Anti-Casino Activism Starting to Pay Off
The casino-thwarting loudmouths of Casino-Free Philadelphia scored a minor victory last night in Scranton when Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board chair Mary Colins actually allowed them to speak. She also denied both SugarHouse and Foxwoods an extension on their $50 million casino license fees. Hooray. Perhaps those chaos classes CFP held on Monday actually worked out?
Both Daniel Hunter and partner-in-foe-dom Jethro Heiko got a chance to address the PGCB for 21 minutes, passionately reiterating the awfulness of Foxwoods and SugarHouse and explaining how personally slighted they’ve been during the whole approval process. Thankfully, no one was arrested or escorted out of the meeting — this time.
Hunter tells the Daily Examiner that last night showed legitimate progress in what had appeared to be a futile battle: “I think actually it’s a big victory because the PGCB and Mary Colins are taking a different stance. Most of us had figured that SugarHouse would get they want. I was surprised to watch the board take in what was clearly new information.”
Hunter added that board members seemed quite flustered when Heiko threatened to block the construction roads with 25 people if SugarHouse continued to get built. Should we be expecting our own little Tiananmen Square on Delaware Avenue? “I don’t think they’ll have tanks, ” Hunter says. “I just think it’s going to be a hard journey for SugarHouse from now on. The easiest path for them is to reconsider.”
Public gets say as casino licensees ordered to pay up [Metro]
Casino Foes Have Their Say Before Board [Daily News]
