Two articles from the Inquirer this weekend discussed the continuing battle over the Casinos. The fight over these neighborhood killing monstrosities is basically just another example of State politicians, including some from Philadelphia, taking away local control from our City when there is a chance that our local decisions might hurt their high-rolling, donor buddies in the wallet.
The legislature is again poised to make Philadelphia the only place in Pennsylvania where local government will not control casino development.
The move, expected in the state Senate next week, comes even though City Council members warned that they might sue if the measure was approved.
Councilmen Frank DiCicco and Jim Kenney have put up a Web site, www.fightforphilly.com, urging Gov. Rendell to veto the bill.
To placate the city, the Senate adopted changes to give Philadelphia input into the decisions of the Gaming Control Board.
In my recent memory:
1) Philly tried to limit the amount of AK-47s on the street, by passing a ban on assault weapons in the City. The State preempted us, and killed the law. (I assume Vince Fumo, who appears more allied with the NRA then with victims of gun violence in Philadelphia, supported this preemption? More on him later.)
2) Then, City leaders, with a huge assist from excellent reporting from the Daily News, identified and dealt with the scourge of predatory lending in our City. The State preempted us. Again, Vince Fumo, with help from Dwight Evans, preempted the ability of the City government to protect its most vulnerable citizens from criminals stealing their homes.
3) Mary Tracy of Scrub, one of those people that most "progressives" in Philly have never heard of, but should, led a long string of fights against ugly, illegal billboards being placed around the City. In response, the State passed a law severely limiting the ability of any citizen or community group from challenging zoning decisions. This preemption was led by John Perzel, the worst person ever. And, it has ramifications for the battle over number 4.
4) Now, the State is poised to insure Philly has no control over Casino decisions whatsoever. Not in their location, which they already took from us. And now not any say in how they are built. Awesome. Thank you again, to Senator Vince Fumo, for showing how much you care.
The supposed compromise that is in the works is that Philly’s local rules will be “enforced” by the Gaming Control Board. Wooo. Excellent. The gaming control board, who always listens to interested and involved Philadelphians: (from Hallwatch)
Yeah, right.
But hey, let’s assume that this bill does not pass, or that Councilmen Kenney and DiCicco’s fight to keep some local control wins. Do NABR, the Multi-Community Alliance and other important groups win big? Well, probably not. Because looking back to #3, when the John Perzel decided to squash the power of Mary Tracy to kick billboard company ass, he also took away the rights of the large majority of Philadelphians to have any say in any zoning decisions at all. How many people in NABR live within 500 feet of most of the Casinos? I would venture not many, and also venture the answer is the same for most people in the MCA. Well, too bad for them then, because they will have no input in these decisions, even if those same decisions may destroy their neighborhoods.
So, Councilman Kenney and Councilman DiCicco can protest all they want, and scream for local control. But the Casinos have largely been pushed by their political patron, Vince Fumo. And along with Dwight Evans, and John Perzel, he is part of a cadre of Philly State politicians who like to destroy our own local governance. So, even if we win this little fight, it is nothing but a small mark on Casinos that are about to stomp out a large footprint on the City.
So maybe instead of protesting loudly in the newspaper, DiCicco and Kenney should dial their patron on his cell phone, and have a little talk with him. They could ask him to remember that we have local government for a reason. Think they will do it?
i object!
please let the record reflect that this is politics at its worst and i commend those fighting these monstronsities.
within 500 or 5,000 feet, we need to be represented
As one of the founders of NABR it would be great if we did retain the rights of community groups to have standing to sue, that is why we participated in the neighborhooddefense.org event at City Hall last week. Having standing is important but having the resources, i.e. money to sue is obviously important as well. I actually do live within 500 feet of one of the proposed slots parlors as do many of my neighbors, but none of us are financially able to hire an attourney to represent us. Thanks for continuing to bring these issues up on this blog as one day, who knows, maybe we will ge the representation (from lawyers if not politicians) that we deserve.