The architects 9 and engineers are -- are constantly 10 reviewing it, but there's really been no 11 material change. It's essentially 12 CED-compliant. 13
Well, that's not the question. The question was: There was a proposal that was submitted, there was an architectural rendition or a concept of what the site would look like, and there was a plan that was represented not only to the community but also to the Gaming Commission Board. Has there been any adjustments to those physical plants that you know of?
I do not know of. 181 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2
Would someone get back to the Chair to let us know if there have been any changes?
Thank you, 10 Madam President. 11 I want to ask you gentlemen the 12 same question that I asked SugarHouse 13 relative to riparian rights. Do you have a riparian-right issue at that site? And how much land is necessary or not necessary to -- what's your total site size?
Okay. Do you have a desire to acquire riparian land? 182 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2
The answer is, our plans envision a totally land-based development. The decision about whether there would be a riparian grant or not is solely in the legislature and Harrisburg's decision.
The Gaming Board 10 asked us that question 'cause it seemed 11 to be that they were desirous of there 12 being a riparian development because it 13 would be a greater attraction as a destination. Our response to that was that, actually, it's a much more efficient operation for us to be totally land-based. To extend out into the water is creating a larger horizontal development plate, which is more inefficient. But I think, as the chairman of the -- of the -- of the tribe said, if we were to have the opportunity to be able to develop in the water, it would 183 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through create an unparalleled customer experience. So the answer is that we do not need it. We would welcome it if it were available.
Does the 8 non-acquisition of riparian land create 9 a closer proximity of your front door to 10 the roadway? 11
Not at all, 13 so having riparian land does not allow you a further setback.
Thank you. Any further questions? (No further questions.) 184 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2
Gentlemen, thank you very much. WITNESS PANEL: Thank you.
I 6 would ask Mr. McPherson to please read 7 the names of the next group or panel. 8 MR. McPHERSON: Our next panel 9 consists of representatives from 10 Casino-Free Philadelphia. They are Anne 11 Dicker, Caryn Hunts, Jeff Benedict. 12 (Witnesses come forward.) 13
Good afternoon. Please identify yourself for the record. and proceed with your testimony.
Good afternoon. My name is Ann Dicker, and I am an organizer with Casino-Free Philadelphia. Over the past few weeks -- in fact, 20 days, we have collected over 27,000 signatures to try to get a referendum placed on the May 15th ballot. Although that referendum is not on the topic today, one of the things 185 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through that we have been trying fruitlessly to get is an opportunity to have our say on what is proposed to be a Las Vegas on the Delaware Riverfront. On June 2, 2006, all public commentary was stopped from the unelected Pennsylvania Gaming Board. We asked that that commentary be reopened, and we were denied on several occasions. I am so happy to be here, giving testimony in front of Council on that issue. I'm going to actually yield over to Jeff Benedict, who has some important testimony concerning the experience of other places in putting casinos in a residential area.
Madam President Verna, members of the Council, Councilman DiCicco, it's a pleasure to be here this morning -- or this afternoon. I am perhaps the only out-of-towner here. I'm from Connecticut. 186 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through I actually live next door to Foxwoods. I drove past there this morning to get here -- to get to the airport to fly here. I was interested, Councilman O'Neill, in your --
Sorry. In your 10 questioning about traffic and in the 11 answers that were made in response to 12 that. Perhaps I could provide a little 13 perspective in the opening to my statement today. Foxwoods owns a casino in Connecticut. There is one another one. They are less than twelve miles apart. Yours presumably would be about three miles apart. Our two casinos currently generate 80,000 motor vehicles per day on our roads. Those are new motor vehicles that were not there before these casinos were opened. Those are not all customers; 187 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through those are employees, customers, buses bringing senior citizens, delivery trucks. But in sum total, it's 80,000 day. And that's the average day; that's not New Year's Day, that's the average day. To put that in perspective, think about a Philadelphia Eagles football game and how many cars that generates for a Sunday afternoon eight times a year. This is every day -- 80,000 cars a day. That impact is a sudden impact. It comes on like a light switch. When these buildings open, the cars start coming. You don't have to wait three years for that impact to show up; it will arrive overnight. And whether you like it or not, it is going to change the roads, the business, and everything down there. In our case, in Connecticut, we started with a small-scale casino which has grown over years. Casinos never 188 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 13 get smaller, and they build out. The more -- the bigger they get, the more revenue they generate and, they will argue, the more revenue you will get. And traffic increases. Foxwoods has promised in Connecticut that they will pay for the roads and the changes. It hasn't happened. The taxpayers and the state are building and paying those buildouts. And inevitably, properties do have to be taken. When you widen a road, land has got to be taken. There are a whole host of legal issues that arise, whether it's eminent domain, because homeowners don't want to give up their houses, businesses don't want to go. Traffic is -- it is a huge factor. " 15,000? 189 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 First of all, I think that's a 3 very conservative number. Second of 4 all, you got to factor SugarHouse into 5 that, and that's probably a projected 6 double right there. And that's at the 7 beginning, that's now, when they open. 8 What's it going to be in five years? 9 And in ten years? 10 And, honestly, I didn't come 11 here to talk about traffic because I'm 12 not an expert on traffic; that's just a 13 significant experience we've had. I was asked to come here primarily to testify about impacts that are economic in nature. Certainly, traffic has an economic element. But I think -- what interested me -- and I have to confess: I've been to a lot of these hearings, and so there's not a lot that I see that's new, but I - I heard two things here today that did surprise me, and I wrote 'em down. "I've 6 heard that statement lots of times; 7 that's not new. 8 What surprised me was made it. 9 The spin-off comment came from the 10 Solicitor. The arrival of new 11 businesses came from the planner. 12 Now, what shocked me was in -- 13 I've been involved in this issue for many years in many states. I have never heard a city official, an attorney, a planner make that argument. It's always been made by the lobbyists and the lawyers for the casinos. What surprises me here is that, first of all that, that argument has proven to be not true in almost every location that casinos have gone in -- except for Las Vegas, a city whose financial plan is built around the gambling industry. That is not 191 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 Philadelphia. 3 And to argue that you're going 4 to see spin-off in jobs, I think, is -- 5 it's mythical, unless these two casinos 6 are able to do something that no other 7 casino has done.
8 Yes, they'll create some 9 constructions jobs 'cause you got to 10 build these things, and they're going to 11 employ a few thousand people that have 12 to staff them, but to suggest that your 13 neighboring businesses are going to thrive and that there's going to be spin-off is simply not the case. Connecticut provides a great illustration. We heard that pitch, we bought that argument, we signed on the dotted line for that economic spin-off in jobs, and that has -- we're now 15 years in, and we have found that that has not happened at all. These casinos are typically an enemy to any business that competes with them. If you're in the service 192 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through industry, if you have hotels, if you're in the food-and-beverage industry, if you're in the retail market, these are not your friends. They want to capture the customer and keep them inside; they don't want to encourage them to go eat and drink across the street or encourage them to stay in hotels in midtown. )
And you don't have to take my word for it. I mean, Connecticut has Marriott, we have Holiday Inn, we have Sheraton. Call them up. Ask them what has happened to their hotel occupancy rates in the county around the two casinos. See what's happened in the last ten years. Ask the restaurant owners in the counties around the casino not only what's happened to your business, but what's happened to your staff. They're gone. We've lost our labor force. 193 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through And I think these -- you know, I'm not here to make an oral argument about gambling; people can do what they want on that. This is a financial thing that you're being asked to consider. You're being pitched that this is going to be bring revenue and money to Philadelphia and to the State. I'm suggesting that that has been pitched in many other locations, and those who have played that game have found out through sad experience -- Connecticut is a perfect case -- that that doesn't pan out. Perhaps the best illustration is, just a couple years ago, we get -- we get $2.4 billion from Foxwoods; that's how much money they've given our state. That's just one of the two casinos. A proposal came up a few years ago to build two more. Argument was, we can double what we're giving you now if you'd let us build two more. That's a 194 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 nice chunk of money. 3 You might ask, Why did the 4 state of Connecticut recoil and pass a 5 piece of legislation that banned, 6 outlawed the construction of any more 7 casinos in the state? 8 Because we've played that game 9 for 15 years, and we have found out it's 10 a losing game. We were playing on house 11 rules, and the house always wins. We 12 lost. The cost was too high to our 13 businesses, to our infrastructure, to our public-safety budgets. And, frankly, the last thing that I'll mention is -- and it's easy to overlook this. You've all heard about addictive gambling; this is what concerned me most. And I don't have a dog in this fight, but if I lived here, if I sat in the seats that you sit in, what would concern me most is where they want to build these two facilities. (Applause.) 195 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2
There is -- the gentleman who sat up here a little while ago who's a consultant who said there is no research to show or statistical work to prove that when a casino of this size comes to town, there's a correlation between that and the upswing in crime. Well, let me just tell you why he can't find any research: Because it has never happened. There is not a city in the United States the size of Philadelphia that has dared to do what's being contemplated here -- (Applause.)
-- put casinos in the heart of an urban area. Not one but two casinos within three miles in one of the largest urban centers in the United States. There isn't a place you can look in the country that is this big and this densely populated that has casinos within its city limits. This is an experiment that Philadelphia should not be part of. If 196 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through you -- (Applause.)
If you look at 5 the study that was done for Congress in 6 1999 on gambling impacts, probably the 7 most important piece of research that 8 came out of that study was this fact: 9 Gambling addiction and problem gambling 10 doubles within a 50-mile radius of a new 11 casino. 12 Now, think about that for just 13 a second, where this is going to go. They're going to put this right next to urban neighborhoods, where people can walk to the facility. When these two casinos were built in Connecticut, they were built in rural areas -- you cannot walk to them, it's a long drive from any urban center. When they opened, we had one state-funded gambling-addiction facility in the state. We now have 17, and they are jammed, jammed. We don't have enough. And there is no one who can 197 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through walk to our casinos. When you make these things so easily accessible to this many people, one thing I can guarantee you will happen, guaranteed: You will see an incredible spike in the number of people who do not gamble now -- they do not go to Atlantic City, they do not go to other states to gamble -- who will now come here to gamble because they can get off work at 5, meet up with five friends, five women, and go play slots. And I emphasize women for a reason: Because what we have found in Connecticut is that slot machines -- never mind table games and dice and cards, which men play and have been playing for a long time. Women are particularly captive to slot machines. The research is there; it is compelling research. I can tell that you over 90 percent of the people who have been prosecuted in our county for gambling-related thefts, larcenies, 198 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 embezzlements, stealing are women who 3 had no prior criminal history, who had 4 good jobs, who became addicted to slot 5 machines because they started going to 6 Foxwoods and Mohican Sun after work and 7 on the weekends. It is the most 8 addictive device in a casinos. 9 And these two guys are selling 10 their ideas to you on the basis of slot 11 machines. That's the mother's milk of 12 SugarHouse and Foxwoods in Philadelphia. 13 It is going to have a huge impact on people who live close. And what I would just suggest is that the cost of picking up and cleaning up the mess that comes with new troubled and problem gamblers is not just as simple as the folks who need to get treatment. It's the crime. I'm not talking about prostitutes and drug-dealing and that kind of stuff out on the street that happens in Atlantic City and other places; you're going to see some of 199 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 that, yes. 3 But more important than that is 4 the new class of people who you would 5 never expect to become problem gamblers 6 will become such. And with that comes 7 cost of treatment, of job loss, of 8 incarceration, of bankruptcy, of 9 property foreclosures. It is a cascade. 10 And so I've got my testimony 11 here. I would be happy to entertain 12 some questions after the other panelists 13 peak. And I appreciate the privilege of being here as someone who doesn't live in Pennsylvania. Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony. (Standing ovation.)
Thank you very much for your testimony. The Chair recognizes Councilman Kenney.
Thank you, Madam Chair. 200 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through Just for clarification's sake, may have missed it if you said it earlier. Are you with an -- I know you have written testimony. Are you with an organization or a group, or are you here on your own?
Well, I'm here 9 by myself, but -- I'm not with a group, 10 but I was brought -- I was asked to come 11 here by a number of people who live in 12 some of these neighborhoods. 13
Oh, no. 14 Oh, no. I'm not -- I don't -- I'm glad you're here. I'm just wondering whether you were involved with an organization that was --
I -- I used to -- I used to be the -- I was one of the cofounders and the former president of the Connecticut Alliance Against Casino Expansion, Inc., which was a corporation that was formed in Connecticut to essentially lead the effort to pass legislation to stop 201 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through casinos from --
Madam President 10 and respected Councilmembers, I just 11 wanted to introduce myself. I'm Daniel 12 Hunter, Coordinator of Casino-Free 13 Philadelphia. And part of the history of Casino-Free has been trying to give a chance for citizens to have more input in the process. And, naturally, the name suggests that we're anti-casino, and many of us in the organization are. But as the organization has developed, it's become more and more of us who aren't necessarily against casinos per se, but we're particularly against casinos within residential neighborhoods. 202 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through As Jeff Benedict just mentioned, this is a new experiment to be doing, and so that's one reason why we put forward a referendum, which many of these people in this room were involved in getting signatures for, for which we got 27,254 people who signed a referendum to give Philadelphians a voice in the process, because we've been saying that again and again: Philadelphians have been locked out of this process. We've seen that with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. I was one of about people who were involved in an action attempting to get -- make public some of the documents that -- including the updated traffic plans, some of the updated architectural renderings that Councilman DiCicco referenced earlier from Foxwoods and SugarHouse as well as the other -- three other sites here in Philadelphia. Those weren't made public 203 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control 3 Board. We thought that was a serious 4 issue. 5 If we're going to have a real 6 conversation about what -- about these 7 buildings, about these casinos, the 8 public should be able to have quality 9 information about what's being built as 10 it's being built. 11 So we asked for updated traffic 12 plans, updated site plans, architectural 13 renderings,environmental-impact studies, and all of those updates we weren't able to receive until right until the decision was reached on December 20th. So we were involved in attempting to retrieve those from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board offices. So the process itself has been one which has locked out the public in number of areas: One, in terms of giving meaningful public input; two, in terms of having access to quality information so that we can make a good 204 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 decision about this. 3 And what we're finding is as 4 we're learning more information, the 5 tide of discontent with these particular 6 plans is rising, not going down, and we 7 see it continuing to grow. We see it in 8 terms of support among union folks who 9 are seeing the impact it will have on 10 jobs, small businesses that are worried 11 about their -- about their security, and 12 you'll hear a bunch of testimony 13 following me about that. I just wanted to raise to you that we're looking for support on our referendum, and the reason for that is, our referendum would give the voters the first chance that they've had in Philadelphia to have a meaningful say on whether or not casinos should be built within residential neighborhoods. Our bill puts forward essentially a requirement that no casino would be zoned within 1500 feet of a residential neighborhood, a school, a 205 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 church, a mosque, and various other 3 residential facilities. 4 Because you heard from both 5 SugarHouse and Foxwoods -- and neither 6 of them would defend the location in the 7 form of saying it's a good idea to put 8 it right next to where people live. 9 And SugarHouse, in their 10 proposal, referred to people who live on 11 Allen Street as a buffer, referred to as 12 the I-05 buffer, rather than 13 acknowledging the fact that there are people who live right across from the SugarHouse site. Foxwoods -- again, the same thing. There wasn't defense of the site location, as you were asking.
And that's what we've seen over and over again, which is, there isn't a good argument to put casinos right next to residential neighborhoods, and that's why we're asking for voters to have a chance to say whether or not they believe, as we do, that casinos should 206 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through not be placed right next to, right nearby two residential-use facilities. And I'm also happy to announce here that as of this morning, the City Clerk and the City Solicitor's Office both approved those to go through, so the petitions have been accepted and the City Solicitor also accepted them. )
So there's a lot 13 of passion behind me, and I appreciate all of your patience on listening to all of the hearing and testimony about this.
Hi. I'm Caryn Hunt. I'm a member of Casino-Free Philadelphia. It is the City's prerogative to plan for usage. That means the City must assess land-use issues and zone accordingly, usually in accordance with a plan, even if a particular use is 207 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through mandated by the state. The people of Philadelphia demand that the City face its responsibilities in the matter of casinos and assert its zoning authority, without -- withhold any zoning from these sites that would enable them to in any way begin the permitting process. These casinos were foisted on us as a result of a corrupt process that denied citizens the right to participation in a full and open debate, a process that handed all sorts of power to an unelected, and therefore unaccountable, board in Harrisburg. They have tried to take away our zoning authority. They have failed. Both Representatives O'Brien and Keller have publicly stated that it is their opinion that the City of Philadelphia not only has this authority, but that if asserted, it will not be opposed at the state level. It was a long journey to 208 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 maintain our zoning authority, but we 3 have it and we must use it. 4 That being said, zoning is no 5 way to plan a city's development, and 6 it's been used to do just that for way 7 too long. 8 The proper way to grow the city 9 is through a comprehensive development 10 plan created through a process of 11 dialogue a process of dialogue with the 12 community, a long process, a process 13 that starts, as the Penn Praxis process did start, with an assessment of the values most cherished by residents. Any decision about the future of this city has to be made in conjunction with the people. "No way without our say" is not an empty phrase. But you can neither zone nor design away the disastrous impacts of these casinos. It is a lie to believe that the waterfront will be a family-friendly amenity for the benefit of residents once the casinos are there. Considering 209 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 Casino-Free Philadelphia just handed in 3 27,254 petition signature demanding that 4 this issue be put on the May ballot -- 5 that number gathered in just 20 days, by 6 the way -- it's plain that the 7 opposition to the casinos is growing, 8 not receding, and no Neighborhood 9 Investment District or Special Services 10 District scheme will suffice to buy us 11 off. 12 We have repeatedly been told to 13 negotiate with these casino operates for so-called benefits. Well, there are no 15 benefits. The loss to quality of life for those who actually live here and love Philadelphia and see its greater potential is too high. Our quality of life here is not negotiable. We don't want casinos. Though the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board lists impacts considered, the unconsidered impacts are staggering. If you think these are not your problem, think again, because, I assure you, you 210 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 will be paying for them one way or 3 another, just like we'll be paying for 4 the privilege of traffic-mitigation 5 plans that disrupt neighborhoods. 6 If you think the paralysis that 7 will accompany the plans put forth by 8 the these two casinos to get people to 9 and from the riverfront is not our 10 problem, think again. The people who 11 work in the port industries know it's a 12 problem. 13 In addition to these and other impacts that I'm sure you're going to hear about, there are also health and environmental impacts. The Delaware River is our river. The riverfront should reflect our values and desires. We need to take a good look at the needs of the river and determine the best way to protect this resource for the community. We need to protect our river banks and riparian lands.
These two casinos sites require 211 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through riparian lands, lands below the water's surface, lands held in trust by the State for the people for their original designs. These are ecologically- sensitive lands. If Philly is our heart, the Schuylkill and the Delaware are the lungs. We have an obligation, as a city built on a watershed whose development directly impacts river water that we and people in other cities drink, to proceed cautiously. South Philadelphians have experienced a number of incidences of severe flooding in recent years. The Water Department has few answers; mostly they blame the weather. And certainly, it's fair to say the problem has not been resolved. Thus, further connections to our sewer system should be postponed until this issue is fully addressed. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of American, 212 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 Philadelphia moved from the third-worst 3 city for asthma sufferers to the 4 second-worst city. We have a 5 higher-than-average rate of death from 6 asthma because we have worse-than- 7 average air. We're getting worse for 8 air quality. 9 A study in California recently 10 found that children living close to 11 congested highways risk significant lung 12 damage, which contributes later in life 13 to respiratory and cardiovascular ailments. So why would we want to bring an industry to our city that plans to attract 9 million new cars every year to a three-mile area. The City is commissioning a traffic study. That's good. As long as the City is asking for an independent traffic study, we should also ask for the what impact this industry, which is a car-based industry, will have on our air quality. 213 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 Open spaces, especially along 3 waterways, in addition to providing an 4 anchor for long-term economic 5 prosperity, are necessary to the health 6 of our citizenry. Casinos are not 7 family-friendly uses. Open spaces and 8 recreational activities that truly 9 enhance neighborhoods and our children's 10 characters, that create community, not 11 destroy it, is what we want. 12 This doesn't mean stopping 13 development, but it does mean fostering smart development. Casinos are not smart development. Casinos and the State are targeting Philadelphia for one reason only: To extract wealth from our region, wealth that would otherwise circulate in and strengthen our local economy. Though some would have us look at casino operators as just another private developer, the truth is that gambling brings with it a bevy of vices 214 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 and undesirable fallout that other types 3 of developments don't bring. The 4 casinos and the State rake off the 5 profits and leave the surrounding 6 communities to deal with the baggage. 7 There are any number of better 8 ideas for growing our riverfront wisely 9 and well, ideas that will strengthen our 10 local economy for the long term, not 11 suck it dry, and bring good jobs. 12 I commend our Councilmembers 13 who, at this late hour, are finally responding to the will of their constituency and doing what they can to thwart the licensed casinos. But I believe the true heroes in this story are the citizens of this city who have relentlessly denied the mantra we've been told, that this is all a done deal. That we are where we are today with opposition to the casinos growing with demonstrable unity across the neighborhoods of this city is a 215 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 testament to the power of the people who 3 live here and their earnestness in this 4 issue. 5 The casinos that were licensed 6 are sparing no expense to prepare 7 themselves for legal challenge and to 8 protect their interests. The residents 9 are banding together also -- to protect 10 their investment in Philadelphia, their 11 children, their communities, their 12 quality of life.
13 There is only one acceptable outcome right now: That neither casino currently licensed for the riverfront be built. And, therefore, I urge Council not to zone the parcels of land involved in the riverfront in any way that could begin the permitting process, and to use the City's zoning authority as it is meant to be used -- in service of a land-use plan that makes sense and serves residents. I urge City Council to place the referendum, signed by over 27,000 216 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through voters in Philadelphia, that says "no 3 casinos within 1500 feet of neighborhoods" on the May ballot, and let us make it clear to those who would foist casinos on our city that Philadelphia is a hostile environment for casinos. We don't want them. )
Thank you. 11 One -- a couple of quick 12 questions. You referenced in your 13 testimony that Representative Keller and O'Brien indicated to you that City Council had the ability --
Did they give any supporting documents that show in writing that we had the ability to regulate this?
It was a public 217 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through meeting where they stated that.
I think 4 it's interesting that the people who say 5 that -- and Representative O'Brien 6 aside, 'cause he wasn't there then, 7 where the actual people -- 8
-- are the 13 actual people who gave us gaming in the first place. So, I mean, I don't mind -- I think it's our responsibility to be here and to be dealing with this problem, but I'm going to say it for the record again: I did not vote for Act 71, I would not have voted for Act 71, and I don't think it's fair to characterize -- (Applause.)
I don't think it's fair to character his -- not late efforts. He's been at this for 218 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through months, dealing with people, find. And the other issue on riparian rights? I don't vote on them, either. And I don't introduce the bills to vote on them. And while we may make mistakes, do things you don't like or people don't like, when we're trying to do the right thing, we did not bring this problem to this doorstep. It was left here by the legislature. And I just want to make sure that the 27,200 signatures that you have now be delivered to every single legislator in the City of Philadelphia and every senator in the City of Philadelphia so that they can go back to Harrisburg and help fix this problem that they created, okay? (Applause.)
Thank you. 219 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through Any other questions? Councilman DiCicco?
Thank you, 5 Mr. Chairman. 6 Good afternoon, everyone. 7 Thank you for your testimony, all of 8 you, and thank you for the 9 (indiscernible) effort in getting those 10 signatures. I mentioned that to you in 11 the hallway last week, to Anne and 12 David -- Daniel, excuse me, Daniel. 13 Mr. Benedict, you spoke about a lot of issues and the ills, if you will, of gaming. Philadelphia, for years, for decades, had been experiencing a huge loss in its population. In recent years, I'm happy to report, we've turned the corner in that regard, and we are seeing a lot of more of it -- a greater interest in people living in the city and people wanting to move to the city, in particular in the central Delaware waterfront area. 220 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through Do you have any information that you can speak to about what gaming has done to property values in neighborhoods that are adjacent to these casinos?
I have 10 your book, but I didn't get to read it 11 yet. I apologize. 12
Well, this isn't 13 in there, but -- and I think I want to preface what I say by admitting that the comparison I'm going to give you isn't a hundred percent on point because I'm going to give you a comparison in Connecticut. And, again, our casinos are not in the heart of an urban center where there's a huge amount of residential property right next door. We don't have that, we also don't have a port and a lot of other businesses nearby. But what I can tell you, in 221 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through Connecticut, and then I'll try to generalize this a little bit, is that what we've seen in terms of the housing market is that it has -- it has hurt the housing market tremendously. For one -- there's a couple simple reasons for that. When you sit there and think about, you know, where do I want to buy my next house? one of the things at the top of the list isn't next door to a casino. I mean, people -- that's a deterrent to buy a house. People buy houses based on the quality of the school system and, you know, the good neighborhood. They don't want to be near a traffic generator, they don't want to be near a problem generator. And so, it has had a softening effect on the property values in the towns that are closest to where those facilities are. I think, along those lines, it's fair to look at some other places 222 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 where it's more closer to your model. 3 And if you look in some of the urban 4 centers in other parts of the U.S. where 5 they have built casinos in the last ten 6 years, I think you're going to find a 7 similar thing. 8 This isn't a place where 9 residents or businesses are rushing to 10 acquire property. It is a move-away- 11 from type of object. There are very few 12 reasons that you would want to buy 13 property next door or in the neighborhood of one of these buildings because they offer so many of the things that people don't want when they're looking for residential. And, you know, one of your colleagues -- and forgive me for not having all of the names straight on the Council here, I apologize for that. But one of your colleagues sitting up front here earlier talked about your port and the number of jobs and the containers and the shipping 223 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 here. You know, I have to tell you, 3 sitting in the audience, I thought that 4 if there was -- if I were listing three 5 things that I would have at the top of 6 my list for concerns, that would be in 7 the top three. 8 I would see this as -- I'm not 9 here to advocate for casinos going 10 somewhere else in Pennsylvania; I'm just 11 saying I couldn't think of a worse place 12 to put them than where they're talking 13 about putting them. (Applause.)
Thank you. Thank you for testimony. No further questions, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you so much. Mr. McPherson? MR. McPHERSON: The next panel 224 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through consists of: Joe Mahoney, Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce; Delilah Winder, African-American Chamber of Commerce; Pat Coulter, Urban League of Philadelphia. (Witnesses come forward.)
Thank you. Good afternoon, members of Council. I'm Joe Mahoney, Executive Vice President of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, and I'm here today to offer prepared testimony on the subject bills. The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce has long been a proponent for economic development in the City and has supported the concept of gaming since the 1990s, when 225 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through then-Mayor Ed Rendell proposed riverboat gambling as a vehicle to reduce the wage tax for Philadelphians and commuters alike. In May 1995, the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce participated in the Business Community's Perspective on Gaming at the Ernst & Young CEO Forum on the positive impact of gaming in Philadelphia. In July 1995, the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Charlie Pizzi testified before a House State government committee in support of a referendum authorizing riverboat gambling in Pennsylvania. In May 2003, the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Board sent a letter to Governor Edward G. Rendell supporting gaming in Pennsylvania. In March 2004, the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce 226 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 President and CEO Mark Schweiker sent a 3 letter to the Southeastern Pennsylvania 4 Delegation urging the General Assembly 5 to legalize gaming in Pennsylvania. 6 This represents just a sampling 7 of the historic support the Chamber has 8 publicly stated for gaming in this 9 region. Again, economic development 10 remains the cornerstone of our mission. 11 As such, the Chamber was not 12 unhappy when the two casinos were 13 announced by the Gaming Commission to be located on the Delaware River waterfront. These locations could be economic drivers, which can spur development of Penn's Landing and other sites along the waterfront. After taking a look at the thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in new revenue the City stands to gain from these two casinos, as reported by the Philadelphia Gaming Advisory Task Force, we believe it is a win/win situation. 227 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 In addition, millions of 3 dollars will be earmarked for schools, 4 for Convention Center expansion, and for 5 a 1 percent reduction in the City wage 6 tax. 2 billion in gaming taxes in its 10 first five years of operation. 11 Philadelphia's portion of funds will be 12 used for wage-tax reductions. Between 13 75 and 90 million will go towards host fees to be deposited in the General Fund. SugarHouse is projected to generate 85 to 100 million to the Gaming Economic Development and Tourism Fund. During the interim phase, SugarHouse will directly employ approximately 600 people. Once Phase is completed, SugarHouse will directly employ approximately 1100 people. In addition, thousands more spin-off jobs will be created in the hotel, 228 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 hospitality vendor industry to support 3 and supply the casino. 4 SugarHouse is committed to 5 diversity in all training and hiring 6 programs. 7 Foxwoods, located on the 8 southern site, envisions developing the 9 project in three significant phases, 10 totaling $825 million of aggregate 11 investment. Phase 1 of the project will 12 generate 950 new permanent jobs. 13 Foxwoods Casino of Philadelphia would employ hundreds of people from neighborhoods throughout the City at wage and salary levels higher than those currently paid in the local hospitality industry. In addition, hundreds to thousands of indirect jobs can be created by the economic activity that's generated by Foxwoods Casino, Philadelphia's operations. Foxwoods will also act as a significant catalyst for the economic 229 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 development of the central Delaware 3 River waterfront.
A major advantage of 4 this site is that the plan development 5 is consistent with the City's long-term 6 goal of economically reinvigorating 7 activity along the southern portion of 8 the riverfront. 9 According to Gaming Task Force, 10 the majority of Philadelphians do not 11 believe gaming will be a detriment to 12 overall quality of life. 13 SugarHouse is committed to being a good neighbor and will address critical needs in the areas of economic development, community enrichment, and health and human service improvement in Greater Philadelphia. In addition, SugarHouse will contribute to a separate Community Development Fund managed independently. Likewise, Foxwoods Casino Philadelphia will contribute financially to a Special Services District that will support traffic mitigation, education, 230 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through safety and security, supplemental city services, and senior citizen programs. Foxwoods Casino Philadelphia has also established a unique mechanism which will irrevocably distribute more than 40 percent of the project's total profits back into charitable causes in the community. This commitment will eventually generate hundreds of millions of dollars for local charitable purposes. The Chamber recognizes the concerns the neighbors have expressed, particularly with increased vehicular traffic along Delaware Avenue. We believe that all options should be considered to address traffic remediation in the area. The Chamber will reach out to the gaming operators to inform them of these concerns, of our concerns, and encourage their active participation in remediation efforts. Given the statistics on new 231 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 jobs and increased revenues for the 3 City, the Chamber cannot support the 4 subject bills or any other bills that 5 would hinder development of these two 6 gaming venues along the Delaware 7 waterfront. 8 The Chamber stands ready to 9 assist in any way appropriate to help 10 garner support for these gaming venues 11 and looks forward to working with 12 Council, this administration, and the 13 incoming administration in bringing this development to fruition. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
Yeah. Just one quick question, if I could, on something that was brought up before. Did the Chamber look into the existing businesses particularly around Foxwoods and what impact this would have -- I stole it, Councilman, sorry. 232 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through (Laughter.)
We looked, 4 Councilman, at the totality of the 5 development possibilities along the 6 waterfront. We know that there have, 7 over the years, been many efforts 8 unsuccessfully attempted to develop 9 Penn's Landing and other sites along the 10 waterfront. 11 You know, we just viewed, you 12 know, economic development opportunities 13 coming in both directions with bookends as being something that -- that might encourage that development and help in that development.
You didn't exactly answer my question. I -- I -- did you look into any, you know, the Ikeas, the smaller businesses just off Columbus Boulevard? I mean, was any conversation given that? And do you have an opinion on what it would do to those businesses?
We recognize the 233 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through traffic, you know, is a concern. And as I said, you know, we recognize that this is a concern on the -- on the community, and we've -- I've listened to the other testimony today. We've put out to our membership, you know, our interest in these projects, and we've not had negative feedback from our members. Have we reached out to specific companies like Ikea? No, Councilman, we haven't, so --
Anybody else down there that's members that you know of?
To my knowledge, 234 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through we have not gotten -- we have gotten -- we have not gotten negative comments back from any of our members in the affected areas.
Thank you, 13 Mr. Chairman. I have a follow-up to that question, in relationship to the impact that it may have on local businesses, notwithstanding the big-box stores. The walkability, and I think Mr. Benedict raised this, the walkability of these two sites to adjacent neighborhoods. There are a lot of small businesses there, and I think Councilman Kenney spoke to this as well. Did you take in the southern end down at Second Street, where the 235 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through Mummers clubs are, where the small mom-and-pop neighborhood shot-and-beer joints are, as they refer to them, all up and down that corridor from -- from Whitman all the way up through the lower end of Port Richmond and Old City and Northern Liberties? These are businesses -- some of them have been long-established business and there's some that have just begun because the neighborhoods are now repopulating.
People are moving into what were very depressed, blighted communities. If you look at Northern Liberties, I mean, there's a renaissance going on up there.
What will happen to those small businesses when people are able literally to walk within two blocks of where they live or now 236 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through walk within two blocks of an establishment that they're accustomed to frequenting being able to walk to SugarHouse, or in the southern end, being able to walk to Foxwoods. Was any of that taken into consideration? And was any other consideration given to the fact about what will it do to -- and I asked this of Mr. Benedict -- to resale of residential properties, the sale of new residential properties? And to suggest -- and you and I have worked together. I mean --
-- we had the Briefcase Brigade when we fought the Administration on the wage-tax reduction stuff. We did a lot of things together. But to suggest that this may be the stimulus to develop our waterfront, I think maybe ten years ago, that argument would have held water -- no pun intended. 237 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2
But there 4 is considerable amount of development 5 that has you occurred in the last 6 several years, and there are numerous 7 projects that are on the drawing board 8 as we speak. 9 Dockside. Mr. DePaul, who owns 10 Dockside, is considering building 11 another tower directly north of the 12 existing. So -- and Marina View and 13 Riverfront Square and Bridgeman's View, and I can go on and on and on. And I can speak to that with authority, if you will, because it's in my district.
So we don't need this today. Ten years ago -- (Applause.)
And I went from a question into a statement, and I have a tendency sometimes to do that 'cause I get kind of emotional about 238 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through these issues. Ten years ago, you probably -- I think you could have convinced me, and maybe you couldn't have convinced the folks who live there, but you may have convinced me ten years ago that we needed some sort of a shot in the arm to get us moving. Yeah, it's true we haven't developed that 14-acre site which we all would think of as Penn's Landing in its entirety, but we've developed other sites that are a part of the Penn's Landing portfolio and along that corridor, and we're continuing to develop. Ten years ago, the argument probably would have been -- would have been justified that we need to figure out a way to create development down there to attract people to this city. But we're bursting at the seams. We're one of the best cities in the country post-9/11. Tourism is up -- 239 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 without casinos. So that argument just 3 doesn't work for me today. 4 And I wonder, again, as I go 5 back to my original question, was any 6 consideration given to the smaller, as 7 Councilman Kenney spoke to and I just 8 mentioned, the smaller businesses that 9 are, you know, within a block or two 10 walking distance, three blocks, four 11 blocks of where these -- the sites where 12 these two casinos are being proposed? 13
I can't answer for the specific -- to the, you know, the couple of blocks, Councilman. But, you know, most of our members are smaller businesses. And, you know, we've discussed these issues with them. And, you know, as I mentioned to Councilman Greenlee, you know, we have not received, you know, negative comments back from our small businesses. I wish I could give you a, you know, a finer answer than that, but it's -- you know, but that's you know, 240 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through as honest an answer as I can give you.
And I 4 appreciate your honesty. 5 And, Joe, just to go back, and 6 this is not being critical of you. You 7 know, you mentioned the Chamber, you 8 mentioned Charlie Pizzi when he was the 9 former head of the Chamber. 10
You 12 mentioned the governor, you mentioned a 13 whole lot of people who supported, wrote letters of recommendation, supported the notion of gaming.
And if you add up all of those folks and all the state lawmakers in the City of Philadelphia, both legislators and senators, you would probably come up with maybe 150 at max. Not one person in this room, nor any person in this City Council, had the opportunity to make their position 241 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through known to the State lawmakers. They gave us this stuff; we didn't ask for it, and we never voted on it, as Jim Kenney said earlier. So, you know, it's okay to say all these guys support it because it's good for economic development, but the voices of the people were never even given that consideration, and that's what is at the heart of this debate, this issue. We were silenced. Jimmy's right. And we've talked about this, and I got to be careful I don't go over, you know, the edge politically, because it is a political election year. But, you know, the spin is that it's everybody in the City. The ball was dropped in our lap. We were dealt the same hand that everybody else was dealt. And all we keep hearing is, well, it's going to create jobs and it's going to create revenue. That may be -- 242 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 that may be the case; we don't know 3 that. But we'd like to have some 4 responsibility for our own destiny, and 5 we haven't had that. 6 And we're going to do our best 7 in this council to try to figure out a 8 way to slow this process down. 9 (Applause.) 10
And to let 11 us have a say in this process because we 12 deserve it, and that's what we're here 13 to do. But thank you, Mr. Chairman, again.
Thank you. Mr. Mahoney, we have a lot of different industries in Philadelphia -- the hospitality industry, financial services, law; big, important industries in Philadelphia.
Where would 243 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through you rank the commercial port?
Oh, I think the 4 commercial port is a very key industry, 5 Councilman. We've seen it grow with the 6 strategic port designation, you know, 7 and I think that it's a key industry, 8 you know, for this community. 9
Wouldn't 10 the Chamber and/or the Mayor's 11 Commission or anybody else or the Gaming 12 Commission want to do an analysis of 13 what effect gaming on Delaware Avenue would have to our commercial port before we talked about the economic benefits of it? I mean, wouldn't that be -- wouldn't we want an assessment of that to see what -- if we're stuck in traffic for five years before the mitigation stuff happens at Foxwoods, what effect does that idling truck have at Delaware and Washington Avenue when it can't get to where it's supposed to be on time, and that time costs money, and that time 244 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through costs the shipping costs to go up, and that time causes all kinds of problems that somebody may say, You know what? Getting in and out of Philadelphia is terrible. They're going to fix it, but I can't have my business be responsible -- or be responsible towards my business. I'm going to -- maybe I'll go to Baltimore, maybe I'll go to Chester, maybe I'll go -- maybe I'll just -- I'll go somewhere closer, but I'll stop coming here. Wouldn't that have a devastating on both our economy and a lot of people's jobs?
Well, it could, Councilman, and I heard the response, you know, in talking to -- to the -- in particular to Foxwoods, you know, who have told us about the traffic study that they've done, and that the remediations that they've plan, not with new ramps, but with existing streets, would cut the problem, you know, 245 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through significantly. Our opinion was that, you know, that that might be a helpful situation for the port, not a detriment to the port.
Even in the 8 interim, while they're -- before they 9 actually fix it? 10
We understand 11 that -- that -- that the problem is -- 12 is tough now, and that in their 13 construction phase, they plan to fix it.
So our opinion was that, you know, that those issues will be --
But in fairness, and I know you're here to put out the Chamber's position, and I respect you, and we've, again, worked together on other things.
You took Foxwoods' view that this will be fixed? 246 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2
And then 4 said, Well, that seems reasonable, so 5 let's just say Fox is right? I mean, to 6 me, that's a big chance to take on 7 thousands of jobs. 8
As I said, 9 Councilman, we respect the port, we know 10 how important it is, you know. But, you 11 know, the information that we saw and 12 traffic studies, you know, led us to 13 believe, you know, that this was something that was taken into consideration and being addressed.
Okay. I just wanted to raise it 'cause I know it's an important part of our economy here in Philadelphia. I know that the people who run the operations down there are members of your organization.
And I hate to see them -- I'd hate to see you lose them. 247 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2
And I -- you know, I should probably comment because you -- you made the membership comment. Neither SugarHouse nor Foxwoods, at least at this time, is a member of this --
No, no. 16 I'm talking about your (indiscernible) and DRS --
And Brown and Penn Warehousing, those members of your chamber.
I wanted to 248 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through make sure we don't lose them from your membership rolls.
No, but I also -- 5 but I also wanted to just state, you 6 know, for the record that at this time, 7 neither Foxwoods nor SugarHouse are 8 members of the Chamber. 9
Good afternoon. For my own clarity, what is the total membership of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber?
And you indicated in your testimony that most, and I quote, are small businesses. What percentage of that is small --
249 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through About 85 percent? At any juncture during this process, to use Councilman DiCicco's words, was the Greater Philadelphia Chamber consulted? Were there any meetings with the initial four and now two prospective casino operators?
During the 10 process, we -- we met with, I believe, 11 all of the -- all of the proposed 12 operators, you know, to look at their 13 plans.
And those meetings yield what? Did you offer advice? I mean, you're in the business of business, but no one operates or lives in a vacuum. So was there any opportunity to enlighten the casino operators on the 250 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through value of community input?
Absolutely. We 4 -- you know, we talked to them about the 5 importance of, you know, working with 6 communities. We talked to them about, 7 you know, our interest in traffic 8 remediation, you know, as a part of the 9 ultimate solution. 10
Because we recognize that, you know, the traffic along Delaware Avenue would be of a concern, no matter which of the sites were chosen.
So we -- you know, we talked to all of them about an interest in, you know, however their 251 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through plans move forward, that, you know, community input was important and that traffic remediation was important. We made no decisions on, you know, which of the sites, you know, were to be chosen. We made no 8 recommendations. It was not within our realm.
But we did raise 13 those issues with each of the -- with each of the operators.
Councilman Clarke and members of the committee, my name is Delilah Winder, and I'm here on behalf of the African-American Chamber of 252 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through Commerce of which I am the chair. I am also here to testify as a small-business owner and as an African-American business owner. The African-American Chamber of Commerce is the leading sector advocate for black-owned businesses in Delaware Valley. And as such, we have taken a very active interest in the introduction of gaming in our city. We cosponsored a gaming seminar with Wachovia Bank, the Philadelphia Tribune, and Kleinberg, Bell & Becker on September 8, 2005, and we attended the Gaming Control Board seminar titled "The Gaming Enterprise Diversity Forum Program" on September 29, 2005. Perhaps most importantly, we surveyed our members and found that a significant number were interested in doing business with casino owners. I believe that the introduction of gaming into our city represents not only an opportunity for business and 253 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 individuals across the city, it 3 specifically represents an opportunity 4 for minority-owned businesses. 5 When I assumed the role as 6 chair of the African-American Chamber, I 7 said that to thrive, African-American 8 businesses need to be recognized as a 9 prime and subcontractors. We didn't 10 need a piece of the pie; they needed one 11 hundred percent of the pie. I also want 12 to see more. 13 The Gaming Act requires casinos to strive for diversity at every level -- hiring, contracting, and procurement. Both of these casinos have submitted plans detailing how they will do so. I can think of no other industry that has done something similar in Philadelphia. In closing, please let me say that I know firsthand from my experience in running multiple food-service establishments for 22 years how hard it is to run and grow a business. These 254 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 13 new casinos, with their commitment to diverse contracting and procurement, represent an opportunity for African-American businesses, an opportunity that I believe will make us a stronger city, a city proud of business that represents a multicultural picture. We should not allow anything to delay this process. Please oppose these bills. Are there any questions?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My question is the same as it was for Mr. Mahoney. Did at any juncture in the process the casino operators seize the moment to sit down with the African-American Chamber of Commerce and discuss all of those relevant issues that have even come before us today? 255 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2
Yes. We've sat down with both entities, and we've expressed to them our concern of having involvement at all levels of business. And they've expressed to us percentages greater and above than what we've gotten from any other project in the city since far. So the -- all the -- both casinos have committed to doing business with our businesses, in helping to grow and develop our businesses.
Is that to suggest then that they are willing to put in writing, for lack of a better word, a contract that clearly stipulates the extent to which they will honor whatever their promises are?
I feel comfortable that they would be willing to do that, yes.
Thank you, 256 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through Councilwoman.
Good afternoon, 4 Councilman Clarke and other members of 5 the Rules Committee. My name is 6 Patricia A. Coulter, and I am President 7 and CEO of the Urban League here in 8 Philadelphia. 9 The National Urban League, of 10 which we are a local affiliate, is the 11 nation's older and largest community- 12 based movement devoted to empowering 13 African-Americans to enter the economic and social mainstream by helping them secure economic self-reliance, parity, power, and civil rights. We understand that the two casinos would create jobs for workers that come with benefits, and that they are committed to hiring Philadelphians. Critically as important to jobs, we support the development of the casinos to provide local companies and companies owned by women and minorities more procurement and contracting 257 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through opportunities. Both of these casinos have committed detailed plans to the State Gaming Control Board, plans that we intend to hold them to ensure not just diversity in hiring but diversity in procurement and contracting. That's something that not enough companies in this region do. I believe as a city and as individuals, we need to do more to help create, support, and develop local companies and minority-owned businesses and recognize and support entities that commit to doing so. In addition to the jobs they will create directly and indirectly, the casinos would generate tens of millions of dollars for local government annually, including $5 million for schools. At a time when our schools continue to face a constant money crunch, additional revenue should not be dismissed. As we all know, education is 258 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 the key to a better future. In the 3 Urban League movement, we have a saying: 4 Our children equal our destiny. 5 The additional tax revenues can 6 also be used to revitalize 7 neighborhoods, improve job-training 8 programs, and to make our city safer. 9 It is not every day that an 10 opportunity like this comes along. We 11 should not delay in making it an 12 opportunity of a lifetime for all 13 Philadelphia citizens. Thank you very much.
Thank you for your testimony. Councilwoman Reynolds-Brown?
Good afternoon. Does the Urban League, the National Urban League, have any historical experience wherein the league was intimately involved with the startup of casinos in other municipalities in the country?
The Urban League 259 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through per se does not have that experience, but if you know that our national CEO is Marc H. Morial, who is the former two-term mayor of New Orleans, and it was under his tenure in New Orleans that casinos did come to the City of New Orleans.
10 And so can one assume, then, that the 11 Urban League would be able to bring that 12 experience to bear should this become a 13 reality in Philadelphia?
Yes. In fact, I have talked to Mr. Morial about that, and we've talked specifically about contracting and procurement opportunities for people of color.
Have any of the casino operators approached the Urban League to discuss the need for community input, procurement opportunities, et cetera?
Yes. We have been approached by them, SugarHouse in 260 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through particular. And we have also had a discussion about the procurement and contracting models that they might use.
6 Okay. Thank you again for -- thank you 7 all for your testimony. 8
Thank you 10 so much. Thank you. 11 Mr. McPherson? 12 MR. McPHERSON: Okay. The next 13 panel is Jim Paylor, International Longshoremen's Association; Renee Goodwin, Pennsport Civic Association; and Mary Reinhart. (Witnesses come forward.)
Councilman, I want to thank you for the opportunity. I feel honored to sit in front of you today and -- but I would like to start out with some humor, if I may, just so -- 261 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2
Because people 6 will possibly be crying at the end of my 7 presentation. 8
If I may. 10 Following Jeff Benedict, okay, with his 11 knowledge about the social ills of 12 casinos is a tough act to follow, but I 13 have recently -- or not recently, but a few years ago, the opportunity to follow Congressman Abercrombie from Hawaii. I don't know if any of you ever heard him speak, but he's fascinating and amazing, and I got a tug on my jacket and was told I was next to follow him, and it was really a tough act to follow. What I intend to do today and, I will first plead your indulgence to give me the opportunity to tell you what our serious concerns are, number one, and fill you in with as much information 262 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through as you feel is necessary. Some of the questions that have been asked by Councilman Kenney and others, okay, probably will be answered by some of the things that I have to offer. To try to start off on what's important and why I am here is, I represent the International Longshoremen's Association, of course, and those people are my constituents just as they are your constituents. I grew up in South Philadelphia, was born and raised there, and I attended a meeting last night at the Furness High School, which was my junior high school, okay, where 600 people attended a meeting, and they voiced very passionately their displeasure to what was happening in the city in regards to casino and other waterfront development, which I'll get into. And basically, they feel like 263 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 they've been part of a process that is 3 treating them with irresponsibility and 4 ignorance. It was quite clear at our 5 meeting. 6 What is a longshoreman? It's 7 someone who loads and unloads vessels, 8 for those who don't know, okay? And we 9 move cargo across the terminals. We're 10 in an industry that was being reduced 11 basically through automation over a 12 number of years. 13 The good news is that -- and I'm going to touch on this at the very end -- is that it's an industry right now that is thriving, and millions and millions of dollars are being spent in other maritime cities to accommodate the growth in cargo which creates job generation and tax generation, something that I'm sure you're very interested in. But who are the longshoremen? The longshoremen are a guy who shows up every morning not know whether he's going to go to work, and he's on call to 264 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 work 20 different starting times because 3 our jobs are based around ship arrivals. 4 And ship arrivals, they come, 5 and they make their money based on 6 filling or unloading our going and going 7 and getting new cargo and going through 8 their next destination. If we delay 9 that operation, then we -- we probably 10 will lose that cargo to other competing 11 ports. 12 We have a history of being the 13 most productive port on the East Coast. The result of that is we still have, even though people don't understand it or know it, we still have the highest market share of (indiscernible) cargos in the North Atlantic ports. We have approximately 300,000 containers that come from Packer Avenue alone. What that means is that there's 600,000 truck moves 'cause every one of those containers goes from the facility to a point of destination where they unload the cargo into another warehouse, 265 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 and then it's brought back and then 3 reloaded onto the vessel, okay? So 4 that's 600,000 truck driver moves during 5 the course of the year. 6 All of that is in jeopardy. 7 And why are we afraid of it? Very 8 simply, that our members -- and this is 9 where it gets into the serious part. 10 Our members, over the last few 11 years, have been asked to recognize some 12 of the inefficiencies in our port. 13 We've been asked to subsidize some of the inefficiencies in our facilities.
As a result, the longshoremen in the Port of Philadelphia -- and I included that in the presentation that I sent to Councilman DiCicco's office. I hope you all have it; if not, I could get you a copy. It shows that we have the lowest paid pension on the East Coast. It's something I'm not proud of but it was something that the regional economics dictated. What we did a few years back 266 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through was recognize that we had to offset some of those inefficiencies, and by doing so, we froze our pension plan in 1996. We also asked our people to make major concessions. Some people took concessions of $6 an hour, okay, all done with the intention of bringing back our industry. Here's the good news. 2 million man hours. 9 million man hours and constantly growing. Recently, in the last few years, we've employed 300 new people that all come from the communities which you represent. Our pension fund is healthy at this point, okay, but even though we're not proud of it, it's healthy, but with the new Pension Reform Act, if we lose any one facility, okay, the funding that we require is based on all of the 267 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 facilities that are now working or 3 continue to work. That means the 4 pension that we are receiving right now, 5 even though it's at a low point, would 6 still have to be reduced most likely if 7 we lost any one of those facilities. 8 Now, when I get into what the 9 casinos will do to it, Jimmy -- or 10 Councilman Kenney, I'm sorry -- 11
Is that okay Jim? Okay, he asked a few questions. I asked those same questions, Jim. I've attended numerous meetings, okay, with PennDOT being present, with the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, with the City Planning Commission. And the very questions you asked I asked: Was there any studies that were performed, including the ones that were performed by the casinos and PennDOT, that showed or determined what the 268 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through impact would be on the existing businesses that are in our area, including and specifying, of course, the stevedore industry. And with some delay on answering the question, in all cases, the answer to that was no. 9 I asked them this question: Did any of the analyses that were performed include using the users of the port -- meaning the shipping lines -- or the stevedores themselves or the terminal operators? The answer to that was no. 16 So as a result, I asked for a meeting of the Philadelphia Marine Trade Association who represents the yard operators and the shipping lines. And we analyzed what was going on with the casinos and what would the possible impact be. Well we have Piers 38, 39, and 40, which are about three blocks north of the Foxwoods site. You have Pier 78, 269 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 Pier 80, Pier 82 and Pier 84, which are 3 a few blocks south, okay, of the 4 Foxwoods site. You also have the 5 annexes that store that international 6 cargo along those facilities along the 7 Delaware Avenue or, in this case, 8 Columbus Boulevard. 9 All of that cargo recognized by 10 the terminal operators is at risk 11 because the congestion, number one, that 12 Councilman Kenney has already alluded 13 to, will interfere with the service, of something that we have prided ourselves on. Getting the cargo going in and out of that facility with the congestion that already exists is a problem, but if it's going to be compounded by casino traffic, it's only going to get worse. The bigger problem, okay, is we all know if casinos are successful, once built at that facility, there will be encroachment onto the other industrial sites that will basically eliminate the 270 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 industry that we're working in right 3 now. 4 That being compounded, okay, 5 with this recent issue that has been 6 exposed, that the Governor wants to 7 float a $350 million bond, which you 8 would think we would welcome because 9 it's more capital improvements in our 10 industry, would also move the 11 Philadelphia Food Distribution Center to 12 the east portion of the Navy Yard. 13 If we are bookended by the Food Distribution Center, which is the only place where we have left to grow, and then also squeezed by the casinos, it will be -- and I'm not trying to exaggerate or dramatize. It will be the demise of the 45,000 jobs that are dependent on the waterfront. And people say, well how could it be 45,000 jobs? The International Longshoremen's Association is only 1,000 people, 2,000 pensioners. You have to look at the 100,000 271 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 or 200,000 truck drivers that go in and 3 out of our facility on a yearly basis, 4 you have to look at the warehouse 5 people. 6 And then last night at our 7 meeting, I was hit with something that 8 illustrates everything that people don't 9 recognize. I met a woman named Peg. 10 She introduced herself to me, and she 11 said, Thank you for fighting for my job. ), which is a shipping agent. So it shows the spillover of the industrial jobs into the white-collar jobs, okay, into Bunny's Cleaners at Third and Snyder, into the banks, and into your own barbershops. When 45,000 jobs are at risk because of a ill-fated or uninvestigated or lack of research plan or lack thereof plan and one family-sustaining job is lost, then that's a crime. If 45,000 jobs are lost, it's a holocaust. It can't be afforded.
The City 272 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through can't afford it. Now, I know there's some dilemmas on the Councilpeople's part. They're probably saying, Well, how do I satisfy the transportation industry and how do I satisfy the building trades who are supportive of casinos? The total issue of the casinos should be defined as short-sighted for this reason. There can be a healthy mix. Even though we're longshoremen, we do recognize that the facilities along the middle Delaware River are obsolete for our purposes, but the industry can't be ignored. So we're looking for the opportunity to expand on an industry that, once again, is thriving. So what can we do? You have to find out what the casino said. What is compatible? ) 5
-- that our jobs 6 and the building trades jobs do provide. 7 Now, afterwards, a good 8 comprehensive plan, which the Penn 9 Praxis Group, which you delegated to go 10 out into the communities to design a 11 good, healthy environment for waterfront 12 development is recognized and 13 recommended. Once they get through the obstacles of trying to develop around casinos, and once they get through the obstacles of trying to design around a short-sighted $350 million bond issue for other port development, they then have to come up with their design. If they didn't have those obstacles, they then come up with a design that includes residential and includes commercial and includes recreational and includes the building 274 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through of a much-needed maritime facility. Now, if the Martie facility is being built, it's going to be built by the building trades. If the industrial development is going to be built, it's going to be built by the trades. If the commercial development is going to be built, it's going to be built by the building trades. If the parks and the playgrounds that we want along the waterfront are going to be built, they will be built by the building trades. (Applause.)
What I'm saying to you, Councilman, is that a good, well-designed plan could be healthy, and it doesn't have to inflict pain on anyone, okay? And I think that's where we have to concentrate our energies. I've been sitting in positions where I've had your dilemmas, and the dilemma is very simple. If I have a political issue that creates conflicts with the merits of an issue that creates 275 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through conflict, how do I resolve that and satisfy everybody? My father told me, when I first got elected to this job, "You're going to wind up in that position of conflict, and here's how you determine it." He said, "You ask one key question to yourself: Is it healthy for you?" But, he said, more importantly, "Once you're elected to represent your constituents, you have to ask yourself this question: Is it healthy for my constituents?" And once you resolve that conflict, okay, there is no longer a conflict. And I say to you that when you analyze everything that you have to analyze as far as casinos based on compatibility and social ills, there is no other issue. It's what healthy for the people that I represent, and the casinos don't provide a healthy alternative to anything that we've already talked about. 276 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 (Applause.) 3 (Cheers.) 4
Also, I was told, 5 you have to apply common sense to things 6 that somewhat seem complicated and are 7 not really complicated. And I'm not a 8 urban engineer, but because of my 9 position, I have had the opportunity to 10 travel through many maritime ports in a 11 lot of different cities, including Las 12 Vegas, and here's what I do know: 13 I do know that the casinos that are built around this country, okay, did have some foresight, one by a gentleman called Bugsy Segal. He said there's a controversial issue of gaming -- where do I put it where nobody don't care about it? So I put it in the middle of a desert, and if people want to come to it, they'll come to it. Okay, and that's where Las Vegas was born. The other casinos that are in our country are in the middle of the wilderness. You go out to Lake Tahoe, 277 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through you have to travel great lengths to get to the casinos. The other casinos are in places like New Orleans, okay, and I'm talking pre-Hurricane Katrina, and that casino was in the middle of an area that was run down, buildings were vacant, and there was no other growth, and they needed something to spark rejuvenation. The other one which I think was referred to here is in the city of Detroit, a municipality similar to our own, but it was put in an ares where there was no other progress, no other development, and no vibrancy. Casinos are being put in our area, which you all know -- Jimmy already referred to it -- are in an area that right now are congested. There's commercial development, there's people moving into the industry. And you have the working-class people who have been there for many, many years saying, I want to stay here, 278 2/21/07 RULES - Bills 070006, 08 through 2 okay? Please help me with my social 3 structure. Don't let it erode because a 4 few people will get rich at the expense 5 of working-class people. 6 I hope that you will 7 consideration what I say, and I thank 8 you for the opportunity. 9 (Applause.) 10 (Standing ovation.) 11 (Council President Verna bangs 12 gavel.) 13