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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 1995-05-03 Mayor Robert Yee Council: Jack Drago Joseph A. Fernekes mlohn R. Penna Roberta Cerri Teglia MINUTES City Council Ponderosa School 295 Ponderosa Rd. May 3, 1995 SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL TOWN HALL MEETINGS DISCUSSION ON CARD ROOM PROPOSAL i. 73 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, pursuant to Section 54956 of the Government Code of the State of California, that tho City Council of the City of South San Francisco will hold Special Meetings for discussion on the cardroom proposal for the Shearwater site with all meetings beginning at 7:00 p.m. and ending at 8:30 p.m.: Monday, May 1, 1995, El Camino High School, Cafeteria, 1320 Mission Rd. Tuesday, May 2, 1995, Alta Loma Middle School, Multi Use Room, 116 Romney Ave. Wednesday, May 3, 1995, Ponderosa School, Multi Use Room, 295 Ponderosa Rd. Monday, May 8, 1995, Martin School, Multi Use Room, 35 School Street Tuesday, May 9, 1995, South San Francisco High School, Cafeteria, 400 B St. Tuesday, May 23, 1995, Westborough Junior High, Multi Use Room, 2570 Westborough Blvd. City Clerk City of South San Francisco Dated: April 26, 1995 CALL TO ORDER: ROLL CALL: AGENDA (Cassette No. 1) Discussion on the cardroom proposal for the Shearwater site. 3"~Off _ACI!QN TAKEN 7:05 p.m. Mayor Yee presiding. Council Present: Drago, Fernekes, Teglia and Yee. Council Absent: Penna. Mayor Yee stated staff will give the audience a summary of the report which will be initiated by the City Manager and anyone wishing to speak may submit a speakers card after the presentation. City Manager Wilson stated tonight we are going to be discussing an interesting subject, the Shearwater proposal and the gaming eardroom which is a part of it. He stated four staff members participated in finding out what the state of the art is in gaming as it applies to California. These folks traveled out of 5/3/95 Page 1 A~ENDA ACTIQN TAKEN ._Discussion on the cardroom proposal for the Shearwater itc. 74 the area to Southern California and visited Hollywood Park and other facilities and went to San Jose to contact people in gaming operations. They reviewed the literature and basically tried to familiarize themselves with what is occurring in the industry so they could come back and give a report to Council and the public. He stated their reports change after every meeting because they are meeting every night, citizens raise questions and, if they don't have the answers to the questions, they incorporate those the next day. He showed a map of the Shearwater property location and the six acre City owned site which about 15 years ago the buildings were demolished by fire on the other side of the freeway; the Shearwater proper- ty is approximately 43 acres of land mass above the water line and there is about 110 acres submerged land. The proposal essentially addresses the land mass and would likely incorporate the City's proper- ty because, whatever occurs for this project or an- other, the City would be involved to lease our land or sell it. The property has unique features and there have been two other proposals in the last ten years for residential, hotels and commercial ideas. It was discovered there are wetlands to deal with BCDC and the Corps. of Engineers, as well as contamination that involves Water Quality Control. He showed an illustration rather than a firm propos- al of the project and it is one of three presented to the City. He stated this is the concept of what the developer has in mind and the configuration can change. The major components are 400,000 sq. ft. of retail and it would probably be designed as big box, such as a Home Depot, a large Circuit City or a K-Mart, and maybe have some smaller stores, a restaurant and other suggestions the developer has made. The other component is a gaming facility of 100,000 sq. ft. which is designed to house up to 150 card tables. That raised a lot of issues with Council and staff and they did a due diligent study and are here in part to explain the state of the art pertaining to casinos. There are questions from the last few days, one of which was are there other options for the site. Yes they have seen two, but they are no longer in exis- tence and they have been abandoned. The property owner approached the City and we have a developer 5/3/95 Page 2 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN Discussion on the cardroom proposal for the Shearwater ~te. who has control over the property and he and Holly- wood Park came to the City with this proposal. The other question was who initiated the proposal. The developer initiated it. Another question was why Hollywood Park. Well, that is one of the develop- ers that made the proposal. Why didn't you go out to bid, again, the developer approached the City with Hollywood Park and the City did not go out to bid. Why are we in such a rush to get the project. Rush is a relative word for this came last year and 8 months later the City is holding these public meet- ings. The City has a set policy and planning direc- tives and later tonight you will hear an outline where the City has to go through the Planning amendments and any number of steps to follow. Last night the question was asked if Hollywood Park could operate the casino. The answer is no, they can only do the support services but, as far as the law says as a public corporation, they will contract the operations. Another question was who is the operator. That has not been determined because there is not a project yet. No matter who they select there will be a background check with the State and the local Police Department. What happens to the existing cardrooms. We have two on Grand Avenue and there are negotiations between Hollywood Park and the Pascos and a partnership may be or may not be possible. He stated the Police Chief will get into the question of how does the gambling take place for it is differ- ent than Nevada. Persons under 21 cannot be on the gaming floor, for you have to be 21 or older to be in the casino where they play cards. One could be under 21 and work other than on the casino floor. As to whether the jobs are union or non-union, the workers will have to vote on the issue. Last night a representative of the Hotel & Restaurant Union indicated they have been in negotiations with Holly- wood Park and feel there will be a fair opportunity for the employees to make that decision. He described the outline the four staff members would follow in the presentation. He gave the following disclaimer, the staff will take questions under advisement, are not going to make a moral judgment just tell you the state of the art tonight in gaming and respond to questions. City Attorney Mattas addressed gaming laws on the 5/3/95 Page 3 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN ._Discussion on the cardroom proposal for the Shearwater State level, gaming regulations at the local level and then explain the process in terms of public hearings in the event Council goes forward with the proposal. City Manager Wilson stated the Council has already held one work session and there will be an item on the next agenda in regard to an amendment to the gaming ordinance. The State Legislature has been undertaking a look at gaming laws in California to broaden the regulatory powers or potentially have the State try to get some of the local revenue. So, staff discussed working on a draft of a gaming ordi- nance to implement revenue and regulatory provi- sions and have that on the books before the State Legislature moved forward on their own. Police Chief Raffaelli stated he found the impact is not that significant and he looked at everything and the people running the casinos, because staff felt all that was important along with looking at the activi- ties and the structures now in law enforcement. There is nothing in California as large as the Holly- wood Park proposal for a 100,000 sq. ft. casino, however, the Bicycle Club is large. Tonight he asked his grandmother what she thought of card clubs and she said smoke in the rooms and peanut shells. The cardrooms he saw were not like that, staff saw a large club like in Tahoe with valet park- ing, high ceilings and great ventilation and without a lot of crowds because the people are at the tables. He stated it was comfortable and had coffee shops to the side, so, it was all different than expected. He stated staff arrived a day early because they didn't want Hollywood Park to know they were there and talked to some of the security people. After looking at the operation they learned people do not play against the house, that doesn't occur in California, you play against the other players and you pay a fee at the tables, however, different clubs collect differently. The house deals the cards and does not pay out, so you are playing against other people. He stated security people wear plain clothes in the club and have a work force of about 100. They want to keep a positive image of the club because everything negative loses business. The surveil- lance is difficult up in Nevada with the cameras above you, that watch you, record you and keep that recording. The system in Hollywood Park is a state 5/3/95 Page 4 AQENDA A~I!QN TAKEN, 77 ,_Discussion on the cardroom proposal for the Shearwater te. of the art system and staff is recommending the same system in the Municipal Code. He addressed calls for service: gaming dubs 200, Kaiser Hospital 250, Price Club 160, Century 8 76, Hillsdale Mall 450, Tanforan 2,300, Serramonte 890. He stated the question was asked last night how these calls compare to casino calls as to the types of crimes. He said it was a mixture of distur- bances and car thefts. He addressed other activities associated with cardrooms: loan sharking, money laundering, pros- titution, follow-home robberies, skimming, extor- tion, organized crime (Asian Gangs), drugs, book- making and cheating. He concluded by saying the City has the power to revoke a cardroom license. Interim Director of Economic & Community Devel- opment Beyer addressed the social and economic impacts; social impacts - gambling activity can change behavior, similar to other activities such as smoking, eating, drinking or drugs, changed behav- ior affects others, an estimated 300,000 compulsive gamblers in California, a study found definitive parental problems from gambling and dysfunctional behavior of the children because, in part, money is taken from the budget funds, maybe the home mort- gage or the food money, and is used for gambling. Industries creating these activities also provide funds to assist organizations dealing with addictive behav- ior; economic impacts - new jobs 1,100-2,000 per- sons, estimated payroll $24,000,000, business-to- business purchases $13,000,000, ripple effect (1.5) in the community $55,500,000. Assistant City Manager Martel addressed community revenues and regulatory requirements: card club operation will generate substantial new revenue - revenue to City could be $5,090,300-$6,015,806, sales tax could increase $88,750 + or -, property tax increment would increase $233,000 through development of Shearwater and City owned proper- ty; retail center comprising 4,000 square feet will contribute additional revenue stream for providing city services - sales tax potential estimated at $1,000,000 to $1,600,000, property tax increment would increase $287,000, combined development could produce $1,688,750 in new sales tax and nearly $500,000 in tax increment for future rede- velopment activity; minimize reliance on speculative 5/3/95 Page 5 AGENDA ~TION TAKEN ,_Discussion on the cardroom proposal for the Shearwater .te. Councilman Fernekes Left the Meeting at 7:30 p.m. gaming revenue as a means to balance budget for on-going city services by establishing a policy that directs funds to specific purposes - card club desig- nated fund will be created to budget and account for all expenditures related to the gaming operation, administrative oversight activities involving police and audit/revenue collection, one-time expenditures for building renovations and improvements, street repairs, park improvements, property acquisition, capital outlay projects and equipment, increases or decreases in gaming revenue do not impact on-going city services, only one-time expenditures; strong administrative and auditing controls are necessary to insure the integrity of financial transactions arising from card club operations; card club business regu- lations will be established by ordinance and define the city's and card club's responsibilities for finan- cial activities and auditing. Mayor Yee stated that due to an emergency Coun- cilman Fernekes had to leave the meeting. Ms. Janet Saunders stated there are already two cardrooms in this City and wanted to know how many tables they have, how much revenue they generate, how much competition there is and what is the population of the current Hollywood Park loca- tion. She feels this is a larger operation than we can handle. She questioned what is going to happen if no one supports it. City Manager Wilson replied: currently there are two gaming operations, both on Grand Avenue, both licenses to operate ten tables or less; to the best of his knowledge they are only using five tables at each site; the Police Chief says there are no problems; they have a business license to operate. Police Chief Raffaelli stated the calls they currently get at the clubs for service are sparse, there may be a disturbance but not significantly so and there may be a few calls down there a year. Councilman Penna stated it was mentioned at last night's meeting about the security in the club and the type of enforcement in the club has a lot to do with the number of calls. He stated the Hollywood Park Security Officer was present and could elabo- rate on how they prosecute people rather than leav- ing them out on the street. 5/3/95 Page 6 ~Q~NDA A~!!Q~ TAKEN ,_Discussion on the cardroom proposal for the Shearwater 79 Mr. Alex Aguisti, Director of Security for Holly- wood Park, related: there are 150 card tables; his staff consists of 98 plain clothes officers and under- cover people; his background is law enforcement and has been on both sides for 25 years in Inglewood, retired from the police department and went into private business; his Chief is his retired Deputy Police Chief and all of his plain clothes uniformed people are ex police officers and reserves at the command level; the issue came up last night if we prosecute, and they do. He stated when he first decided to go into this oper- ation, and he was approached to take over, he need- ed a work ethic because his reputation is not going to be tarnished nor is that of his staff. They wel- come their reputation in casinos and the reputation is, if you go to the Hollywood Park and get caught cheating you will be arrested and jailed. He stated cheating does occur and as part of the training they brought in the District Attorney and Police Chief and showed them the security. Chief Raffaelli was there and they showed him the operation where they give the video tapes to the District Attorney or the City Attorney from all of the four cameras and they have not lost a case in Court in the ten months of operations. Hollywood Park is a publicly owned corporation and they cannot afford a bad operation. He stated that if the proposal is accepted here he and his security officers will work closely with Police Chief Raffaelli and he does not see any problems. They have a separate security system for surveil- lance and have a holding cell to detain people. He stated he is glad the Police Chief is recommending having police in the casino, because when there is an incident all of his people are former police officers responsible for report writing and can assist the police. The policeman comes in and takes the re- port and the defendant into custody. Mr. Jake Jones, 12 El Campo, stated he lives in Buri Buri and supports the casino because it is mon- ey for the City and will be in a location that won't bother anyone. People will come from the south and north and we should not sit by and see the other cities get the revenue. He thanked the Council for having these hearings because with the regulations they don't have to, yet they are bringing it to each of the neighborhoods. He did not think they should listen to outsiders who represent other businesses, maybe they are representing another cardroom that 5/3/95 Page 7 AGENDA _ACIIQN TAKEN 80 ,_Discussion on the cardroom proposal for the Shearwater ~te. doesn't want competition. Ms. Maria D'Alessandro wanted to again state her position against the cardroom and would not get into the social issues - perhaps someone else will address them. She feels a cardroom of this size will impact a community for a long time to come and she be- lieves the people should be allowed to vote on this issue. She asked when Council is going to decide on this issue, is there a timeframe after the six meetings. City Manager Wilson stated the last public meeting will be on the 23th and then the regular meeting on the 24th and it could be at that meeting or shortly thereafter. He indicated staff was anticipating start- ing the gaming ordinance. Councilman Penna stated the question is are we going to be putting it on the ballot and there is confusion there. These are not hearings to put it on the ballot, but to inform the public. Councilwoman Teglia stated Council sets its own agenda. We are doing the hearings and the last is on the 23rd of this month, then Council will agendize it as a regular meeting. So, at that time when we get back together at a regular session, it will be a topic. Then everyone will find out what we intend, but there is no timetable at this time. Mr. Lou Dell'Angela stated last night Mr. Aguisti indicated he works for Hollywood Park. He asked a question and the answer was that Hollywood Park is only a landlord and other people are operating the eardroom, because by law Hollywood Park cannot operate a cardroom. He questioned if it should be the responsibility of the people who operate the cardroom to conduct negotiations. Mr. Aguisti stated Hollywood Park provides nu- merous services which include security, food and maintenance, because the property belongs to Holly- wood Park it is their responsibility to care for the property but they have nothing to do with the gam- ing. He stated the security staff works for Holly- wood Park, they protect the property and that is part of the agreement. Mr. Ito stated he is in charge of all new devel- opment and hopefully this will be one of them. 5/3/95 Page 8 AGENDA A~TION TAKEN Discussion on the cardroom proposal for the Shearwater rte. Hollywood Park has a contract with PCM and, be- cause by law a public corporation cannot operate a card club, that is why you don't see Harrah's or the Holiday Inn in California operating cardrooms. He stated Hollywood Park will build the building, own the property and take on all of the non-facility operations, PCM runs the casino floor in Inglewood by a lease they have made with General Manager Clausman and Ed Leverman, who is a lawyer at PCM. He stated Hollywood Park does not have a casino operator in mind at this time, however, it is possible PCM may talk to Mr. Poland and the Pasco family, for PCM has a fine reputation and are legitimate people. He stated the law is changing and there are five bills in Sacramento which address the issue where public corporations could operate, then Hollywood park will run the entire facility. Councilman Penna asked for an explanation of Cali- fornia gaming vs. Nevada gaming. Mr. Ito felt this was an important issue to under- stand. California, Nevada and Atlanta cardrooms which are fundamental and address whether alcohol is served on the floor. Hollywood Park does not allow alcohol at the card tables. The reason it is legal to play cards, but not craps and other games, is because we are not participating in the winning or losing. You are not playing against the house, so all we are is providers, we have an honest game and provide surveillance and food service. What is important is it is based on time or per hand and the longer you sit at that seat the more money they make. They are not trying to break you, because then you will not come back. They want people to play a long time, come out even and come back the next day. He stated Las Vegas wants someone to come, drink, drop their money and fly away. Hollywood Park serves coffee, tea and candy at the card tables free. If someone is drunk or disorderly they ask them to leave, so all of the things negative to the cardrooms are different in California vs. Nevada. Mr. Poland stated he is the developer and will be a 5/3/95 Page 9 AGENDA _AC!IQN TAKEN Discussion on the eardroom proposal for the Shearwater itc. partner with Hollywood Park and develop the retail. However, the confusion is that someone thinks it is going to be "loosey-goosey". It is important to know there is a business plan and it is highly de- fined by the owner, there is a budget and the man- ager has to live within the constraints of that budget. It is not a nebulous concept of who is going to manage the facility for there are stringent rules. Mr. Lee Strieb stated he works with the Hotel and Employees Union in Northern California and their members work in San Francisco and San Mateo County, many live here and are interested in the affects of this project and the jobs it will create. It has been said it will create 1,000 jobs and the Union is in favor because they are fairly confident the pro- ject will create quality, union jobs and, with the revenue, make a significant contribution to the com- munity. Clearly many of these jobs will be entry level and some will be towards minimum wage, but the bulk comes from tips to the worker. He stated the Union will be making sure, providing they rep- resent them, there are benefits and they support this project and urge the Council to approve the project. Mr. Tony Khorezian stated when he heard about this project and saw the benefits from the project, in so many jobs being created in this City, and as a busi- ness man he talked to many of his customers and 60-70% want this project to go on. Many seniors and wives take the bus to go to Lake Tahoe to play the games, they want to pass time at such places and go into Artichoke Joe's because people like to gam- ble and no one forces them to gamble. As a citizen in S.S.F. he wants this project to go. He stated that Wells Fargo is going out of Brentwood, plus other businesses, yet people want to work, we want people to work and he does not understand people who don't want to work. He stated his business is going down and down because we are not getting activities as before. He felt the City should not go backwards, because it is tough out there and we need to employ people. He knows people who are losing their houses be- cause their hours have been cut from 40 to 30 and there are no other jobs around. He wants the Council to go ahead with the project, not waste time and hopes nobody comes out and says it is not good for the City. 5/3/95 Page 10 AGENDA A~TION TA~ 83 Discussion on the cardroom proposal for the Shearwater itc. Ms. May Maite stated she is in favor of the project. She knows were are in bad times and if we have no dream we have nothing and she thanked the Council for dreaming it up. Hopefully it will be successful and bring more money for the City because there is a need to improve the streets in the community. Ms. Madeline Madriaga stated she is against the casino. Her reasons are personal and something so good may not be true. She stated her best friend is selling her possessions to pay off loan sharks. She does not know what is the cost of life for families, she can only ask questions and is afraid of what is coming in. She stated they did a fund raiser, went to Tahoe and asked people on the bus if they would go to a card- room a few blocks from their home and they said yes. Ten hours later they were on the way back, she was one of the people who won on the card tables and the rest of the people lost $400.00- $600.00. She stated her sister is a social worker who says gambling welfare recipients spend their money on gaming and these are her feelings on why she does not want the casino approved. Mr. Manny Madriaga spoke of the social cost of gambling to the State and felt it should be consid- ered as a total picture. He stated the issue is not whether it will aid revenue, create jobs, if Holly- wood Park is qualified, if the Police Chief can do the job or if the City Manager can handle the new work load. Nor is it the ethnicity. The real issue is fundamental and deals with our humanity, how we treat our fellow citizens with an addiction to gam- bling. The question to be asked, in the name of added revenue to the City, is should revenue be sacrificed or do we open Pandora's box. Should we let loose an enterprise that is more toxic. What will it take - a 100 pound block of concrete or how many families will it take of gamblers anonymous in every church. He asked Council to examine their con- sciences for how many babies do you want with additive parents, how many broken families. So, give the people a chance to vote on this. Ms. Bernedette Dubrovich related: she lives in Danville because it is like S.S.F. was; she has a 12 year old child; she thinks S.S.F. is run down; when she was twelve Mark Raffaelli was her park and recreation leader and she thinks he is a good fellow; 5/3/95 Page 11 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN Discussion on the cardroom proposal for the Shearwater itc. this City is run down and so is she for she is a former cocaine addict, alcoholic, loved to gamble and cleaned house for a Madam; she feels it is within the person himself to stop gambling as she did; in Candlestick Park and Hunters Point there are a lot of things that are bad that happen including murders; she does not like Artichoke loe's because she has been in there and she had cleaned house for a madam and she got away from all of that; she was not talking about a fly by night but a brothel; her mother lives here and she likes the people and her childhood, but she will not come back here; if Mark Raffaelli and Roberta Teglia are for it, she is for it and feels the Council should consider this very firmly. Mr. Lou Dell'Angela read an excerpt from the S.F. Chronicle, "The people of this community presently have the right to decide whether or not a cardroom will be approved in this City by the General Plan of the City." What the Council is deciding is if they want to take the right away from you. We are talking about the largest cardroom in Northern California and the fourth largest in the State. The people have the right to vote on this issue and that right should not be taken away from the people. He heard the discussion about the Pascos, there is no comparison, this is big money talking not a mom and pop operation. This is not Inglewood nor San Mateo and the land is quite prominent, the gateway to this City. The question is do we want people coming down 101 and their impression is this is a gaming City. Do you sell your image, do you sell it for money - he does not think so. Let the people decide, not the three or five on the Council. He does not understand why certain people on this Council do not believe the people of this community can make a wise decision. Council says they don't want outside money, well Hollywood Park is outside money. So, he guesses the question is whose out- side money we listen to. He stated Councilwoman Teglia says we want local control, there is no more local control than the people voting. Local control is the people and they ought to decide the issue. If one looks at the con- cept plan, and sees a shopping center and asphalt, a cardroom, maybe a theater and no ships for the water and no marinas, this is not an attractive plan. He looks at that and sees the shopping center and 5/3/95 Page 12 A~ENDA A~TION TAKEN 85 Discussion on the cardroom proposal for the Shearwater te. the cardrooms; etc. He stated the shopping center is not completed, it is a maybe, the only thing positive is a cardroom, which the developer already said. The Police Chief talked about some of the problems such as follow- home robberies and said that cardrooms, because they are big money, have to control political elec- tions through their direct or indirect influence. He thinks we are seeing an effort on the part of politi- cians to bypass the people of this community. He wanted the facts to come out and be discussed and then be able to decide it. The image of this City has changed over a matter of years, when he came in the 1970s the City had image problems and Mike Wilson was here and we did a lot to improve the image. Now we have a cardroom proposal that may send the City in an opposite direction. The staff people need to go back and provide information to the people and let them vote on this issue. He reiterated: the people have the right to vote; what the council is trying to find out is how con- cerned they are about keeping that right or taking it away; regardless of how the Council feels they have to respect the people; don't let big money take away your vote on an issue that has social costs, crime and land use impacts; the business about local eon- trol is selling you a bill of goods. Mr. Richard Garbarino, 400 Avalon Dr., stated when he first heard of this proposal he felt it would provide jobs to the City. After listening and seeing the handout he is convinced of that and strongly supports this proposal. He feels the pros outweigh the cons and are for the benefit of the entire City. He felt that, over the years, Council has done a good job. This doesn't require the populace to make a vote. If we listen to some people then we would vote on every issue. Ms. Prisilla Dubrovich, 225 Indio Dr., stated she has been a resident for 35 years and thinks the City is run well and has faith in the law and enforcement to close down anything that causes trouble. So, she is definitely for this proposal for the revenue and the jobs for the people of this City. Ms. Diane Morison, 122 Edison, stated she is a 5/3/95 Page 13 AGENDA _AC_T!QN TAKEN Discussion on the cardroom proposal for the Shearwater resident and this is the first time she has ever spoken publicly at a meeting, yet she has attended many. She stated she is against this proposal and feels it should be put to a vote to anyone who cares in this City. She observed in last night's meeting that it was a long process, and unfortunately while the basic people who work for the City were very infor- mative, helpful, tried to make us understand easily - staff is putting up a good dog and pony show. Some of the members of the Council feel their opinions are very important and that is why it should go to a vote of the people, then not just a few can make the decision but then everyone has the right. Ms. Joy Ann Wendler stated she lives in Avalon and chose to speak to her neighbors. She thanked the Council for bringing this into their neighborhoods to give them the information that they need to hear about this very important, emotional subject. She stated she personally has not made up her mind, but was there to get information and facts for, there are many both ways. She stated the issue is not moral nor one that an army of social works can fix, it is an issue of the risks and benefits involved. Do you think the bene- fits outweigh the risks. Clearly there are some risks but there are a great many benefits to the City and the people. She stated studies show that 90% of what you worry about doesn't happen. She has been in health care for 30 years and knows that someone who gambles may never be a compul- sive gambler. This is not an issue of whether we are going to prevent compulsive gamblers, the great majority will not be, which she wanted to point out. Your happiness may not be the same as mine and yours may take its form in gambling and if it is so- cialized gaming or drinking it is not harmful. We need to look at the issue of whether it is going to be better for the City. She saw the article in the newspaper about the land being one of the most toxic, part of the deal is to clean that up, which the developer will pay millions of dollars to do, which is a benefit. Otherwise, the land will stay like it is for years. She has not made up her mind on the proposal and is grateful for the opportunity to learn the issues. She stated the Council brought this to us, took their time for 5/3/95 Page 14 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN Discussion on the cardroom proposal for the Shearwater '--'~te. these meetings to say people here are the facts and if you have questions they will try to answer. Also, if you don't like what they do you can vote them out of office. She encouraged people to call their elected officials and express their views. Police Chief Raffaelli stated a woman said, "If the Police Department is for it, so am I". As the Man- ager mentioned, we went on a fact finding mission and the explanation we gave tonight is neither in favor nor against the card club and a position is not being taken. Councilman Penna stated Asian games were men- tioned rather than Italian or Irish. Police Chief Raffaelli stated the cardrooms contain poker and Asian games (paigou). Card clubs where they have the games are inducive for the criminals to find the Asian games. It takes a skilled person to deal the cards, so they are bringing people in to subcontract or run the Asian games, where on the East Coast they talk about the Mafai. So, you do have an element of Asians due to the money laun- dering and other areas and if the games are subcon- tracted they come to try to take over the games, which Hollywood Park does not allow nor will our ordinance. Discussion followed: there are 250 card clubs in California which does not include the clubs on Indi- an reservations; some clubs are not run in a profes- sional manner and there are problems with Asian people subcontracting the games. Mr. George Colmas stated there is a gaming estab- lishment named Bay 101 and someone said there were three follow-home robberies. Police Chief Raffaelli responded: Bay 101 and Garden City are in San Jose; Garden City has a number of problems and has been in the paper with sanctions against them; the police contacted San Jose and there have been cases of homicide around the area and they have been in connection to loan sharking; follow-home robberies happen with big winners at the club, they see them leave and follow them; one of the things that is important is that some of the victims participate in these crimes; most of 5/3/95 Page 15 AGENDA AC_TIQN TAKEN 88 Discussion on the cardroom proposal for the Shearwater ~te. the big clubs like Artichoke Joe's and Bay 101 try to prevent that by having a players bank and electroni- cally transfer money to a bank account, and have their security escort them home if they are big win- ners; etc. Mr. David Agressi stated he was in total support of the cardroom proposal. Mr. Ito related: he appreciated the speaker who responded to the social impacts for that is one of the emotional things on the gaming; addiction to gaming is not as prevalent as the fear factors, for it is only 2%, which is less than tobacco; he works in a casino and does not gamble; the speaker mentioned the two most important things are risk and revenue return for a decision of the Council, Hollywood Park and the community; Hollywood Park is taking a $20-30 million dollar risk, that is their investment, and they think it is a good risk; they think the Shearwater site, which is one of the hottest toxic hot spots, is a good return and a risk worth taking; his problem is to make business owner equity; he feels revenue, jobs and shareholder equity are important and they feel they can minimize the risks through tight con- trols; they will welcome stringent controls and are not afraid of any regulations of the City or State; they are actively lobbying to form a Gaming Com- mission in California like Nevada's gaming control, because they think with the gaming controls comes better perception of regulations; in 1972 Suma Cor- poration bought its first casino in Nevada, since that time all of Nevada is family owned; in 1982 a public company brought in security and auditing for the casinos and from that time onward there are the big clubs like MGM and others who brought money into the casino market; etc. Vice Mayor Drago made the following comments: these meetings were to make residents have the same knowledge Council has on the development; he had not planned to comment until all of the meetings were completed; there have been some misleading comments at these meetings; there seems to be an attempt to intimidate the Council for whatever mo- tives, but there are a lot of assumptions being made; what bothers him is that they are trying to create a fear that they as elected officials, are incapable of making a good decision; he has not heard these forms of opposition when Council dealt with multi- million dollar projects, with fire and police contracts 5/3/95 Page 16 AGENDA _AC_TIQN TAKEN Discussion on the cardroom proposal for the Shearwater ,te. 89 or the multi-million dollar interchange; he feels his credibility is being attacked by a minority who will continue to be vocal and we are only half way through this process, which bothers him; there is already gambling in the neighborhoods in the delis and the grocery stores; the stock market is the big- gest gamble and more losses than the horse races; he wants the residents to keep an open mind; he asked that Mr. Dell'Angela challenge something the Coun- cil can measure; no one has said it wouldn't be a vote; he was waiting until Council has all the facts and finds out what is good for the community; his credibility is with the community; etc. Councilman Penna made the following comments: for the last three nights he has seen people from the community come up, who are sincerely involved with the process, and say we think there should be an election; the reason for the town hall meetings taking place is that it has never been the intention of the Council to get a vote of the people, but to get feed back; this began with he and Councilwoman Teglia being involved with the various areas of the City and chose to go out and have meetings to see what was needed and how they would be taxed; Council made the decision and it was along those lines that the concept to come to the community and allow our staff to explain to you so you would be fully informed and hear back from you; he is basi- cally neutral and neither for nor against it and won't make up his mind until he hears from the public; with the newspaper articles he feels there is a misun- derstanding in the community and it is not the inten- tion of the Council to put this as a vote of the peo- pie; we expect to make a decision here as we did with Terrabay; he is hearing there will not be an effect and there is the moral issue, but he is not here to acknowledge morals but to be part of the running of the City, based on the finance and services for the people; moral issues are decided by you as individuals and the religious groups; he knows there are people who don't like liquor or tobacco, but we don't prevent liquor stores from operating and we do have two casinos; it is not an issue of whether we are going to allow it to go on because it is happen- ing; to him it is a matter of the benefits to the com- munity; etc. He continued: he is looking to see whether it is a safe operation; what can we do to control it; are there controls we can enforce and what are the 5/3/95 Page 17 AGENDA _AC_TIQN TAKEN ._.Discussion on the eardroom proposal for the Shearwater itc. 9O benefits to the community; gambling is a decision like using alcohol and is up to the individual to acknowledge and get a cure for it, for it exists and is part of human nature; etc. Councilman Drago disagreed and this is the reason he did not want to comment and felt he was being put into a box, because he did not want a debate. He said earlier that Council does not speak for him and what he learns from these meetings will deter- mine his vote, and what was needed and one was the ballot. So, he is not going to be put in a box and is open minded. Mayor Yee stated it is clear that Councilman Penna only speaks for himself, he does not speak for him nor the Council. We have not decided anything yet but Councilman Penna said the Council does not have the ballot option and, as long as the Council- man is only speaking for himself, that is not a prob- lem. Councilwoman Teglia stated each of the Council has individual ideas and have not had an opportunity as a Council to discuss the issue of a ballot. She want- ed to address the issue of credibility: she sees peo- ple whose doors she has knocked on while cam- paigning who have voted for her; two different newspapers had in one, Councilman Drago as the leader on this issue and the second said she was the leader; these people do not work for her; a majority of Council cannot bypass this issue with surface information; we charged the staff with a due dili- gence to come back with all of the facts; Council said we cannot take this lightly, there are risks and tremendous rewards; six meetings were set to share what we have learned; she wants to hear from the people in the community, unfortunately three who spoke are potential Council candidates doing their platforms and we need to hear from others; she assures the public that this is not Councilman Drago's nor her private project; she has been on the Council for 17 years and Councilman Drago eight years; there has been a lot of work to improve the image of this City; there will not be an Artichoke Joe's in this City, for that is not an asset, but is okay for San Bruno; the City has been approached by many entities wanting to have cardrooms, but this is the only one she wanted investigated; people should go visit Hollywood Park in Inglewood, for she felt this visit could be beneficial to this City; 5/3/95 Page 18 A~ENDA A~TION TAKEN Discussion on the cardroom proposal for the Shearwater itc. there are comments this will be huge and there is big money; Council realizes there are cardrooms going up and down the peninsula and it was impor- tant to look closely for an entity who would function best and be the most successful if there was a com- petition; this is a business proposal and Hollywood Park is trying to invest in the community; she spoke of the divisive ballot for the new baseball park and charges of violation of State law, and the no side was money from Sacramento who wanted the team; those are the kind of things she does not want to see happen here in an election. Ms. Cynthia FitzGibbons, 388 Zamora Drive, stated she came to the meeting to get the facts and hear the presentation. She respectfully requests that anyone who is trying to campaign would listen to the facts, because there is emotion she does not feel is appropriate at this time. Everyone has a right to speak but, as a person who comes here to learn, she would prefer that the campaigning does not go on. Mr. Manny Madriaga stated he sees the flip side, which people are not talking about and is greatly bothered that Councilman Penna essentially has made a decision. He retracted that he had made a decision, that there should be a vote of the Council rather than the people. That was what he thought was the purpose of the Town Meetings and he is concerned about some of the comments on those presenting the proposal. He stated he has an MBA in Finance and understands all of the numbers of an on-going enterprise. He stated what cannot be reduced to numbers is when it is your son who lost the American dream because he is a gambling ad- dict. Mr. Jake Jones stated he has lived in S.S.F. most of his life, his folks came here in 1898 and, at that time, people opposed Western Meat coming here. He is concerned about a certain element coming into town, infiltrating or trying to, and we have a Lions Club that has been here for years, yet these people don't want to join our Lions Club but form their own. When people oppose this, which will benefit the City, he questions their motives and we might be able to investigate some of these people and see where they come from, for this came up in August and, all of a sudden, we have these people coming 5/3/95 Page 19 AGENDA _AC_TIQN TAKEN Discussion on the cardroom proposal for the Shearwater re. ADJOURNMENT: in and joining the organizations and tdling the peo- ple what to do. He stated he is not afraid of an election. He helped out and drove every bus route on the peninsula with S.S.F. residents, then went into business for himself and hauled almost every seniors' kids to Serra. He has talked to these seniors and he did not think they had any fears of a casino for they see what is hap- pening. The few people who are opposing it have something in mind rather than what is good for the City. Last year we had a use survey and if we had money in the General Fund we would not have done that. He thinks the people are smart enough and this is not going to harm the people. We have a very capable Police Department and if you put it on the ballot he is afraid there are 5 % against it. He stated there are big signs appearing on Chestnut and El Camino against the casino and there is big money behind some of the opposition, however, he thinks the people are smart enough to see a good thing. Mr. Dell'Angela stated he agrees with Councilman Drago, he thinks an election is the way to go. He thinks something is unclear and we have to say - if you want to put a cardroom in, the General Plan says there must be a vote of the people, unless the Council changes the General Plan you have the right to vote on it. It appears to him that however one feels on this issue, for or against, the next election is only six months away. There is a lot of time to discuss the pros and cons, so all we are saying is let us retain the right to vote and discuss it totally and not have the Council decide - they don't have that right, and he objects to that. He stated that was his whole point and he is sorry if Councilman Drago took offense. He thinks the people deserve to keep the vote, because it will impact them when this Council is gone. M/S Penna/Teglia - To adjourn the meeting. Carried by unanimous voice vote Time of adjournment was 9:55 p.m. 5/3/95 Page 20 A~NDA AC!!ON TAKEN RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, APPROVED. Barbara A. Battaya, City City of South San Francisco Robert Yee,'Tvlayor City of Sout[ San Francisco The entries of this Council meeting show the action taken by the City Council to dispose of an item. Oral communica- tions, arguments and comments are recorded on tape. The tape and documents related to the items are on file in the Office of the City Clerk and are available for inspection, review and copying. 5/3/95 Page 21