Candidates asked for casino pledge

<p>A group working to prevent the construction of a casino in Rohnert Park has sent a message to all remaining candidates in the race for Sonoma County supervisor seats in the Nov. 4 election, asking that they pledge to place a county-wide advisory measure regarding the casino on the ballot in an upcoming election.</p><p>At the urging of Petaluma attorney Mike Healy, the Stop the Casino 101 Coalition asked the candidates to make the following pledge: “If elected, I agree to vote in favor of placing a county-wide advisory measure on the proposed Graton Rancheria casino in Rohnert Park on the ballot in the next regular election, or the next special election that is called for some other purpose, if at the time of the deadline for placing a measure on the ballot, the California legislature has not yet ratified a gaming compact for the proposed Graton Rancheria casino.”</p><p>The remaining six candidates for supervisor seats were asked to make the pledge: incumbent Valerie Brown and Will Pier in the 1st District; Sharon Wright and Shirlee Zane in the 3rd District; and Efren Carrillo and Rue Furch in the 5th District.</p><p>Zane replied that she will agree to the pledge, but the other candidates have not yet responded.</p><p>“I absolutely agree with the pledge and advocated for it when (Supervisor Mike) Kerns tried to put it on the ballot this last year. Local residents need to be heard by both our federal elected officials and also the governor on casino impacts in our communities,” she wrote.</p><p>Kerns proposed putting a measure on the Nov. 4 ballot, but no vote on the matter was taken when it became apparent that the necessary three votes were not available. Some supervisors were concerned about the cost of putting the measure on the ballot and feared that it would divert attention from the proposed Sonoma-Marin Rail Transit measure.</p><p>Also, some supervisors questioned the significance of such a measure, even if an overwhelming majority of residents voted against having the casino. Kerns said that Sonoma County voters al-ready have made it clear that they don’t support constructing any more casinos in the county, and that the vote would not be legally binding, although Gov. Arnold Schwarz-enegger has said that he will take public opinion into acc-ount when deciding whether or not to sign compact agreements regarding casinos.</p><p>Assemblyman Jared Huffman proposed in August state legislation that would require either local voter approval of California casinos or an intergovernmental agreement between the tribe and the immediate area involved, to offset environmental impacts.</p><p>“If his bill goes through and becomes law, maybe we will re-visit creating an advisory measure — perhaps even for a special election — because there would be a strong argument to put it on the ballot,” Kerns said at the time.</p><p>(Contact Dan Johnson at dan.johnson@arguscourier.com)</p>