board, stating, “Permitting the placement of a casino in either the Soap Lake or Aromas areas would potentially increase criminal activity in the surrounding neighborhoods and result in diminished security for those who live in the adjacent area.”
Supervisors and residents are also concerned about the state of Soap Lake itself.
“If they (the Miwoks) were to build this casino anywhere near Soap Lake… It’s just very important that Soap Lake is preserved in its present form. It acts as a reservoir and a holding area, and as we approach that area in development, we’re taking up one of the essential vital wetlands that prevents flooding in the Pajaro Valley,” Calcagno said.
The Monterey County board is expected to sign the letter today, according to Calcagno.
San Benito County Supervisor Reb Monaco said he was unaware a letter had been written, but that he was not surprised. He said he was at a California State Association of Cities conference in San Diego last week and had talked to some supervisors who were concerned about a casino.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage hasn’t seen the letter, but believes that it’s premature for the Monterey supervisors to stake out a position on the still-amorphous casino plans. It’s unlikely, he said, that the letter will have any effect on the Santa Clara County board.
“I can’t imagine us taking a position before we know what they’re planning, where the final site is going to be, what’s in it for Santa Clara County,” Gage said.
Gilroy resident Joe Giacalone, a lead investor in the casino, is perplexed by Monterey’s opposition to the project, saying Tuesday that the county is too far from the proposed site to suffer any negative consequences.
“Do they know where it’s going to be?” he asked.
Gage at least partially shares that view.
“The closest town is Watsonville and that’s more than 20 miles away,” Gage said. “They have every right to be concerned but if there’s going to be more crime, it will be in the area right around the casino.”
The California Valley Miwok tribe is proposing the casino, and has chosen a piece of land off Highway 25 near the border between San Benito and Santa Clara counties for the project. The group has said the casino would be similar in size to the Cache Creek casino in Yolo County, which is 66,000 square feet and has 1,762 slot machines.
California Valley Miwok Project spokeswoman Nicole Ratcliff could not be reached by press time. But she has said that the tribe will perform an environmental study of some sort on the proposed site.
The proposed casino has met with opposition from Casinos Represent A Poor Solution (C.R.A.P.S.), which is currently working on a petition opposing the casino to take to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Miwok attorney Phillip Thompson and California Valley Miwok Project Manager Gary Ramos have both said the tribe wants to work with San Benito County residents to create a project that will be beneficial to everyone. The tribe recently commissioned an economic impact report, which Thompson said will show the county the financial benefits the tribe believes a casino would bring to the area. Ratcliff did not know when the report would be ready, but has said the tribe hopes to present some of the report’s findings at a community meeting in Hollister in January.
