Laserfiche WebLink
Mayor Tarver commented that the process seems to be in a rush to get it adopted before <br />January 1, 1996, and might be a way to get around requiring a vote. <br /> <br /> Mr. Blonien replied that even if Council had been approached in early September, there <br />would not have been time enough to get it to the voters in November. <br /> <br /> Mr. Pico asked how long the issue had been talked about to the Fair Board. <br /> <br /> Mr. Blonien replied 2-2 1/2 months. <br /> <br /> Ms. Dennis asked where the card rooms in the Bay Area are located now. <br /> <br /> Mr. Blonien stated that there are two 40-table clubs in San Jose, a 30-table club in San <br />Bruno, 30-table and 15-table club in Emeryville, 5-table club in Hayward, 10-table club in <br />Pacheco, 10-table club in Livermore, an 80-table club will open in San Pablo December 15th, <br />and a 40-table club will be under construction at Golden Gate Fields. He pointed out the Bay <br />101 Club will have $40 million in gaming revenues and San Jose will get 14% of that. <br /> <br /> Larry Roe, 5846 Corte Brazos, hoped the Fairgrounds can solve its revenue problem, but <br />bringing in a card club is a different issue and he is opposed to it. He felt that the card rooms <br />had been closed previously for a reason and felt that the community would not be in favor of <br />having this type of facility open on a 24-hour basis. He had newspaper articles showing the two <br />card rooms in San Jose are going to be enlarged and that there had been a tremendous jump in <br />criminal activity surrounding the Bay 101 card club. The article showed narcotic activity had <br />increased 200%, property crimes were up 83% and petty theft was up 56%. This is in an <br />industrial area as opposed to where the Fairgrounds is located, where houses are less than 1/8 <br />of a mile from the current satellite wagering facility. He also mentioned an article that indicated <br />a large Vietnamese group that wrote 900 letters urging the City Council to curtail the card room <br />because of the problems they are having in their community with gambling and the inability to <br />control this problem. He felt that the card rooms open the possibilities for casinos in the future. <br /> <br /> Teri Sewall, 5034 Blackbird Way, didn't feel the issue should even be looked at. She <br />felt a three year prohibition on it would give the community enough time to adjust to BART and <br />solve the problems that will arise before the City takes on a new problem like the card room. <br />She urged Council not to consider looking at the card room issue. <br /> <br /> Karen Caldwell, 112 Mission Drive, commented from the survey that Pleasanton is a nice <br />place to live, family oriented and the residents felt safe in the community. She felt the image <br />of a card room and the outside influences that it can bring (the people that come to the card <br />room or the people who run it) are not influences that support the family-oriented image that <br />Pleasanton has strived so hard to maintain. She urged Council not to consider the ordinance <br />because she felt that outside influences are the only ones who have a lot to gain by the City <br />adopting a card room. <br /> <br />11/07/95 -19- <br /> <br /> <br />