The Dangers of Slots
Thread: Indian Gaming in California
According to this op-ed from the North County Times, the California community of Temecula has suffered because of the nearby Pechanga tribal casino, and if the tribe gets more slots, things will only get worse:
"Southern Temecula neighborhoods are no longer quiet, calm or safe. Traffic roars down a deteriorated Pechanga Parkway. Inconsiderate drivers and traffic accidents have become commonplace. Sirens wail throughout the day and night. Twelve-foot-high sound walls don't stop the noise. Drunken drivers are common. Theft and vandalism have significantly increased. God forbid we have to evacuate because the two creeks that border our community flood, there is a dam failure at Vail Lake or there is an earthquake along the Elsinore Fault through southern Temecula."
The op-ed continues,
"To be fair, the Pechanga Indians have participated in efforts to minimize their traffic impacts. Petitioning the Bureau of Indian Affairs to provide some of the funding for the Pechanga Parkway Bridge, contributing $4.4 million to the Pechanga Parkway widening project and paying into the state Indian gaming fund. However, it's hard to imagine how the tribe could possibly mitigate the impacts from a tripling (or more) of traffic."
posted by Kathryn & Steve at
9:41 AM
1 Comments:
Too bad that we always have these negative stereotypes to deal with and always have to say the "real side" of things. I am wondering how to help mainstream media with their portrayal of reservation casinos near big cities. We don't hear these issues coming out of MN because the tribes are real good with PR in MN. CA tribes would do well to work on their PR issues. How to be on top of the game of public relations and take a pro-active approach to announcing things like a $4.4 million price tag for a road improvement is a big deal to tax payers. They want to be assured that this is not coming out of funds to educate their children, etc. That's my 2 cents.
By
moniquev, at Tuesday, February 27, 2007 9:12:00 AM
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