Casino-Free Philadelphia: Campaign Updates

Bankrupting Steve Wynn

Lily — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:43:08 +0000

On Wednesday, we confronted Vegas con man Steve Wynn with a simple message: We will ruin your company and run you out of town.

Wynn told the Philadelphia Daily News that this was the first time he'd ever had ordinary citizens confront him publicly about predatory gambling in a hearing. Thank you to the dozens of people who traveled with us to all who donated so generously.

And the chart at right demonstrates the results: We showed up, and Steve's stocks plummeted.

When the formerly-Foxwoods casino went begging for investors -- after years of delays thanks to ongoing pressure from you, and thousands of Philadelphians like you -- they thought they had found their savior in Steve Wynn.

What Wednesday's hearing revealed was a distant billionaire with no interest in our city or our future.

Watch Steve Wynn argue with a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter, declaring that he has no knowledge of the city's plan for the riverfront. Earlier, he admitted he would soon buy out the local investors completely -- contradicting the fiction of all those local benefits.

Which is probably why even the PA Gaming Control Board -- having never met a casino developer it didn't rubber-stamp -- voted unanimously to ignore Wynn's proposal (and continue fining the project $2,000 per day). We know this isn't over, however -- it will take much efforts to run predatory investors like Steve Wynn out of town. But he's never before faced opposition like you.

Yet Wednesday's hearing demonstrated the power of your voice -- forcing Wynn to address questions about the impact of his predatory casinos, prompting the news media to cover Steve's smugness, and sending those precious stock prices into decline.

We're escalating our fight against predatory gambling, and that means training more individuals for important roles in organizing, advocacy, media outreach and sustainable fundraising.

We need YOU in this fight, and we want to give you a chance to learn some new skills -- and share some of the skills you have.

Come to Casino-Free Philadelphia's media workshop next Thursday and find out -- no matter the way in you are fighting social injustice -- how to best position your issue for effective news coverage:

Media Workshop: Talking Points and Interviews

Thursday, March 11, 6:00 to 7:30 PM, No Slots Spot, 718 Market Street

Suggested donation: $5 RSVP online now!

Learn how to develop a cohesive message for an issue and how to translate that message into talking points and effective relationships with reporters.

Do you have skills you'd like to share with the Casino-Free movement? Contact us and let us know how you can help! We'd love to have regular trainings on all aspects of the fight against all forms of social injustice.

Join 'ethnicities of all stripes' in Harrisburg

Casino-Free Philly — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 01:28:27 +0000

Vegas billionaire Steve Wynn says he's excited to come to South Philly, because he "love[s] being only two blocks away from a Vietnamese neighborhood" and his "old friends -- the Italians and Jews," along with "every conceivable stripe of ethnic group."

The excitement wasn't shared by the Philadelphia Inquirer, which wrote this morning that "Wynn's vision for the Foxwoods site is further confirmation that casino gambling in Philadelphia will be a down-market industry, preying mostly on the poor and elderly who can least afford it."

Please join us on Wednesday, March 3, on the bus to Harrisburg, where we'll confront Steve Wynn with the truth that Philadelphians -- of all stripes -- don't want his predatory casino anywhere in our city.

What: Bus trip to Gaming Control Board hearing

When: Wednesday, March 3, at 7:15 AM

Where: Meet at 30th & Market Streets (we'll have signs)

Cost: $25 per person suggested donation

Sign up online for a seat on the bus.

Please join us so we can make a strong showing. And remember that it's people like you -- and actions like this one -- that have swung people like the Inquirer editorial board from supporting casinos to calling them "acres of slot machines and scores of table games aimed at the locals living paycheck to paycheck or on fixed incomes."

Join us in Harrisburg as we continue to take a stand against predatory gambling, whether it's financed by Steve Wynn or Foxwoods.

If you cannot join us, please consider making a generous donation. While Steve Wynn may have the backing of Vegas investors, we depend on individual contributions from people like you.

Foxwoods is dead. Join us in Harrisburg!

Lily — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:00:09 +0000

Foxwoods is now dead. Take a moment and recall how many times you were told to give up by Governor Rendell, Senator Fumo, Councilman DiCicco, Mayor Nutter, and the rest of them. Think about how hard we've worked over the last years to kill Foxwoods; and now it's dead.

This predatory project has been delayed so long that Foxwoods has dropped out. The local investors are back to square one, and we've learned that we can win.

Now let's redouble our efforts and derail the proposed Wynn casino by going to Harrisburg, where we'll mark another victory by giving the fake-tanned face of predatory gambling a welcome he'll never forget.

What: Bus trip to Gaming Control Board hearing

When: Wednesday, March 3, at 7:15am

Where: Meet at 30th & Market Streets

Cost: $25 per person suggested donation

We are developing a great plan of action and we'll bond on this trip to demonstrate Philly's power!

The past week has been one our busiest. First, we went to criminal court and were acquitted of all charges from our blockade at the site of SugarHouse's future bankruptcy back in September. If you missed the coverage, watch us on CNN.

That's right, you made national news again and will continue to do so!

Then, just two days later, we participated in the PA gubernatorial debate where we forced the candidates to make clear pledges about the predatory gambling trade. Watch the video.

Finally, earlier this week, we attended the PA Gaming Congress and were sickened as Mayor Nutter completed his full flip-flop -- from predatory gambling opponent to an industry puppet.

Help us continue our fight against casinos in Philly -- be it SugarHouse, Foxwoods or Wynn -- and sign up for the bus now!

If you can't make the trip, please donate generously to Casino-Free below so we can continue working for you. Philadelphia needs your help.

You won today

Casino-Free Philly — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 23:40:51 +0000

Earlier today, you and your entire city got some good news. Fourteen of its citizens, arrested in September for blocking the entrance to the SugarHouse construction site, were acquitted of all charges. Watch the video from Fox 29.

The judge dismissed the case. As a result, all Philadelphians should feel empowered to work for a more transparent, democratic and sustainable future, even when political forces are stacked against them.

We know the last year has been hard.

Yet today's win demonstrates once again that Philadelphia has only been casino-free for five years — and remains so to this day — because of your hard work and dedication.

We've seen many victories over the past year: increasingly perilous financial situations for both SugarHouse and Foxwoods, the formation of a city-wide coalition fighting predatory gambling and another year without slots in our neighborhoods.

This past year has been challenging — as we've attempted to accomplish so much, in the face of such odds and political opposition, while remaining true to our mission and history as a community-centered organization.

We can do even more with your continued support. Foxwoods can be kicked out of Philadelphia entirely. Investments in SugarHouse can be slowed and cower from our growing community power, causing the slots parlor to go bankrupt if it does open. And we can push for a city and state budget based on commitments to fund essential services rather than exploit people through predatory gambling.

But we simply can't do it without some measure of financial support. More than 85% of our funding comes from individual donations, and we steadfastly refuse to accept donations from other casinos or their backers.

Donate to Casino-Free Philadelphia, and let's make this the first of many victories in 2010!

We're still pulling together more images and video from today's events, but check our website and our Facebook page for live updates and other multimedia collected throughout this amazing day.

An open letter to Philly politicians

Casino-Free Philly — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:12:04 +0000

Dear Philadelphia politicians,

We cordially invite you to attend the criminal trial of Philadelphia’s premier civic leaders, today at 10:00 AM at the Criminal Justice Center, 13th & Filbert Streets.

We are thirteen of Philadelphia’s most honorable citizens – including two ministers, five teachers and professors, several grandparents and one great grandparent, a union organizer, and several entrepreneurs – who stood up to protect our community from the pernicious affects of the slots parlors that you are foisting on our great city.

Without public input or regard, you legalized gambling in Pennsylvania in a hurried late-night legislative session.
Instead of allowing Philadelphians to develop a riverfront that is family-friendly and pays homage to the historic character of our city, you are creating a blight on the banks of the Delaware with acres of surface parking above a four hundred year old Native American settlement.
You lied to us about stopping casinos from being banks and are allowing them to offer unregulated lines of credit to patrons.
With flagrant indifference towards the prosperity of Philadelphians, you are trying to suck hard-earned money out of our pockets with which to line your wallets.

And while you are busy doing all of this, we – in the true spirit of brotherly and sisterly love with which this city was founded – put our bodies on the line to show our infallible commitment to stopping predatory gambling from destroying the city and the community we love.

In the irrefutable words of Henry David Thoreau, which you underscored when you had us arrested on Sept. 29, 2009, “Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.”

To bear witness to thirteen just men and women, we encourage you to attend our trial at 10:00 AM today, Feb. 16, 2010, at the Criminal Justice Center at 1301 Filbert Street.

Sincerely,

Lily Cavanagh

P.S. A video invitation:

Help us put casinos on trial tomorrow

Casino-Free Philly — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:30:06 +0000

Tomorrow is the day. Please join us for a rally and march at 9:00 AM tomorrow, when two dozen of your neighbors will be in a Philadelphia criminal court, talking about why they put their bodies on the line to keep predatory gambling out of our city.

Help honor these fourteen individuals with a donation to the ongoing work of Casino-Free Philadelphia.

Tomorrow we will put casinos on trial. We anticipate a good media presence, so we hope you can be a part of this historic rally and march.

On Trial for a Casino-Free City: Tuesday, Feb. 16, 9:00 AM (court starts at 10:00)

Meet at the Arch Street United Methodist Church, SE corner of Broad & Arch Streets, Philadelphia

If you haven't done so already, please watch our video and share it with your friends and neighbors. You can also help support us by spreading the word about us on social networks of which you're a part, by visiting our profiles on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube.

We'll continue to increase the pressure on casinos, preventing them from opening when we can and shutting them down when we must. This trial represents another milestone in a five-year journey of citizens reclaiming their own power, direction and destiny. Fourteen people may be on trial, but we know every Philadelphian's body is on the line when it comes to predatory gambling.

We'll continue to find creative ways to put financial pressure on casinos and casino investors — but if we're to truly bankrupt casinos, we need your financial support as well.

Make a contribution to help defray our legal costs and fund continuing campaigns against predatory gambling.

We hope to see you tomorrow, as we put the casinos on trial!

P.S. Can't make it in person but want to read updates as they happen? Looking to encourage distant friends to join you in your fight for a casino-free Philadelphia? Our Twitter and Facebook pages will be continuously updated throughout the day tomorrow, as will this website.

Supporting our freedom

Casino-Free Philly — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:29:47 +0000

As you know, fourteen of us will be going on trial next week for a casino-free Philly.

Defending ourselves in court is a huge undertaking and we must raise money for our legal defense.

Please support those going on trial and all of our ongoing work for a casino-free city by making a contribution

We will use this opportunity to put casinos on trial — to indict them for the way they exploit our government, threaten our neighborhoods, and position themselves to prey upon our friends and family, putting our welfare and our city budget at risk. We also plan to continue our protests — at casino sites, politicians' offices and more — for as long as it takes.

Please join us on Tuesday to support those who put their bodies on the line to keep casinos out of Philadelphia. It's not easy to stand for trial and your presence will make a big difference.

Pre-Court Rally for a Casino-Free City

Tuesday, Feb. 16, 9:00 AM (court starts at 10:00)

Meet at the Arch Street United Methodist Church, SE corner of Broad & Arch Streets

Want to do even more? Help spread the word to your friends and neighbors!

Watch our new video and share it with your friends
Join us on Facebook and invite your friends
Follow us on Twitter and Tweet a link to us
Become our friend on MySpace and YouTube

Over the years, casinos and their political backers have spent millions of dollars throwing countless roadblocks in our way, but we've battled through successfully even when the experts proclaimed it a "done deal." People are saying our trial is a "done deal" — but we know better, and we need your help to make it a success.

Please make a donation in honor of your 14 neighbors and the continuing fight for a casino-free Philadelphia!

Your neighbors on trial

Casino-Free Philly — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:54:34 +0000

It has been a busy few months, with Harrisburg passing pro-casino legislation and the Gaming Control Board acting tough on Foxwoods.

Now we ask that you please save the fast-approaching date of Tuesday, Feb. 16 — the trial date for fourteen of your brothers and sisters, who were arrested for speaking with their bodies, saying, "We will bankrupt casinos before they bankrupt us."

These fourteen individuals — ranging in age from 24 to 72 and including several grandparents and two members of the clergy, public school teachers, and life-long Philadelphians — lined the entrance to the SugarHouse casino site on the Delaware river and refused to move. They were promptly arrested and held for more than 12 hours.

Now, they need your help.

On Tuesday, Feb. 16, these individuals will stand before a judge and defend their First Amendment rights. Please attend the trial to demonstrate your support for these courageous individuals and for a city free from the predatory gambling industry.

Mark the date on your calendar now and help support Philadelphians who put their bodies on the line to keep Philadelphia casino-free:

Tuesday, Feb. 16, 9:00 AM

Arch St United Methodist Church (Broad and Arch) - We'll rally, unite, and march to the courthouse together!

If you can't arrive till later in the day, you may go directly to the Criminal Justice Center at 13th & Filbert Streets, Courtroom 1003, Philadelphia, PA

RSVP online for an automatic email reminder

Can't make it to the trial? Consider making a donation in honor of these 14 individuals.

We'll be letting you know about more ways to get involved. For now, please mark your calendar and encourage your friends and neighbors to attend as well!

Foxwoods Denied Extension and Fined

Lily — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:44:02 +0000

Sweet justice? Not quite, we're still talking about the PGCB. However, Foxwoods was denied their request for a deadline extension and fined $116,000 (and growing by $2,000 each day). Read PlanPhilly's full story and watch video here.

The struggle goes on - with honesty and principle

Lily — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 04:14:31 +0000

This week our legislature and Governor showed their true faces again. They passed a bill that will not just expand predatory gambling, but it will further drag our city and state in budget crisis after crisis and cause the real economy and our communities to suffer severely.

Yet, despite knowing this truth, it still is hard to continue fighting in the face of defeat. This bill is awful as is explained in our op-ed in yesterday's Inquirer. The bill allows all Pennsylvania casinos to extend lines of easy credit to compulsive gamblers already beyond their limits. The bill gives Foxwoods two more years to keep trying, even after we demonstrated that they will not open in South Philly, Chinatown, or anywhere else. As to the procedures of the PGCB, this bill was phony reform. The only way it passed was by threats and bribery of pet projects to buy legislators' votes. Read this insightful commentary by Isaiah Thompson of the CityPaper.

And of course, as we learned late Monday evening, this bill exempts the proposed Philly casinos from the city-wide smoking ban. That's as outrageous as it is indefensible.

Our politicians are digging their own graves. We will stop these proposed casinos from opening, and shut them down if they do. This is not the end, this is not the middle; we are still just beginning.

It's important now to not let up. This is part of the struggle, part of the struggle that will not be lost unless and until we give up - and that's not going to happen. We'll only stop when they surrender.

Now is the time to support each other so we can grow stronger. We're collecting messages of support -- from each other, to each other -- to post here on the website. Please share why you're in this fight by emailing lily [at] casinofreephila [dot] org.

Call Mayor Nutter Today!

Lily — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 14:42:16 +0000

UPDATE: The Mayor's office has stopped taking calls on this issue. His office is refusing to take action on this issue, and passing his constituents off to the House of Representatives. Please continue to call his office (215-686-2181), he needs to know we won't stand by and let this happen!

Yesterday evening the Pennsylvania Senate agreed to amendments to the Table Games bill that would exempt SugarHouse and Foxwoods from Philadelphia's smoking ban, arguably Mayor Nutter's signature career legislative achievement. The House is poised to reconvene today at 11am to vote on this bill.

What will the Mayor do? Will he contact the members of the Philadelphia Delegation and plead with them to vote no? Or will he sit idly by while the ban goes up in smoke?

Call the Mayor now (215-686-2181) and ask him to tell Harrisburg to leave our smoking ban alone and to tell the Philly members of the House to vote NO on this bill!

Despite a loud public outcry, Mayor Nutter has failed to criticize the Table Games bill, SB711, which strengthens the casinos extremely predatory powers. As you may remember, this is the same bill that gives the casinos the ability to offer gamblers extended lines of credit so they can gamble on borrowed money. Please read Paul Boni's Op-Ed in the Inquirer, as well as the Inquirer article that came out this morning.

According to a published study, second-hand smoke in casinos is deadly.

So, call the Mayor now (215-686-2181) and ask him to tell Harrisburg to leave our smoking ban alone and to tell the Philly members of the House to vote NO on this bill!

TAKE ACTION: Grow community power for 2010

Casino-Free Philly — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:33:48 +0000

There's just one day left for you to help us build the community power we need to beat the casinos in 2010. Please act now:

Invite your friends to contribute to a casino-free Philadelphia using our easy email form.
Join our cause on Facebook and encourage your friends and family on Facebook to do the same.
Tweet about Casino-Free on Twitter to spread the word.

We've successfully held off casinos for years, but 2010 presents immense challenges and we need to redouble our efforts -- and build our support -- in order to win.

In 2009, SugarHouse broke ground -- and we were there to meet them with groundbreaking visions of a better Philadelphia. The legislature endeavored to swindle even more Pennsylvanians out of their money through predatory gambling trades like video poker and table games -- and we took it directly to Philadelphia senators, demanding they represent their communities. The city planning commission rubber-stamped SugarHouse's plan -- and Chinatown celebrated a huge victory in kicking Foxwoods out of their neighborhood. Politicians continued to back down in the face of huge casino campaign contributions -- while we demonstrated our resolve to take historic direct action and reclaim casinos for our community.

At every step of the way, we've met casinos' lies, manipulations and duplicity with clear, direct action -- and the financial instability they now face is directly linked to the "competitive disadvantage" we present. But we need to grow our movement to continue our success.

As an incentive, we're awarding a full set of Casino-Free Philadelphia wear -- three t-shirts and a button -- to a winner in each of the three areas:

The person who invites the most new donors by email
The person who attracts the most donors on Facebook
A drawing for one person who Tweets about Casino-Free on Twitter -- the more you Tweet, the more entries in the drawing!

Please act now to grow our network by Dec. 31 -- tomorrow evening!

Take a moment and tell your friends and family why they should join you in creating a casino-free new year.

We can't do it without your help.

Help us build community power in 2010!

Casino-Free Philly — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 20:42:40 +0000

It's clear that our community power is having a concrete impact on predatory gambling in our city.

We're not asking you for a donation. We're asking you to appeal to your friends and family to support our — and your — work to keep Philadelphia casino-free.

Ask your friends to donate to Casino-Free Philadelphia and build our community's power!

Invite your friends by Dec. 31 and win a full set of Casino-Free t-shirts and a button!

The person who invites the most donors by Dec. 31 will win a full set of Casino-Free Philadelphia wear: three t-shirts and a Casino-Free button.

These t-shirts represent three of our biggest actions in 2009: the Declaration of Independence from Casinos campaign, Beat the House and the direct action at SugarHouse. By inviting your friends and family to make a contribution, you'll enable us to plan even more actions for next year. Let's make 2010 the year predatory gambling is sent packing from Philadelphia!

We know it's only because of all of us working together that casinos have been held off for this long.

SugarHouse has had to plan for a much smaller casino than it originally wanted, and Foxwoods has had to go begging for investors, showing it may never be financially stable enough to break ground. If these casinos ever open, we expect them to face bankruptcy in short order.

Please invite your friends to support Casino-Free Philadelphia today.

The deadline to invite friends and win the Casino-Free schwag is Dec. 31. We know that's not much time — but what's a contest without a countdown? And remember, it's the number of donors you inspire — not the amount of money. So if your friends only have $10 to give, that's great, and gets us $10 closer to a casino-free city!

Want even more chances to win? Check out our simultaneous contests on Facebook and Twitter!

For another casino-free year in Philly!

Lily, Jethro, Ivan and the rest of Casino-Free Philadelphia

Finding the right frequency

Casino-Free Philly — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:40:25 +0000

This is an appeal for donations of $50 or more so that this week we can run radio ads hammering some state legislators. How sweet would that be?

Our state senators are still trying to sneak in a provision that would allow slots to be played on credit.

Not a single member of our Philadelphia delegation that voted for this bill the first round (when they thought they could slip it past us!) has made a public statement denouncing their support. Not after we sent them letters, made hundreds of phone calls, and even made a special visit to Senator Kitchen's office. (Watch a video of that action.)

Sen. Kitchen has still not agreed to our request that she declare publicly what she told us in her office -- her opposition to slots on credit. And the rest of the senators are staying oh so silent. Even silent is Sen. Farnese who, even though he voted "no," shows no signs of trying to get his colleagues on board.

We're stepping it up again, but we need your help.

This week we want to run radio ads that list the senators -- by name -- who are failing to represent the people, including many of their constituents who will face more foreclosures and bankruptcies, affecting us all if the slots on credit provisions are not removed from the bill.

Can you donate $50 to help us pay for an ad?

These radio ads will help put the pressure on Sens. Tartaglione, Kitchen, Washington, Hughes, Stack and Williams, and we can't do it without you.

A special donation of $50 will pay for one ad. Any amount that you can give right now will help fund this ad campaign.

Please make a donation right now!

Thanks for your support!

Photo: Flickr (cc)

Tell Rep. Keller: Stop gambling with our future!

Casino-Free Philly — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:25:13 +0000

Once again the politicians who are supposed to represent your interests are failing to do so.

A provision that would give faltering Foxwoods an extra year to get up and running on our riverfront has been thrown into the midst of an amendment to a bill that would legalize table games in Pennsylvania. Foxwoods faces a state-imposed deadline to have 1,500 slot machines operating by May 2011, but it has yet to publicly present plans for the casino's design or its financing.

The amendment would push the deadline to May 2012.

Though Foxwoods isn't mentioned by name in the bill, it's the only slots parlor the extension would impact. To add insult to injury, House Majority Leader Todd Eachus claims he doesn't know who added the provision.

It's time these politicians stopped gambling with our future. Read on for a way you can make your voice heard.

Building on victory with Sen. Kitchen

Two weeks ago we picketed state Senator Kitchen's office and confronted her on a different provision, one that would offer easy credit to gamblers.

We sat down with her and explained our concerns — how easy credit is rocket fuel for gambling addiction — and we won. She clearly stated she opposed provisions that would allow Pennsylvania casinos to offer credit to gamblers.

But that doesn't mean she's off the hook.

She made several statements to us that require further explanation: She said the language about casino credit wasn't in the original bill she sponsored, and that the casino credit provisions were added at a later date to a bill she didn't get to vote on.

We see the record differently. So we have asked Senator Kitchen to respond to these discrepancies by the end of today.

Take action now: Contact Rep. Bill Keller

There are other battles to be fought in the meantime.

Contact state Representative Bill Keller, in whose district Foxwoods is seeking the extension.

We need you to tell Rep. Keller that his constituents oppose giving Foxwoods the one-year extension and that he needs to represent our interests.

We are also asking Rep. Keller to find out and publicly expose by name the lawmaker who inserted the one-year provision.

Contact Rep. Keller using our easy web form now!

Finally, in this season of thanks, we want to offer our sincerest gratitude for all you do, and all you've accomplished! THANK YOU!

Photo: Flickr (cc)

ACTION ALERT: Stop foreclosures in Philadelphia

Casino-Free Philly — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:37:14 +0000

Thank you for calling your State Senator last week and urging them to oppose Senate Bill 1033 — a pernicious piece of legislation that would allow casinos to extend easy credit to anyone playing a slot machine.

It is now time to escalate our actions. Join us and the No Casino in the Heart of Our City Coalition at 1:30 pm tomorrow (Thursday, Nov. 12) for an action outside of State Senator Shirley Kitchen's district office:

Senator Kitchen's District Office

1:30 pm, Thursday, Nov. 12

1701 W. Lehigh Avenue, Suite 104, Philadelphia, PA [view map]

Senator Kitchen's office is 3 blocks west of the North Philadelphia stop on the Broad St. (orange) line.

You were great in calling your senators last week to voice your concerns, and they have yet to publicly renounce slots on credit. Now they will hear from us first hand about how an easy credit line is the rocket fuel for slot machine addicts, the lifeblood of this industry.

With a predatory gambling industry intent on wringing money out of the problem gamblers their products create, this bill would make recession-wracked citizens vulnerable to yet more financial troubles by driving them deeper and deeper into debt.

You don't have to RSVP, but we'd love to have you RSVP now!

Thanks for your help, and see you there!

Rocket fuel for gambling addicts

Casino-Free Philly — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:10:25 +0000

The predatory gambling industry continues to dig its claws into our government — and deeper into your pockets. This time, they are seeking to promote addicts using credit to gamble on slot machines. We need your help so we can push back.

At this very moment, the gambling industry is lobbying hard for legislation in Harrisburg that would allow any casino in Pennsylvania to offer easy credit to anyone playing a slot machine.

Here's the scene: It's 3:00 AM and you've been drinking the free alcohol all night, you've lost all the money you brought, and you've maxed out your ATM card. No worries — if casino lobbyists have their way, the casinos will be able to offer you hundreds of dollars or more of quick and easy credit so you can play the slots until dawn.

The key to understanding the pernicious effect of slots on credit it to recognize that about 90% of the casinos' profits come from 10% of the gamblers. An easy credit line is rocket fuel for slot machine addicts, the lifeblood of this predatory industry.

And who is helping the gambling industry drive Philadelphians into debt?

The following three state senators from Philadelphia are co-sponsoring the bill that would allow slots on credit:

Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione: (215) 533-0440
Sen. Shirley M. Kitchen: (215) 227-6161
Sen. Vincent J. Hughes: (215) 879-7777

Please call their offices today and ask whether they will drop their support for slots on credit ("Will the senator drop his/her support for slots on credit?"). Contact us and let us know what they say.

Next week we will conduct an action to provide some attention (wink, wink) to any Philly senator who is not publicly opposed to slots on credit.

Either way we win: We get these awful provisions deleted or we expose the lawmakers as pathetic puppets of the casino lobbyists. This is a clear-cut issue. There is no defense to providing credit for slots, and the editorial boards of both the Inquirer and the Daily News have come out strong against the idea.

Yes, even during this economic recession, the predatory casino industry is trying to push more people into debt. This would lead to more bankruptcies and more foreclosures. Already we see that the average compulsive gambler has a gambling debt of nearly $27,000. Easy credit fosters debt, especially when the "loan" goes directly into a slot machine.

Please make your calls and let us know how they respond by contacting us.

Photo: Flickr (cc)

Confronting Bluhm's greed

Casino-Free Philly — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:43:03 +0000

As you know, our current campaign, In the Red, aims to persuade casino investors Neil G. Bluhm (of SugarHouse) and Ronald Rubin (of Foxwoods) to abandon their plans for casinos in Philadelphia. Through personalized actions we're going to draw attention to how their two casinos, if not stopped, will inflict financial damage to families, communities, local businesses and our city budget.

On Monday, Oct. 19, a group of us joined Neil Bluhm at the Whitney Art Museum Gala in New York City. Bluhm is the president of the board at the Whitney. No, he didn't decide he's been wrong all along and invite us as his special guests — that's next year. We're willing to bet he wasn't thrilled to see us there, talking to his friends and colleagues about the damage his dirty money would do to Philadelphia.

View images from the event at the Whitney.

It was a great event, and nearly everyone we spoke with was sympathetic and wanted to know more about what was happening here in Philly because of Neil Bluhm.

And Ron Rubin, now it's your turn.

Stop predatory gambling around the country

Casino-Free Philly — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 23:15:41 +0000

The struggle against predatory gambling is not just local. We stay in touch with others across the country and even abroad. By being in touch with others in this struggle around the country we are able to build a broader movement to stop predatory gambling dead in its tracks. This year, we invite you to join us at the national conference.

We are attending the 2009 Stop Predatory Gambling National Conference, on Nov. 9 and 10, in San Antonio, Texas. This year's theme is "The American Resilience." It is a great convention and you will be glad to have attended. The Philadelphia battle is one of true resilience, we have been called the casino industry's Waterloo. We hope you can join us as we learn from experts around the country, socialize and celebrate.

Learn more and join us at the event.

Since you are with Casino-Free Philadelphia, which is a non-profit, the cost will be $100. In addition to the convention registration, you will want to reserve a room at the Drury Hotel (about $100 per night) and also airfare to get to San Antonio, which you should try to book at least 14 days in advance for a reasonable rate. Currently the rates are about $200. If you would like to coordinate your plans with others, please contact lily [at] casinofreephila [dot] org

As for events closer to home, we see that Neil Bluhm's Pittsburgh casino continues to underperform significantly just two months after opening. Meanwhile, our own state's elected officials use tactics of fear, division and crisis. They apparently still don't realize that the casino industry is never satisfied and, once they are legalized, they pressure legislatures for more and more concessions; in Delaware, the bailouts are already being publicly discussed. This has occurred in several other places. It will also occur in Pennsylvania.

The struggle in Philadelphia has inspired many people around the country. Please join us in San Antonio so that you can help us build relationships that will strengthen us all.

Together we can stop predatory gambling.

Help limit casino power

Casino-Free Philly — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:00:00 +0000

These past few weeks you have been fantastic. Our movement is growing and our voice is louder and stronger. Politicians can tell us it's a done deal, casino investors can have a ceremonial groundbreaking, but we know better. This is up to us and us alone.

We have the power to prevent casinos from coming to Philadelphia and, if any do open, we have the power to shut them down. This is our city.

We need you to do two things today. First, make a call to your legislator and tell him or her to vote "no" on table games. We know it's an uphill struggle. The gambling industry is tanking and they desperately need to try and find new ways to separate citizens from their money. This is one in a long series of battles ahead.

Many of you are in the river wards and so you should call these legislators:

Sen. Larry Farnese: (215) 952-3121
Rep. Mike O'Brien: (215) 503-3245
(If below Wharton Street) Rep. Bill Keller: (215) 271-9190

Many of you are from other parts of the city, and you can find your legislators' phone numbers by going to the top right-hand corner of this website. Yes, call Rep. Babette Josephs, call Rep. Mark Cohen, call Sen. Vince Hughes and call Sen. Shirley Kitchen. Call as many as you can.

The casinos' strategy is to hide table games inside another bill that has bogus reforms of the Gambling Act. This is to give cover to lawmakers who are skittish about voting to expand gambling. We are wise to that ploy. Whether in a standalone bill or tucked inside another bill, please ask your legislator's office you want him or her to vote "no." Be polite but be clear. Please call now.

What's the other thing we want you to do today? Well, we want you to take a deep breath, exhale and congratulate yourself.

In recent days, you stood strong as 14 colleagues were arrested for showing their resolve in a blockade at the SugarHouse site. You also participated in a community groundbreaking that was so successful it turned Bluhm, Nutter and DiCicco on their heads. The people are in charge.

Please call your legislator today and stay tuned. Next up? Foxwoods has to report to the PGCB on Friday. We've got some ideas.

Love from Philly

Casino-Free Philly — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:00:00 +0000

Neil,

We need to talk.

We understand you're going to be breaking some ground today down by the Delaware. We hear you want to open a slots parlor even though your other one, in Pittsburgh, just opened to less than half its expected revenue. We know you're threatening to sue Pennsylvania for authorizing additional slot machines in an already saturated Philadelphia market. And we see that your $180 million construction loan has been rated "junk" status -- too risky to justify investment.

We've got a different idea. Something truly groundbreaking. A vision of Philadelphia without predatory gambling used to balance its budget. A community that comes together around sustainable economic development, and commits to providing essential social services. A city that doesn't sell off its neighborhoods for the benefit of billionaires like you, Neil.

Groundbreaking Visions for Philadelphia TODAY, Thursday, Oct. 8 at 2:00 PM Frankford & Delaware Avenues (view map and get directions)

Frankly, Neil, our vision -- Philadelphians' vision -- for a better city doesn't include you. We know these casinos are simply a way for you to add to your billions, and you don't mind that your slots parlor will eliminate three jobs for every one it creates.

We'll be there this afternoon at 2:00 PM.

We'd prefer that you not be.

Leave Philadelphia, Neil, or we'll bankrupt you.

With Love, Philadelphia XOXO

P.S. For the full story on why casinos in Philadelphia will fail, check out Casino-Free's new report, Snake Eyes: All Odds Are Against the Philly Casinos.

Giving up

Casino-Free Philly — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:00:00 +0000

Did you hear? They're giving up.

Casinos are giving up. Before even breaking ground, SugarHouse is already making cuts, massively scaling down their original proposal due to limited financing and a tight economy, as a SugarHouse spokesperson confirmed to NBC 10.

Philadelphia leaders are giving up. The mayor, once a fan of sustainable development without predatory gambling, is now turning to casinos to balance a budget at the expense of the residents he claims to represent, turning his back on those who elected him.

Pennsylvania legislators are giving up. Instead of passing a responsible budget, legislators in Harrisburg are seeking to expand predatory gambling through table games, extracting even more money from communities most in need of support, despite indications that casinos will offer no long-term relief to state budgets.

We, on the other hand, are not giving up. We know that it's only because of the efforts of people like you, working together, that casinos have been held off for this long. We know that every delay and roadblock to development makes scaled-back proposals more likely, even while we continue to prevent any casinos from setting up shop.

We know that when SugarHouse's construction site goes bankrupt and Foxwood's financing collapses, Philadelphia's future generations will have you to thank for keeping predatory gambling at bay.

Please join us this Thursday, October 8, at Frankford and Delaware Avenues, as we break ground on a vision for a better Philadelphia -- one that doesn't rely on greed and addiction to thrive. Join us at 2pm and help build the Philadelphia of the future.

We know we've asked a lot of you in recent weeks, but Thursday will be a critical time to demonstrate to casino financiers, political leaders and other Philadelphians that we're not giving up, and we're not going away.

Honoring 14 community members

Casino-Free Philly — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 04:00:00 +0000

All of the community members who were arrested yesterday protesting SugarHouse's proposed predatory casino in Fishtown were released last night without bail.

These 14 individuals -- representing the breadth and depth of the movement against casinos in Philadelphia, from Fishtown to West Philly, North Philadelphia to Pennsport, 20 to 70 years in age -- are now facing three charges from the District Attorney's office. Each will be charged with one count of defiant trespass, one count of failure to disperse, and one count of disorderly conduct. The first two counts are misdemeanors, and the third count is a summary offense, similar to a traffic ticket.

Please save the date for the trial of these community activists, which will take place on Friday, Oct. 23 at 10 AM, at 1301 Filbert Street. We will announce more information about our plans for this trial in upcoming emails.

For those who are able, we're asking you to make a financial contribution in honor of each of the 14 activists:

$1 in honor of each activist and speaking in one voice, for a total of $14
$2 in honor of each activist and defying two proposed casinos, for a total of $28
$3 in honor of each activist and celebration of three years of delays for casinos, for a total of $42
$4 in honor of each activist and outrage over Act 71, passed at 2AM on the Fourth of July, for a total of $66
$5 in honor of each activist and the five years that have passed since casinos were a "done deal," for a total of $80
or any contribution you can make

Make a donation in honor of these 14 community members now.

If you're not able to make a financial contribution, we're also looking for "in-kind support," or donations of supplies and furniture -- follow the donation link to see our list of needs.

What's next in the fight against casinos? Please join us TONIGHT at the No Slots Spot, 718 Market Street, at 6 PM, for an open discussion of next steps.

The city-wide coalition that was created in response to the proposed move of Foxwoods to Market Street has not only held together but has grown and strengthened. If you want to change our city for the better, the No Slots Spot tonight is the place to be.

Finally, please prepare to join us the afternoon of Oct. 8 at 2 PM at the intersection of Frankford & Delaware Avenues for a very important event which will precede the behind-closed-gates groundbreaking of the future bankrupt SugarHouse casino.

That afternoon, we will be inviting all the VIPs (Very Important Predators) and all citizens and press to a public meeting that is being held at Drexel University at 4:30 PM. Timothy Fong, MD, co-director of the Gambling Studies Program at UCLA School of Medicine, will be speaking on "Pathological Gambling: A Hidden Public Health Issue," at Drexel's School of Public Health, Geary A Auditorium, 245 N. 15th Street. It is critical that Philadelphia citizens continue to educate ourselves about the real issues associated with bringing in predatory gambling to our city so as not to let the VIPs hide behind photo-ops and false promises.

In celebration of our successes yesterday, and in dedication to the ongoing struggle to keep the predatory gambling trade out of our city,

Arrested for a casino-free city

Casino-Free Philly — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 04:00:00 +0000

This morning, more than 60 Casino-Free activists gathered to stand strong against casinos in Philadelphia. Fourteen of us were prepared to engage in civil disobedience and were peacefully arrested and taken into custody. Read on for important information about events later today.

We have made reasonable demands over the last three years -- since they first told us casinos were "inevitable."

We've tried to get an elected official to represent our interests, and not one has. We've requested an objective, independent study of the economic costs of these proposed casinos, and received nothing (though the PA Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority suggested an economic net loss as a result of casinos). In Philadelphia, we had a public process to develop your vision for the waterfront -- which was ignored.

And so this morning we spoke with our bodies, and a simple message: We'll bankrupt casinos before they can bankrupt us.

Fourteen activists were arrested this morning, representing neighborhoods and organizations from throughout Philadelphia. Ranging in age from 20 to 70; including two members of the clergy; residents of Fishtown, Center City, South Philly and West Philly; they spoke with one voice: predatory gambling out of Philadelphia!

At this time, the 14 who were arrested are still being processed. Our legal team is monitoring the situation but we have not yet been informed of the specific charges or whether bail will be required. However, we are planning a support rally upon their release later today.

If you couldn't make it to the event this morning, we hope you'll be able to show your support to these 14 activists later today. We won't know exactly when those arrested will be released, though it will likely be at a Center City police station.

Meanwhile, several of those who've been arrested have called us with their proverbial "one phone call." Everyone is in excellent spirits. We are in close contact with their loved ones and other support people.

To be informed about when and where our support rally is happening later today, follow our updates via Twitter, Facebook or MySpace, or let us know you'd like to be notified.

Our action today was just the beginning -- we are serious when we say that we will shut down any casinos that open, and demonstrated our commitment this morning. We encourage the financial backers of SugarHouse and Foxwoods to reconsider the stability of these risky investments, but if any casinos do attempt to set up shop we are prepared to shut them down. At every step of the way, cynical politicians and compromised regulators told us casinos were a "done deal" -- but we know the real power rests with you, the people.

Thank you for your continuing support and dedication.

Stand with us tomorrow

Casino-Free Philly — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 04:00:00 +0000

Yesterday we held a training for the action tomorrow morning. Participants came from all over the city: Fishtown, Chinatown, Kensington, Powelton Village, Northern Liberties, West Philly, Queen Village, Frankford, Old City just to name a few. At the end of the training we closed with one word from each person.

Fierce. Psyched. Proud. Strong. Confident. Excited. Calm. Supported. Resolved.

Are you ready? Can you join us tomorrow at 6 AM to support those taking nonviolent direct action to stop the proposed SugarHouse casino?

We will be meeting at the intersection of Frankford and Delaware Avenues in Fishtown/Northern Liberties.

We will stand together for what we believe in. We want a city that thrives because of true economic development, not a job killing predatory business that relies on addiction to succeed. We will succeed in driving the casinos into the red by bankrupting casinos before they bankrupt us.

Will you stand with us?

Why we're protesting SugarHouse

Casino-Free Philly — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 04:00:00 +0000

This week, Casino-Free Philadelphia was honored to win Citypaper's choice award for activism. The honor is a testament to your hard work, and our collective victory in keeping casinos from opening in Philadelphia for more than three years.

Next Tuesday morning, we hope you'll continue this proud record of activism and join us in a citizens' protest of any construction at the SugarHouse site on the Delaware river.

It's time for us to put our bodies on the line for what we believe in. Time and again, it's been demonstrated that Philadelphians don't want predatory slots parlors in their neighborhoods, they don't want an industry that will result in a net loss of jobs and revenue, and they refuse to support politicians who look the other way when undemocratic laws are passed in the middle of the night.

The action on Tuesday morning will be comprised of both nonviolent direct action and a supporting rally. For those interested in being a part of the direct action, you must attend the training this Sunday afternoon. If you plan to participate in the support rally, you aren't required to attend the training, but we strongly recommend it. The action and rally will begin Tuesday morning at 6AM, in front of the SugarHouse site at Frankford and Delaware Avenues. View map and get directions.

Dozens of people are already signed up for the action, and we wanted to share some of their reasons with you:

"I will be there because I object strenuously to the placement of casinos in our neighborhoods and I want the supporters of this to know how I feel." --Andrea Preis, South Philly

"I believe that the legislation that enabled the development of casinos in Pennsylvania was the result of a corrupt process. I believe that local economies suffer and fail when casinos extract and divert local income. I believe that the predatory practices of the casinos entice persons to take risks with income originally intended to pay bills, put food on the table and provide and provide opportunities for personal, family and community growth." --Rev. Robin Hynicka, Arch Street United Methodist Church

Nearly three years ago, in one of Casino-Free Philadelphia's first direct actions against casinos, 14 Philadelphians served a "citizen's search warrant" to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board for access to documents about casinos that were rightfully subject to public review. The action, Operation Transparency, was a milestone in building public support for Philadelphians' control over their own city. Norma VanDyke, a long-time Casino-Free supporter, talked about her experience and how it relates to Tuesday's action:

"The day prior to the action, 14 of us met to be trained in civil disobedience, just as you will be doing. I found it to be a comforting and enlightening experience, which helped me feel both prepared and supported."

Please join us this Sunday at our training!

Stop gambling expansion now!

Casino-Free Philly — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 04:00:00 +0000

We need your help today in contacting a few state legislators.

While we prepare for our SugarHouse direct action next week, we're mindful that our state government is busy trying to craft legislation to legalize table games. We want to register opposition and remind them that they promised that reform comes first -- and explain what reform needs to look like.

Exercise your freedom of speech by contacting these key legislators:

Sen. Joe Scarnati: (717) 787-7084, jscarnati [at] pasen [dot] gov
Sen. Jane Orie: (717) 787-6538, jorie [at] pasen [dot] gov
Sen. Vincent Hughes: (215) 879-7777, hughes [at] pasenate [dot] com
Rep. Dwight Evans: (215) 549-0220, devans [at] hacd [dot] net
Rep. Mark Cohen: (215) 924-0895, mcohen [at] pahouse [dot] net

Here are some talking points:

A. Don't vote on table games until you've repealed or reformed Act 71.

B. The current reform bill (Senate Bill 711) is incredibly weak. Real reform needs to accomplish the following: allow a local referendum; require a 1,500-foot buffer zone between casinos and neighborhoods; eliminate the direct appeals to the State Supreme Court so that decisions of the Gaming Control Board receive meaningful judicial review; require that casinos close at 2 a.m.; eliminate the serving of free alcohol; and, require mandatory monthly statements so losses and addiction can be spotted. Demand they enact these real reforms before they even think about table games.

Next week, many of you will participate in a direct action at the SugarHouse site (RSVP here) to demonstrate the next step in our increasing resolve against the proposed casinos. Contacting our legislators is just as important and we hope you do both.

This is a struggle worth our time and effort. Let us stand by our principles and state our opposition to what they're doing -- and that we will not forget. Please make a quick phone call or email now to the legislators listed above. If emailing, send us a copy at info [at] casinofreephila [dot] org.

The time for action is now

Casino-Free Philly — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:20:28 +0000

This is it. The action we've been training for over the past three years. Not a practice site reclamation or direct action training at a casino site — this is the real deal.

On the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 29, we will arrive at the proposed SugarHouse site on the Delaware River to show Neil Bluhm that we will not give up. (Read the press release.) We are committed to stopping casinos in Philadelphia and to shutting down any that open.

RSVP now to attend the action training on Sunday.

Casinos in Pennsylvania were legalized in the middle of the night, on the Fourth of July weekend in 2004. Bureaucrats and politicians taking contributions from the gambling industry have denied us the right to be involved in the public process, stripping us of our right to vote — because they know we would not support casinos in our city.

It's time for us to put our bodies on the line to demonstrate our resolve to stand strong for what we believe.

On Sept. 29, our direct action will consist of two components. One group of people will take nonviolent direct action at the site, while another group will show solidarity in the form of a rally nearby, but within sight. A training for the action will take place on Sunday, Sept. 27, from 12 to 4 pm at the No Slots Spot, at 718 Market Street.

RSVP for the action training now.

Now is the time to make calls to your friends and turn them out for the action and training. We need everyone on board. If you can come by the No Slots Spot office any day this week to make phone calls, do media work, prep materials, or anything else, please call us at 215-238-1711. We need you!

Bankrupting casinos before they bankrupt us

Casino-Free Philly — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:58:08 +0000

This week, we're launching a new campaign, In the Red, which aims to persuade casino investors Neil G. Bluhm (of SugarHouse) and Ron Rubin (of Foxwoods) to abandon their plans for casinos in Philadelphia.

We'll be doing that through a variety of methods, including showing up when they least expect it, and focusing public attention on their lenders such as banks. Please join us at our first event as part of this new campaign, this Wednesday.

RSVP online now.

PNC Bank: Lead the Way — Don't Lend to Neil Bluhm!

Wednesday, September 16

8:45 AM, sidewalk outside of 1600 Market Street

We're choosing to do this tomorrow because that's the day SugarHouse goes before the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to receive a rubber stamp for other parts of its financing. Let the corrupt processes occur without us — we have more important work to do through direct action right here in Philadelphia.

Our members and our organization are committed to a fully casino-free city, so stay tuned for events targeting Ron Rubin of Foxwoods.

Please join us as we launch In the Red. Help us spread the truth about the damage these casinos will inflict to families, communities, local businesses and our city budget. With your continuing pressure, these predatory casinos will be exposed for the poor investments they are, and Bluhm and Rubin's slots parlors will be driven out.

We're not shy about saying it. We're here to bankrupt the casinos — before they have a chance to bankrupt our communities. Join us.

Image: Flickr user stuartpilbrow (Creative Commons license)

Celebrate and commit to finishing the job

Casino-Free Philly — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:21:03 +0000

We have a victory to celebrate and renewed efforts to pledge. Please join us for a party next Tuesday at the No Slots Spot.

We've defeated a proposed casino in Center City and Chinatown. Buoyed by our results, we now need to finish the job. As we said last week, the threat from casinos remains — most imminently for South Philadelphia and Fishtown/Northern Liberties, but more broadly for every person who resides in our city.

We need to join together to stop all casinos in our city, wherever they are proposed.

Please join us next Tuesday with our allies as we take a moment to mark our victory and recommit ourselves to the struggle ahead.

The Struggle Continues: A Celebration and Fundraiser

Tuesday, September 15, 6:30 PM

No Slots Spot, 718 Market Street

RSVP online / RSVP on Facebook

Earlier this week, the No Casino in the Heart of the City coalition declared:

For the past year, our coalition has brought together Philadelphians from across neighborhoods and various interests and backgrounds to stand united against the fear, corruption and hopelessness that has been fertile ground for the proposed casinos. We united in our hope, our stories and our conviction that strong communities and strong cities are built from the ground up by the people who live and work here.

On Tuesday we'll share our stories, our hopes and our vision for a city that not only stops casinos, but addresses the larger issues of poverty and corruption. And we want to hear from you.

All are welcome to join us on Tuesday. As part of laying the groundwork for our continuing fight, we are suggesting a donation from each attendee — from as little as $5 to as much as you can afford.

RSVP online for the celebration and fundraiser

We couldn't have gotten this far without you. This celebration is yours, and the work ahead is ours. See you on Tuesday!

Keep the pressure up and the casinos out!

Casino-Free Philly — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 08:50:31 +0000

The casinos are on the run. SugarHouse is struggling to attract financing, while Foxwoods is going back to the drawing board yet again.

Nonetheless, the threat to our neighborhoods — to Chinatown, Fishtown, Northern Liberties and South Philly — remains. We know the predatory gambling industry won't give up easily, and the politicians who support them will continue to try to place casinos near our homes and businesses.

Indeed, the threat to the entire city from predatory casinos is present — and that's why we're continuing to oppose casinos anywhere in Philadelphia.

Please help us continue to grow our movement by making a contribution today.

This is a critical moment, and we need your continued support and involvement as we increase our strength. The past few weeks have demonstrated the power of community action — now is the moment to bring your friends and neighbors to these upcoming events as we move forward.

TONIGHT, Thursday, Sept. 3 in Fishtown: Join us as we talk with neighbors about how we can stop SugarHouse and keep their community and all of Philadelphia casino-free! Meet at 6:15 PM at Penn Treaty Park, Delaware Avenue & E. Columbia. (Signups requested but not required.)
Wednesday, Sept. 9 in Fishtown: Join Jethro Heiko, a Casino-Free Philadelphia co-founder, as he hosts a "stopping casinos" discussion at his house. We'll provide an update about SugarHouse and our efforts to stop its construction -- and how we'll stop the casino even if they break ground. We'll also be talking about our larger struggle against casinos in Philly. 6:30 PM at 139 E. Allen Street, near Delaware & Frankford Avenues.
Thursday, Sept. 10 in Queen Village: Join Andrea Preis for a "stopping casinos" discussion in her home. How can Foxwoods be stopped? What will we demand of the planning commission? What's the latest financial problems Foxwoods is facing? As before, we'll talk about our citywide struggle against casinos. 6:30 PM at 338 Fitzwater Street.
Tuesday, Sept. 15 in Center City at the No Slots Spot: Join Casino-Free Philadelphia and allied groups at our headquarters, the No Slots Spot. We'll be celebrating our victories and discussing next steps as our movement grows. No matter where you live, please join us as we celebrate three years of successful building of community power! 6:30 PM at 718 Market Street.

It's easy to get discouraged when a predatory industry targets your city and politicians publicly counsel giving in.

But in the past weeks, we saw how successful community power can be, as Foxwoods was at least temporarily prevented from building anything in Chinatown. And we've watched as SugarHouse sinks into a morass of financial troubles, its investment potential publicly declared to be "junk."

We hope these events have inspired you as much as they've heartened us.

We — you, your neighbors and friends — will win this effort on behalf of our communities. We've been successful for three years, and with your help, we have no intention of stopping!

Big news, and increased commitment

Casino-Free Philly — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 11:00:00 +0000

Yesterday, the corrupt Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board somehow found "good cause" to extend Foxwoods' license for two years and insisted that the casino stay on Columbus Boulevard. This is one of the most significant political decisions in our 38-month effort to keep Philadelphia casino-free. So what does it mean?

It means two casinos are now once again proposed for our historic Delaware waterfront in violation of the citizen-driven civic vision. It means that the politicians who once stood with us on the principle of keeping casinos out of neighborhoods (they all supported the 1,500-foot buffer referendum) need to explain why they oppose a casino in one neighborhood but support a casino in Chinatown, Fishtown and Northern Liberties. They need to explain why they continue to sponsor a predatory industry that wasted their time, our money, and that seeks to push people further into foreclosure, bankruptcy and a life of poverty. We will demand these answers.

Fortunately, through hard work, citizens continue to grow stronger. The so-called power of our elected officials, on stage at a City Hall press conference one year ago, has been exposed as an illusion by the truth and tenacity of our coalition partners and allies, who are now permanent parts of our movement.

Many forces boost our struggle. Indeed, we earn our rewards, which now come in the form of the predatory gambling trade tanking nationwide. Suffering delay after delay, both Foxwoods and SugarHouse are now badly wounded financially. Read more about their troubles in the statement we released yesterday prior to the PGCB hearing. Now, with your help, we will work even harder to finish them off — and we'll do so by sticking by our principles. We'll continue to speak the hard truths, as we did yesterday to the Associated Press.

A growing commitment of citizens, like you, will lead us to eventual victory. If you are opposed to casinos in Philadelphia, if you are in favor of open government and an engaged citizenry and if you believe that you can determine the destiny of your city, we need your help now, more than ever. We are calling for everyone across the city, no matter where you live, to sign our pledge to take part in actions against the proposed casinos. We will not relent until they leave South Philly, until they leave Northern Liberties and Fishtown, and until they leave our beloved City of Philadelphia altogether.

If you cannot lend us your time, please donate to our cause and, together, we will keep Philadelphia casino-free.

Foxwoods faces defeat

Casino-Free Philly — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 07:50:07 +0000

Update II: As expected, the PA Gaming Control Board extended Foxwoods license — but sent them back to the Delaware waterfront in South Philadelphia. We'll have much more information posted soon, but remember this: We oppose casinos ANYWHERE in the city!

Update: We'll be "live Tweeting" our trip to Harrisburg throughout the day Friday. Check out recent updates at left, or follow us on Twitter. We can't wait to see how Foxwoods will explain its continuing viability in light of its "dire financial condition" and junk bond status!

This Friday, representatives from Ron Rubin's Foxwoods casino are going before the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) in Harrisburg to admit defeat. Their license, granted more than a year ago, required the slots parlor to be up and running by now.

What stopped Foxwoods' construction? That's simple: You did.

Join us in Harrisburg this Friday to declare a victory.

Foxwoods will be going before the board to admit defeat in a fight they haven't been able to win. They want the PGCB to bail out the casino by granting a two-year extension on their gambling license.

To be sure, this is not a final defeat — Foxwoods can be relatively sure that the unelected, corrupt "regulators" will grant their request. Yet this important milestone proves that the people of Philadelphia can win against predatory gambling — and we'll continue to win, barricading any casino from our city.

Let's watch Foxwoods admit defeat this Friday.

Foxwoods has alluded to asking the PGCB to move the casino license from South Philly to 8th & Market near Chinatown, but they haven't done so yet. That's right — as of now Foxwoods is still proposed for the Pennsport–Queen Village neighborhood, and the Philadelphia Inquirer suggested the PGCB might require it to stay there.

Please join Casino-Free Philadelphia, the No Casino in the Heart of the City Coalition and other allies this Friday as we declare our continuing opposition to casinos in South Philadelphia, Chinatown, Fishtown, and anywhere in Philly!

WHAT: Travel to Harrisburg to declare victory against Foxwoods and pledge to continue to bar its construction

WHEN: Depart this Friday, August 28, at 7AM from Philadelphia; return by 3PM

RSVP: Reserve your spot now so we can coordinate transportation

We expect the PGCB will rubber-stamp Foxwood's request for an extension on Friday, whether they allow the casino in Chinatown or South Philly. (Gov. Rendell said pointedly, "I don't care where.") And that's exactly why we're going — to say to the PGCB: Your rubber-stamp approval doesn't matter. We're going to win anyway.

The only reason Foxwoods executives will be in Harrisburg this Friday is because of us — we truly are the barriers to slots in Philly. If you can't make it to Harrisburg with us, please consider making a donation to help support our continuing work.

In addition, if you haven't already done so, please don't forget to sign our nonviolent pledge of action:

I pledge to take nonviolent action to halt the construction of any casino built in Philadelphia. I will not allow the predatory gambling industry to destroy our community and our cities. Should such casinos be built, I pledge to take nonviolent action to prevent their effective operation.

From one barrier to another, see you in Harrisburg!

A road trip to visit Neil Bluhm

Dan — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:46:22 +0000

Paul, Lily, Jethro, and me, Dan Hajdo, set out for Pittsburgh one Saturday afternoon. If you’ve never driven to Pittsburgh from Philly, the most important thing to remember is that it’s a long drive. Seriously. The next important thing to remember, however, is to go with the right people. Then the trip is more like a fun hang-out, albeit in a car. I brought a book but didn’t read more than a page. Between talking, laughing, and snacking, I didn’t even notice all the scenery.

The next day was the opening of the Rivers Casino (named, perhaps, after Gaming Board member Sanford Rivers who got extension after extension for the project?), the reason for our trip. We went to attend the opening day ceremony in the front driveway of the casino. We went not only to show support for No Dice and other casino opponents in Pittsburgh, but to send a message to someone special. Rivers Casino has one big thing in common with the Sugarhouse development here in Philly: Neil Bluhm.

The original license for a casino in Pittsburgh went to Don Barden, minor multi-millonaire, who could not secure financing. So Bluhm rode in on his white horse and saved the deal — gaining a second casino for himself. Oh, sure, the Gaming Act makes it clear that no single individual, group or subsidiary thereof can get two gaming licenses in the state. But, hey, this is gambling! Technically Bluhm’s daughter, Meredith, put up most of the money. Oddly enough, Meredith wasn’t there at the opening ceremony. The only women on the stage that day were dressed in Las Vegas–style showgirl outfits. I’m pretty sure neither of them was Meredith.

Neil, however, was there. He was introduced as the guy who “saved” the casino, revealing Meredith’s supposed role to be skimpier than the showgirl outfits.

Casino-Free Philadelphia joined with No Dice allies and made themselves heard, unveiling the trusty “Casinos = Corruption” banner. Jethro and Bruce Barron gave interviews published in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and shown on local news.

Jethro and Lily also took their message directly to Bluhm, old school, as he rose to speak at the ceremony. Their loud objections got Bluhm’s attention. Also the attention of the state police who asked the two to leave, which they did.

Not to be outdone, Paul — after handing out Casino-Free Philadelphia’s slots-info tickets to the casino’s new patrons — went inside the casino. Finding Bluhm, he walked up to him and told him not to come to Philly and that we — the people of Philadelphia — would stop him.

On the way home, the news reports were already coming out — it’s fun to hear the news reports of your efforts with the events still fresh in your mind.

Who knew activism was so much fun? A couple Philly–Pittsburgh travel tips:

1. You are not risking your health if you have breakfast at the Eat-n-Park. Still, contrary to what the sign says, it’s best to park, and then eat. Then leave.

2. If you stop for dinner in Somerset along the way, go for Italian rather than Chinese even if you did eat more than your fill of yummy stuffed shells the night before.

Take the Casino-Free Pledge

Casino-Free Philly — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 03:16:58 +0000

Three years ago we prevented construction of two "inevitable" casinos through creative campaigns and direct action. Now we need your help to do it again. Sign the Casino-Free Pledge.

As you know, this weekend we were in Pittsburgh, protesting the opening of a predatory casino owned by Neil Bluhm, who is also behind SugarHouse (see photo). The effort to build casinos in major cities such as Pittsburgh and Philadelphia is the tip of the spear of the predatory gambling trade in its effort to put casinos as close as possible to residential communities. If Bluhm and Foxwoods financier Ron Rubin are successful, Philadelphia will be the largest American city with a casino.

In the coming weeks, we'll be staging a series of creative direct actions confronting Neil Bluhm, Ron Rubin and other backers of the two proposed casinos in Philadelphia. We're no longer able to wait for our elected officials in the city and in Harrisburg to find their backbones and defend their constituents instead of the casino lobby.

That's why we need you stand up, by pledging to take action against casinos in Philadelphia:

As always, our actions will allow participation in a variety of ways. What we need now is your public dedication to confront the casinos.

If you'd like more information about our first action, to defend Philadelphia from any construction by SugarHouse, please attend our direct action training this Wednesday evening. Throughout the campaign, we'll be working with allies like the No Casino in the Heart of the City coalition, Asian Americans United and Liberty Resources. And as always, a key component of direct action is direct education, which we'll be continuing through our flyering nights in different parts of the city.

We need to show the casinos that Philadelphians won't back down or allow their neighborhoods to be taken over, simply because bought-and-paid-for politicians tell us it's "inevitable."

Sign the Casino-Free Pledge today.

Thank you, for all you've accomplished in the past three years, and for all we know you will be able to accomplish in the future.

Direct action from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh

Casino-Free Philly — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 04:14:03 +0000

This Sunday, Aug. 9, a casino will be opening in Pittsburgh. The owner, Neil Bluhm, is attempting to build a second casino, SugarHouse, in Philadelphia.

The effort to build casinos in major cities such as Pittsburgh and Philadelphia is the tip of the spear of the predatory gambling trade in its effort to put casinos as close as possible to residential communities. If Bluhm and fellow casino-financier Ron Rubin are successful, Philadelphia will be the largest American city with a casino.

That's why Casino-Free Philadelphia will be joining the Pittsburgh group No Dice to condemn the job-killing Pittsburgh casino as well as the casinos proposed for Philadelphia.

On Wednesday, Aug. 12, we'll be holding a direct action training at the No Slots Spot in Center City Philadelphia, in preparation for our upcoming campaign directly confronting the con men behind SugarHouse and Foxwoods casino.

In the coming weeks, we'll be stepping up our actions targeting Neil Bluhm and Ron Rubin, the financial backers of SugarHouse and Foxwoods, who continue to pull a "bait and switch" on the city of Philadelphia. Come to our direct action training to learn the details of our upcoming campaign and how you can become a key part.

Three years ago we prevented construction of two "inevitable" casinos through creative campaigns and direct action. Now we need your help to do it again.

In our last direct action campaign, Beat the House, we put the predatory gambling industry on notice that we'd not sit idly by while our communites are eviscerated for their profit. We promised we'd be back. Join us on Aug. 12 and learn the surprises we have in store for Messrs. Bluhm and Rubin.

Tell Rep. Keller Not to Put Slots on Your Corner

Casino-Free Philly — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:05:00 +0000

Update: The bill has passed the committee 14-12. Rep. O'Brien stood firm, once again voting no. Rep. Thomas flipped, and Rep. Keller continued to sell out his constituents in South Philadelphia by voting in favor of predatory gambling.

Make no mistake, had Philadelphia legislators not been in favor of this bill, it never would have progressed — yet despite the absence of any hearings in Philly, these lawmakers ignored their constituents and voted on behalf of lobbyists.

This is not the end for this bill or for our fight. We know corruption runs deep, and it won't be rooted out in a day. But we've put our legislators on notice that we'll be watching, and we'll be holding them accountable.

Original post:

Yesterday, we saw a crucial victory in preventing predatory gambling in our city, when a Pennsylvania state House committee deadlocked over video poker legalization and the bill died in committee.

This victory was thanks in large part to your efforts — but our success may be short-lived unless you act once more. Please contact Rep. Bill Keller right now — before he casts his crucial vote later this morning on video poker — and tell him to vote “no.”

Contact his office now: 215-271-9190, 717-787-5774 or wkeller [at] pahouse [dot] net

When the House committee tied 13-13 on the governor’s video poker proposal, it was unable to send it to the floor for a full House vote. Credit goes to those of you who contacted Rep. Mike O’Brien, who did vote “no” — and thank you Rep. O’Brien!

Unfortunately, the committee, in a very unusual move, is reconvening this morning to revote, which means the governor has persuaded one of the other members who voted “no” to flip to a “yes.” So we desperately need one more “no” vote.

During yesterday’s hearing, Rep. Bill Keller inexplicably voted “yes” and we want you to contact him — right now — to urge him to change his vote to “no.” If we can accomplish this, then we’ll likely retain the 13-13 tie and the bill will stay stuck in committee. Rep. Keller is the make or break vote. He should vote “no,” just like Rep. O’Brien.

The governor wants to put five video poker machines in every Pennsylvania bar, tavern or restaurant that has a liquor license. Video poker machines are identical to slot machines; they have a different name but they are just as addictive. Indeed, if you go today to the casinos at Harrah’s Chester or Philly Park, you can gamble at plenty of video poker machines — why would Rep. Keller want to put these at your corner tavern?

When it comes to addiction, the #1 risk factor is proximity — so the more convenient these machines are, the more people will become addicted. If you go out for a newspaper, you’d be able to stop off and play video poker. And unlike a casino, a restaurant won’t be able to keep underage kids from gambling.

Rep. Bill Keller represents much of South Philly, including Pennsport, Whitman, Bella Vista and Queen Village. No matter where you live, please contact him. Tell him that unless he votes “no” then you’ll work to unseat him come the next election in 2010.

Please contact Rep. Keller now — 215-271-9190, 717-787-5774 or wkeller [at] pahouse [dot] net — and ask him to vote “no.” We’ll keep you posted on any developments.

Image credit: Flickr user otherthings

Video poker and rooting out corruption: Why this vote is important

Join the Stop Casino Corruption Call-in

Lily — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 04:00:00 +0000

As Harrisburg considers expanding gambling, we want you to contact your representative — today — to remind them that our communities are more important than the tons of cash contributed by the casino industry.

This coming Tuesday, an important House committee will vote on a massive expansion of gambling. The casino lobby is pushing hard to get table games, and there's a similar push to put 5 video poker machines (indistinguishable from slots) in every bar, tavern and restaurant in every neighborhood in PA.

The key committee members to contact are:

Rep. William F. Keller, (215) 271-9190, wkeller [at] pahouse [dot] net
Rep. Michael O'Brien, (215) 503-3245, mobrien [at] pahouse [dot] net
Rep. Curtis Thomas, (215) 560-3261, cthomas [at] pahouse [dot] net

Contact them today. Here is what we recommend you say:

Tell them to oppose video poker and table games — or else you will vote them out of office.
Tell them to publicly call for House leaders Dwight Evans and Bill DeWeese to disclose how much money they've taken from the casino and video poker industry — and to return that money before allowing any votes. Yes, return the money.

The push for an expansion of predatory gambling reeks of corruption. The recent Common Cause study documents millions of dollars in campaign contributions from the gambling industry to state political leaders, such as Rep. Dwight Evans (over $44,000) and Rep. Bill DeWeese (over $30,000). Sure, the Republicans also took tons of money, but at present it's Evans and DeWeese (and of course the Governor, the number-one recipient of casino money on the Common Cause list) who are pushing to expand gambling. With your help, we can push back.

Call the three officials listed above. They vote on Tuesday.

The second largest recipient of casino money listed in the Common Cause report was the architect of the slots law, former Senator Vince Fumo. This Tuesday, as the Gaming Oversight Committee votes on a massive expansion of predatory gambling, former Senator Fumo will receive his sentence for his corruption conviction. Did he also commit crimes relating to the casinos? How about crimes committed by politicians still in office? We'll be outside the federal courthouse at 6th and Market Streets in Philadelphia where the Fumo's sentencing hearing will be taking place to ask these and other important questions. Please join us there at 9:30 AM.

The predatory gambling trade has millions to contribute to state politicians. Philadelphia has you — and you can make your voice count. Please call Reps. Keller, O'Brien and Thomas now. Forward this email to a few friends and ask them to do the same.

Celebrating victories and creating a sustainable future

Ivan — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:55:34 +0000

Unlike SugarHouse and Foxwoods, we are pleased to inform you that Casino-Free Philadelphia is able to obtain financing. Tomorrow night, Casino-Free Philadelphia is honored to be receiving a grant from the Bread & Roses Community Fund. We'll be joining together with other grant recipients, community groups, activists and social change funders in the Philadelphia area.

And we'd like you to join us!

The evening will be an excellent opportunity to recall and reflect on Casino-Free's success over the past year in keeping casinos out of the city. One of our methods is to bring public attention to the costs of predatory gambling, as we did at last month's Anti-Casino Circus with the No Casino in the Heart of the City Coalition (see photos and video from the circus). The event tomorrow night will also allow you to meet and talk with social change leaders from around the region.

Please join us:

On the Rise for Real Change: Celebrating Local Movements for Social Justice

Wednesday, July 8, 5:30 to 7:30 PM

UPenn Carriage House, 3907 Spruce Street

RSVPs are free, but required. Sign up to attend the event now.

We know, of course, that the threat of predatory gambling in our city is by no means extinguished. The proposed SugarHouse casino on the waterfront recently cleared a regulatory hurdle from the planning commission, and the city council continues to be supportive of Foxwoods casino at the Gallery in Chinatown. But apparently the smart money is more willing to invest in the social change efforts of Casino-Free than in the predatory business of slots.

Will you join Bread & Roses in helping support our work moving forward?

We could never have achieved so much without your help. Your letters, phone calls, rallies, testimony — and, yes, donations — have kept Philadelphia casino-free for three years. Now, more than ever, we need your help to continue our success. Indeed, when foundations consider giving us a grant, they look very closely at the commitments of our grassroots supporters like you.

Please consider making a donation to Casino-Free Philadelphia today.

If you're not able to make a financial contribution at this time, we are always looking for volunteers! If you can’t donate money, please donate your time. Stay tuned for an announcement of an exciting summer series of events to discuss, collaborate and plan for our next wave of actions to keep Philadelphia casino-free into 2010!

Following the money trail

Casino-Free Philly — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:24:34 +0000

Yesterday, as expected, the Philadelphia City Planning Commission voted 4–2 to approve SugarHouse's redesigned proposal for a slots parlor, parking garage and hotels on the Delaware river waterfront.

We were heartened by the two commissioners, Natalia Olson de Savyckyj and Nancy Rogo Trainer, who voted against the proposal. "It looks like it's a tin roof from the sides," Olson said of SugarHouse's plan. "It looks like a Wal-Mart, dressed up."

Nonetheless, as we know from Common Cause's report from earlier this week, the $16 million dollars that casinos and their lobbyist friends donated to Pennsylvania politicians is paying off.

In recognition of this fact, we delivered large bags of money to the city commissioners yesterday, and urged attendees to "follow the money trail" (see flyer at right). Our actions were well-covered by the media, including videos from ABC 6 News and Fox 29 News, and coverage in the Associated Press, WHYY, KYW News Radio, the Inquirer, the Daily News and the Metro.

As we said yesterday, this political process has been a farce — designed to appear as if community voices are being heard, without actually taking any of those voices into account.

But we know our community power can be stronger than their corrupt money. Join us at lunchtime today for our Anti-Casino Circus, the grand opening of the Philadelphia anti-casino coalitions' No Slots Spot.

Philadelphia politicians were the ones who got our city into this casino mess, and it was always unlikely they'd be willing to get us out of it without pressure from us. It's up to all of us now to continue to keep Philadelphia casino-free!

The circus is in town!

Casino-Free Philly — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:16:47 +0000

The GI resistance movement had the Oleo Strut coffeehouse, the gay rights movement had the Castro camera shop, and now the anti-casino movement has the No Slots Spot. Casino-Free Philadelphia and the No Casino in the Heart of Our City Coalition are launching a joint office at 718 Market Street — which just happens to be located a stone's throw from the proposed Foxwoods site.

Since the political process for forcing slots parlors on Philadelphia has been a sham from the beginning, we thought we'd hold our own grand opening circus — to shine a light on the mediocre performances our local politicians have been staging.

Anti-Casino Circus 12 noon, Thursday, June 25 No Slots Spot, 718 Market Street

You won't believe your eyes!

There will be circus acts, the likes of which have never before been seen in Philadelphia, including:

The Incredible Two-Faced Mayor!
The Invisible Plan!
High-Flying Casino Economics — without a net!
City Council Contortions!
The Foxwoods Site Shell Game!
The Amazing Shrinking Democracy!
And featuring numerous Daring Feats of Doublespeak!

For the first time in public view, see the sleight of hand, magical thinking and spectacle as our city leaders try to bring slots of Philly! We'll have cotton candy, games of change, and plenty of people from around Philadelphia who share your vision of a city safe from predatory gambling.

Run away with the circus!

To make sure the Anti-Casino Circus is a success, we're going to need your help. There's lots of outreach to do to spread the word about our wonderful new space, so we're holding two outreach days on Monday, June 22 and Tuesday, June 23, from noon to 2 pm.

Come for a couple hours — or just 30 minutes — and help us set up the action center, hand out flyers, and figure out where the elephant will go.

Just contact us if you're able to volunteer. Let us know which day you'd like to come in.

Thanks, as always, for all your support!

A circus is most fun when shared with friends! Visit our Anti-Casino Circus event page and click on the "ShareThis" link to email information to your friends, post it on social networks like Facebook and MySpace, and more!

Community power: We beat the house!

Ivan — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 11:25:00 +0000

At 2am on July 4, 2004, the Pennsylvania legislature made a declaration of dependence. Rather than look to sustainable ways to raise public revenue, they chose to legalize predatory casinos, using slot machines to extract money from local communities for the benefit of billionaire casino owners whose consciences are as remote as their geography.

Fast forward five years later. On Saturday at 2pm, more than 100 pro-community activists from Philadelphia and around the country converged on Harrah's Chester casino for a Declaration of Independence from predatory gambling.

View the complete Beat the House photo gallery.

Read live updates from Beat the House.

Our community is stronger than their money. We're stronger than their lawyers, their public relations flaks, their corrupt politicians, their casino-funded neighborhood front groups, their compromised gambling "regulators."

Five years ago politicians attempted to bring casinos to our communities. Saturday, we brought our community to their casino — with one simple message:

We're stronger than you.

Every time elected officials have told us casinos are a "done deal," we've fought back. And every time, we've won.

On Saturday, pro-community activists sat down at a slot machine and inserted the minimum amount, $5. And waited.

And waited.

We didn't press any buttons. We couldn't, after all, knowing that casinos rely on addiction, with slots parlors open 24-hours, serving free alcohol and providing slot machines displaying "near misses" perfectly tuned to stoke addiction.

We didn't gamble any of our money, since we knew it would be sucked out of the local economy and local businesses. Within just four years of casinos' arrival in Atlantic City, one-third of local retail shops had closed. A University of Illinois study documents that for every one job a casino creates, three are lost.

We didn't play the slots, because we know predatory gambling fundamentally undermines democracy. After you and 27,000 other Philadelphians signed petitions to vote on a referendum barring casinos from residential neighborhoods in 2007, the state supreme court struck the question from the ballot, thwarting the will of the voters.

The casinos didn't like our refusal to gamble, and they didn't appreciate when we removed our outerwear revealing our t-shirts that shouted in big red letters, "YOU WON'T PREY ON US."

On Saturday, we beat the house.

And we'll be back.

P.S. As you can imagine, putting on an event of this scale took considerable resources. Consider making a donation, and help us continue our success in keeping Philadelphia casino-free!

Letting our communities' creativity shine through

Ivan — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:20:50 +0000

The predatory gambling industry and politicians who have supported it have an unusual vision of Philadelphia's community — one in which predatory gambling tears our community apart with higher crime and personal debt, family strife, and displaced spending away from local businesses.

A coalition of individuals and organizations in Philadelphia has a different vision, one of constructive development plans that benefit all citizens rather than schemes that benefit only the wealthy and well connected.

Tommorrow, we'll be demonstrating that vision at Beat the House, a demonstration of community power at Harrah's casino in nearby Chester, PA. It’s an opportunity for all of us to play an active role in shaping a healthy future for a great city.

A central strength of every community is its creativity — and the casino-free coalition has that in spades!

Tomorrow, we'll be publishing live updates on this website and Twitter, using real-time text messages and photographs from our members at Beat the House. Until then, take a look at some of the creative, passionate voices against casinos in our city.

Anti-Casino, Pro-Community Artwork

Just this week, we inaugurated a new office at 718 Market Street — thanks to the generosity of Liberty Resources, a partner in our fight against casinos in Philadelphia. We'll be sharing the office with allies from the No Casino in the Heart of the City coalition. Beth Pulcinella created beautiful murals, shown at right, that frame the entrance to the office.

JJ Tiziou sponsored an anti-casino art contest. Check out some of the inspiring entries, below (click the images to enlarge).

Artists (l-r): Dennis Carlisle, Ahamed Iqbal, Laryssa Kwoczak, Shakira Bowman, Sudeshna Dutta, Evan M. Lopez, Kathryn Allen, Flickr: danyellmc

All's Well that Ends Well: A Hilarious Puppet Tale of Politicians and Casinos in PA

Local theatre group Puppet Uprising created a fantastic short play for our West Philly town hall — featuring "Governor Ends-Well" and an amusing cast of characters. Thanks to the Media Mobilizing Project, the puppet show has been immortalized on YouTube. Check it out!

A Theme Song for Beat the House

We're pleased to present an amazing song about Beat the House, written and performed by two young Philadelphia artists, Isabella LiPuma (age 14) and Chelsea Cylinder (age 13), who produce music together as "Cameron Indigo":

If you would like to create art to support our cause, feel free and send it in — we’ll be happy to present your work to the Casino-Free community.

An open letter to Chester residents about Beat the House

Casino-Free Philly — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:22:13 +0000

The following letter was sent to organizations and news media in the Chester, PA area.

Dear Chester residents,

On Saturday, June 6, Casino-Free Philadelphia will conduct a series of peaceful actions at Harrah’s Chester to call attention to the predatory practices of the casino industry. The event, called Beat the House, is part of our mission to stop casinos from coming to Philadelphia.

We are hoping this letter reaches you before Harrah’s and its friends in government have a chance to misrepresent our intentions. The facts are these: We are a grassroots organization funded by member donations. Our actions during Beat the House will be conducted in an orderly fashion and will pose no harm to casino personnel, patrons or property.

We are staging Beat the House at Harrah’s Chester because it is close to Philadelphia and is the sort of business that we believe will harm our city. Our intention is to send a message of defiance to the predatory gambling industry and of support to Philadelphians whose interests are being betrayed by a corrupt partnership between politicians and executives at casino companies.

We believe the benefits of casinos can never outweigh the social and economic costs generated by an industry that preys on the poor, the elderly and the addicted.

It is a privilege to live in a country where we are free to demonstrate our opposition to the expansion of this destructive industry.

Please accept our best wishes and goodwill and, if you are able, please join us on June 6 as we Beat the House, www.BeatTheHouse.org.

Sincerely,

Casino-Free Philadelphia

Help us change the odds, Beat the House

Lily — Tue, 12 May 2009 04:04:41 +0000

Many people have asked what we plan to accomplish with our Beat the House event on June 6 at a local casino, just outside of Philly. One of our goals is to counter the efforts of politicians and casino lobbyists who would have us believe slots parlors in Philly are a done deal.

Sometimes this simply means correcting sloppy language. For example, a recent Philadelphia Inquirer story erroneously described the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s vote to extend a slots license for SugarHouse as “clearing the way” for construction of a slots parlor on the Delaware riverfront.

In fact, the license extension came as no surprise to anyone familiar with PGCB, an entity created to rubber-stamp the state’s pro-casino agenda. Rather than clear the way, the vote merely underscored the importance of keeping state-sanctioned gambling out of our neighborhoods.

The lobbyists would have us believe that slots parlors will save us from higher taxes and soaring unemployment. And yet they know that slots would compound rather than solve our city’s problems by generating higher rates of crime, personal debt and family strife in our neighborhoods.

Beat the House will call attention to these facts and dash the myth that casinos would have a positive effect on nearby businesses. One need only look at the example of Atlantic City, where one-third of the city's retail businesses closed within just four years of the casinos' arrival.

A recent story in Forbes.com offers a fresh perspective on the forces we’re fighting. It notes that the casino industry, because of the distressed economy, is cutting back on employees and amenities and focusing on “the convenience gaming market.” In the vanguard of this trend are SugarHouse and Foxwoods, whose slots parlors in Philly would indeed be convenient to residents who might not otherwise develop the gambling habit.

But Beat the House is more than a facet of the campaign to keep predatory gambling out of Philly. It’s also:

A wake-up call for citizens who are tired of ineffective leaders such as Mayor Michael Nutter, whose flip-flop on casinos and other major issues is documented in this month’s Philadelphia magazine.

A call for the sort of campaign finance reform that will prevent the gambling industry and other powerful interests from convincing politicians to act against the interests of their constituents.

A demonstration of how we can move from advocacy to action instead of passively accepting the rules that have barred most citizens from playing a part in public policy decisions.

A response to the drastic expansion of state-sponsored gambling, an ongoing threat to communities across the country.

Ultimately, Beat the House is about steering Philly in the right direction, toward constructive development plans that benefit all citizens rather than schemes that benefit only the wealthy and well connected. It’s an opportunity for all of us to play an active role in shaping a healthy future for a great city.

Is the City being truthful in saying it has to enact these zoning ordinances?

Lily — Tue, 05 May 2009 22:32:31 +0000

In May, 2009, the City Council is proceeding to enact zoning ordinances giving the casinos everything they want. This is being spearheaded by Councilman Frank DiCicco and supported by Mayor Michael Nutter.

One could disagree with the Councilman and Mayor on policy, but that’s not what’s going on here. These politicians are saying publicly that they have no choice because the State is mandating this and because they’ve lost numerous lawsuits, etc. Those justifications are false. There is no requirement that he lay down a CED zoning ordinance on Market Street. The Court required the City to lay down the CED on the waterfront sites because: (1) the PGCB selected those sites; and (2) the casinos met the terms of the generic CED. Neither of those conditions exists at Market Street.

Further, even if the City was required to grant zoning for Foxwoods on Market and for SugarHouse’s horrible redesign (and there is no such requirement), there is no reason the City has to give them “by-right” zoning. For instance, if a tattoo parlor or a check cashing store wanted to open in almost any commercial area in the city, the Zoning Code would require the applicant to go to the Zoning Board of Adjustment and demonstrate that, among other things, it would not increase traffic, not adversely affect schools and not adversely affect public health and safety. Why don’t the Councilman and Mayor hold a slots parlor to at least the same standard as a tattoo parlor or check cashing store (so we could put these casinos under oath at the ZBA and cross examine them about their projects)?

Here is the truth and matter, plainly and simply: Councilman DiCicco and Mayor Nutter are helping SugarHouse and Foxwoods salvage their projects by saving hundreds of millions of dollars in construction costs for two projects that, as originally designed and approved, are not capable of obtaining financing in these economic times. Hold them to the original proposals! Yes, Councilman and Mayor, do us a favor: just do nothing.

Political stagecraft and public resolve

Casino-Free Philly — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 21:19:21 +0000

We are all entering an important phase of protecting our communities from the predatory gambling trade. The casinos' political allies are working at a feverish pitch to bail out the casinos and to shovel misinformation to the people.

During the next two weeks Mayor Nutter and Councilman DiCicco are bent on trying to ram through zoning for both SugarHouse and Foxwoods.

They are trying to fast-track two zoning bills that, if enacted, would actually decrease oversight and public involvement. It would eliminate a layer of council approval, which would leave the public to vent only at the Planning Commission. This takes the cue from Vince Fumo who did the same when he designed Act 71: he delegated the decisions to an unelected agency (in his case, the PGCB) in an effort to escape political accountability.

When it comes to casinos, the zoning bills would cement our Planning Commission as being the local PGCB; a place where decisions are preordained and public grievances are ignored, while the politicians stay conveniently behind the wings.

We caution you not to take the bait during these next two weeks.

We are unwilling to jump for every corrupt bill or hearing. We will show up and so should you, but recognize that these are sham proceedings: this is the staging scripted by those who have committed publicly to fast-track these facilities into our communities. It begins with the Gaming Control Board hearing on May 6th at the Convention Center, at which you can provide comments by registering by this Friday. The next day, May 7th, we will have Act II, Scene II when City Council's Rules Committee holds a hearing on the zoning bills.

They will not address the real issues. They've been telling you since 2006 that these casinos are a "done deal." But we doubt these hearings will allow people to talk about the long and unsure road ahead for these two casino companies. We doubt these hearings will even touch on the fact that neither casino is in any rush at all. SugarHouse, which still needs plenty of approvals and permits, has admitted that it has no financing at all — zip, nada, zilch. When it comes to permits, Foxwoods doesn't have a thing and seems in no particular hurry.

The officials probably won't even acknowledge the fact that they are trying to approve slot parlors for Market Street and North Delaware Avenue that would be open 24/7. Yes, those are the operating hours at Chester and Bensalem.

A 24-hour slots parlor in our neighborhoods, courtesy of your elected officials. Frankly, they are probably clueless about this and many other aspects of these facilities. We'll change that, for sure.

We will attend these hearings but we are focusing the bulk of our resources on implementing our own program. We will continue to build our strength at our West Philly town hall, on May 21st. And, of course, we are also putting maximum effort into our Beat the House event on June 6th. Please register for both events.

We will win on our own terms and by our own rules. We will win by continuing to tell the truth and by standing by our principles.

We'll post more information in the coming days and weeks to explain just how corrupt our officials have become. Hold tight.

Meanwhile, take a moment and read an amazing op-ed in today's Inquirer, written by David McKenna, a Casino-Free volunteer. Have you written a letter to your local newspapers lately? We have contact information available, and when you send your letter in, we may publish it here as well!

There will be no casinos in Philadelphia. Join us and beat the house.

P.S. Please share this with a friend and ask them to join our efforts. That's how we grow and become more powerful, with your help.

We're taking the fight to the casinos!

Lily — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:05:44 +0000

Casino-Free Philadelphia has been fighting to keep casinos out of Philadelphia since 2006. Its current campaign, the Declaration of Independence from Casinos, seeks to embolden at least one elected official representing Philadelphians to publicly adopt the position that casinos do not belong in our city.

Beat the House will serve to remind politicians, the casino industry, and their investors that casinos are not welcome in Philadelphia.

On Saturday, June 6, 2009, Casino-Free Philadelphia will put the casino industry on notice. Residents of Philadelphia and allies from around the country will cover new ground — inside an existing, operating casino in the region — and conduct ourselves in ways that focus the public’s attention on the heart of the controversy.

The event, called Beat the House, will use various tactics that can be replicated at any casino anywhere in the country — including SugarHouse or Foxwoods, the two casinos proposed for our city, if they ever start building here in Philadelphia or elsewhere. Working in teams, participants in this event will enter a nearby slots parlor and use a series of actions to expose the predatory practices used by the gambling trade.

Learn more about the event and sign up now!

Mayor's Reversal on Casinos Both Wrong and Costly

Casino-Free Philly — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:43:29 +0000

Michael Nutter had it right when he was a candidate. He not only actively supported keeping casinos out of neighborhoods, he rightly stated that casinos are bad economic development and that he would not use their revenue for government services, no matter how worthy these services are.

Mayor Nutter prominently put support of the casino buffer zone on his campaign literature. Read more of his campaign promises.

As a candidate and in his first year as Mayor, Nutter was poised to become a champion, to stand up to the predatory gambling trade and the corrupt governor, senator, legislature and Supreme Court that has been pushing for years to make Philadelphia the largest US city to host casinos.

After a week of denying that is position had changed, Mayor Nutter finally admitted that it had.

In a Daily News article, Nutter's spokesperson stated that Nutter's "comments this week on his position on casinos were about his time as mayor, not when he was a candidate." Of course, it is a real problem that Nutter stated "yes" when asked whether he agreed with the statement, "As mayor I will attempt to keep casinos from being built within Philadelphia."

But the biggest problem here is not that the mayor's position changed but that he was wrong to change it.

The proposed casinsos will create a net economic loss for the city, potentially costing us more than $200 million dollars each year in law enforcement costs alone (see Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperative Authority report, 2007, PDF).

Mayor Nutter, by reversing his position on casinos, has put the city's long term economic future further in jeopardy in a perilous time. And by reversing his position he also threatens other important priorities such as reducing crime, government transparency — he has now had a number of secret meetings with both casino operators, developing a world-class, sustainable riverfront on the Delaware, and more.

Nutter is wrong to change his position and wrong to support this most regressive form of taxation. He should stand up against predatory gambling. Whether or not he chooses to do so, we will continue to build our Declaration from Independence campaign.

Take a moment to call Mayor Nutter today at (215) 686-2181. Let the mayor know that you will continue to be a barrier to the development of casinos in Philadelphia, even if he is not.

Foxwoods' Proposed Move to 8th and Market Demonstrates Momentum of Casino-Free Community

Casino-Free Philly — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 17:17:59 +0000

Last week, more than 100 people gathered in Center City to learn about how they could get involved in fighting state-sponsored predatory gambling — the practice of using gambling to prey on human weaknesses for profit as a method for government to raise money for public services.

This week, we received word that Foxwoods casino, previously proposed first for South Philadelphia and then for the Gallery at Market East, is now considering a new site even closer to Independence Mall, at 8th & Market Streets in the old Strawbridge & Clothier department store.

That casino backers are now looking at such a move shows that momentum is on our side.

“Serious momentum has been gaining against Foxwoods and SugarHouse for some time now, no matter where they try to go. It will only grow with time as more and more people learn the true costs of predatory gambling,” said Casino-Free founder Jethro Heiko today.

8th & Market Streets, Philadelphia(Flickr user tilaneseven) Foxwoods, like SugarHouse casino, continues to refuse to solicit public input or take place in a transparent planning process. With this new site just one block from the Declaration House — where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence — the site also exposes a desperate siting strategy that not only disregards Philadelphia's historic legacy but fails to admit that no proper location exists for predatory gambling — anywhere.

Our next town hall will be on March 18 in the Riverwards. Check out our announcement video, and please share it with your friends!

Please join us!

Join us at our Center City town hall on casinos

Paul — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:40:15 +0000

We've declared our independence from casinos, and now the revolution begins.

Our first action is our upcoming Center City Town Hall meeting — and we want you to be there. This is the first of about four or five town halls in various parts of Philadelphia, and they are designed to help embolden at least one elected representative, senator, mayor or council person (and maybe more) to declare publicly that slot parlors do not belong in our city.

What: Casinos & Citizenry, A Center City Town Hall Meeting

When: Wednesday, February 18, 2009, 6:45 to 8:30 PM

Where: 714 Market Street, Second Floor, Philadelphia

As an added bonus, we'd like to offer you a special gift: one of our awesome "We the People" t-shirts, which are the talk of the town.

Here's how it works: if you RSVP for the town hall meeting, at the meeting we'll give you two t-shirts for the price of one ($20). That's right, a two-fer! Sign up, and you can get a t-shirt for yourself and another for a friend. These are black, high-quality t-shirts specially designed so that during your travels nice people will stop, smile and say, "Hey, I like your t-shirt."

Generating attendance for the town hall will be a key to our success. Here's how you can help:

Flyering: Print out town hall flyers (PDF) and distribute them to friends, neighbors and co-workers. If you would like to help us cover particular geographic areas of the city, please contact brendan [at] casinofreephila [dot] org so he can let you know where you should flyer.
Phone Banking: Please participate in our phone banking sessions (and, yes, we order pizza!). You can sign up for our Sunday, Feb. 15 or Monday, Feb. 16 events on this website, both at 6:30 PM.
Video: Please distribute our town hall video far and wide. It contains clips from our Declaration of Independence from Casinos launch event. Email it to friends and neighbors and post it on your social networks like Facebook and MySpace.

The key to our success is strengthening our voice — that's what the town halls are all about. A very small amendment to Act 71 (the Gaming Act) can eliminate the two casino licenses in our city, and the time is right for people to start talking about this. The economy has the casinos pinned down, there are issues and lawsuits still pending and perhaps more to come, and Rendell is making everyone angry with is crazy idea about video poker. At our town hall, we'll provide a comprehensive update and we'll explain how to get involved so we can make real change. That's what it's all about.

Of course, at the Center City town hall we'll bring the actual Declaration of Independence from Casinos, and you can provide your John Hancock if you'd like. See you on the 18th!

The Ground Game Begins

Paul — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Please attend our open meeting tomorrow (Wed.) at 6pm at the offices of Liberty Resources, 714 Market Street. We will provide an update on all initiatives, afford a Q&A session and activate everyone to help generate turnout for our Center City Town Hall later this month. We will equip you with flyers and other materials and delegate tasks so that, together, we can maximize turnout from various Center City neighborhoods. So, again, please join us:

Date/Time: Wednesday, February 4, 2009, 6:00pm to 8:00pm

Where: Liberty Resources, 714 Market Street, 2nd Floor

Our work is having a major impact. Last week, Governor Rendell, during an interview with WHYY's Marty Moss-Coane, expressed his belief that if Philly's proposed slots parlors are not in the construction phase by the time the Pittsburgh casino opens its doors (August of this year), he expects a bill to "whip" though the legislature eliminating Philly's gambling-funded wage tax relief. (Of course, one Councilwoman has already said that the gambling-funded wage tax relief is "tiny" and only "pennies per paycheck".)

Interestingly, going unreported in the media is the following part of the interview:

Marty Moss-Coane: Is Philadelphia though going to have those two casinos?

Governor Rendell: I don't know.

So, if there is anyone left who is still suggesting this is a "done deal" please refer them to the Governor's statement.

See you tomorrow evening. Bring a friend.

Warmly,

Amy, Ivan, Jethro and the rest of the Casino-Free team

P.S. Please purchase one of our We The People t-shirts. Your purchase price goes to a good cause!

A Declaration Delivered, and Ways to Get Involved

Ivan — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:27:20 +0000

This week, on a cold and snowy winter afternoon, many of you and other brave citizens of Philadelphia gathered in the shadow of Independence Hall to declare our independence from casinos.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that our government should serve the needs of the people," we said.
"The workings of any government claiming to be democratic must be transparent to all," we proclaimed.
"We declare ourselves opposed to casinos being built anywhere in our city," we pledged, "and demand that our representatives in government do the same."

Thank you for helping make this event such a success!

Please share this video with your friends and family!

Purchase one of our new Casino-Free Philadelphia t-shirts and declare your independence from casinos!

Newspapers reported that we had about a hundred participants at our peak. As you probably know, this new campaign seeks to find at least one politician to publicly adopt the position that casinos do not belong in Philadelphia.

View more photos from the event

Any elected official who stands with the people on this issue would be "an instant hero," founder Jethro Heiko said yesterday. We do wonder whether any elected official will actually claim to be pro-casino, given that state-sponsored gambling represents taxation by exploitation targeted at the poor and middle class.

We're already seeing coverage of the declaration of independence from casinos in local media, and politicians are feeling the pressure. Gov. Rendell, when asked about a recent Philadelphia Inquirer editorial that called for the legislature to start over on Act 71, barked, "Get a life." You know you are making progress when the governor insults the editorial board of the largest daily paper in the state.

Please join us at our next campaign strategy meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 4, at 6:00 pm at Liberty Resources, 714 Market Street. Want to get a head start? Sign up to volunteer for the campaign!

As you can imagine, pulling off this kind of event took financial as well as human resources. Help us continue to hold the line against casinos in Philadelphia: Make a donation today.

First signatures of the Declaration of Independence from casinos!

JJ Tiziou — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:09:35 +0000

On Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009, we declared our independence from casinos.

The Declaration is already getting some press coverage and you can check out some photos from the event.

Stay tuned for updates as this campaign gets rolling... Our first town hall is Wed Feb 18!

Join Us Tomorrow at Noon for a Declaration of Independence

Ivan — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 13:45:56 +0000

After two long years of exposing the fraud of those trying to push the predatory gambling trade upon us, the time has come for the people of Philadelphia to declare our independence from casinos.

Please join us at our launch tomorrow:

The Event: Public Reading and Signing of the Declaration of Independence from Casinos

When: Tuesday, January 27th at noon

Where: On Market Street between 5th and 6th Streets

Why: To kick-off our city-wide campaign to demand that our elected officials stand with the people and take a stand against casinos seeking to push into Philadelphia.

Two years ago, the conventional wisdom in Philadelphia was that casinos were a "done deal." Today, thanks to your dedication, things have changed. Casinos are now being seen for what they are: a bad deal for the city and its citizens. That change didn't just happen; we made it happen, together. We have shown that people working together are much more powerful than money.

This year it's an entirely new fight. Our economy is tanking due in large part to another predatory trade (predatory lending) and the "casino culture" that permeated Wall Street. Voters elected an unlikely candidate running on a platform of hope and change. Barack Obama's victory signals that We The People have a mandate to stop blindly following those pundits and politicians who limit their vision for what we can achieve together. It has shown us that we can stand up to those using disempowering rhetoric to stifle democracy. The time has never been better to organize for what we believe, to stand for what is right and to challenge what is wrong.

In his inaugural speech, President Obama cautioned those cynics — like the pundits and the opinion-makers — "who question the scale of our ambitions" by explaining that "their memories are short, for they have forgotten what this country has already done, what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose and necessity to courage." Who knows that better than you? That is exactly what you've been doing for the past two years.

And tomorrow we start the next phase by launching a new five-month campaign, the Declaration of Independence from Casinos. We have shown that the people of Philadelphia stand against casinos, and we're ready to demand that our politicians stand with us.

We need you to be there with us tomorrow at 12 noon. Take time off from work if it doesn't fit your lunch break, bring your friends, your family, your co-workers, and get to 5th and Market Street. The time is now.

—Amy, Ivan, Jethro and the rest of the Casino-Free Organizing Team

P.S. Your donations in 2008 made it possible for us to bring this fight further than most people thought we could. Despite being outspent by a huge margin, we've fought the casinos to a stalemate. This year, we're pushing to tip the balance. We need your help to do this — please make a donation to Casino-Free Philadelphia.

Spread the word about the Declaration of Independence from Casinos!

Ivan — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 23:38:36 +0000

Our next campaign is about to begin and and we need your help to get it rolling.

The Event: Casino-Free Philadelphia Rally: Public Reading and Signing of the Declaration of Independence from Casinos

WHEN: Tuesday, January 27th at Noon
WHERE: On Market Street between 5th and 6th Streets, just one block from Independence Hall
WHY: To kick-off our City-wide campaign to find at least one elected official to stand with the people

There are three ways you can help right now: using thumbtacks, keyboards and feet.

Thumbtacks: Download a PDF of our flyer. Print as many copies as you can and pass them out to your neighbors, friends, and co-workers. We need to get the word out far and wide, so please post the flyer on bulletin boards, leave some in your local coffee shop, or post them wherever people look for events. No need to ask us, just go for it!

Keyboards: Send this information to everyone you know and post the event info on blogs, MySpace, Facebook and any other networking sites you enjoy, or use the easy links at the top of this page to post information about the event on many social networks and email it to your friends.

Feet: Bring a few friends and co-workers to the event. It's scheduled for lunchtime and it will be over by 1pm. Oh yeah, and we'll have hot cider!

We need everyone pitching in to spread the word effectively!

If you would like to help out more before or during the event as a volunteer please email amy [at] casinofreephila [dot] org.

See you Tuesday!

A Declaration of Independence from Casinos on Jan. 27

Ivan — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 04:09:57 +0000

There comes a time when it is necessary for the people of a city to stand up and say "This is our city; this is our home, and it is time for those who represent us to stand with us or get out of our way." That time is now.

On Tuesday, January 27th, we — the people of Philadelphia — will declare our independence from casinos.

You can join us outside Independence Hall at noon where our declaration will be read and everyone will be invited to add their signature. This will be the kick-off of our Declaration of Independence from Casinos campaign that will run until July 4th of this year. We are starting by signing a pledge to oppose casinos anywhere in Philadelphia, and we will be working between now and July to add at least one signature of a Philadelphia elected official to this declaration.

When: Tuesday, January 27th, 2009, at 12 noon
Where: Market Street between 5th and 6th Street
What: Reading and signing of the Declaration of Independence from Casinos and presentation of the details of the campaign

What you can do now

Spread the word to your friends, family, co-workers, neighbors and networks and ask them to join us for the signing of our declaration. At the signing and in the coming week we will share more details about the campaign and how you can get involved.

If you would like to volunteer at the event please email amy [at] casinofreephila [dot] org.

Join us this Wednesday, January 7th

Ivan — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 20:00:41 +0000

Please join us this Wednesday, January 7th from 6:00pm to 8:30pm. Our meeting will be held at Liberty Resources, located at 714 Market Street. We'll be unveiling our newest campaign and we need you to help make it successful.

Please bring with you as many people as you can! Email questions to jethro [at] casinofreephila [dot] org.

Wall Street Journal says 'shouldering into Philadelphia may prove to be the American casino industry's Waterloo'

Ivan — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 01:44:18 +0000

On Jan. 1, Casino-Free Philadelphia was profiled in the Wall Street Journal:

"Late last month, at a house in West Philadelphia, there was a party that had little to do with the holidays. More than 100 members of Casino-Free Philadelphia observed the group's second anniversary with live folk music, food and the sale of T-shirts that read 'We the People Reject Casinos in Our City.' They were able to commemorate success in keeping casinos out of Philadelphia despite the fact that two huge gambling operators desperately want to locate there."

The article goes on to note that the current economic downturn is "devastating" the casino industry, reinforcing growing public opposition to increased gambling establishments. "In locale after locale, citizens are realizing that they were snookered by politicians' promises that casinos would provide a problem-free explosion in jobs and income from tourism," the Journal notes. Read the whole article.