Report: Bigger Casino Would Hurt Economy

The proposed expansion for Casino San Pablo, located less than 10 miles from UC Berkeley, would suck almost $200 million from the Bay Area economy annually-including $54 million from Alameda and Contra Costa counties-according to an economic analysis of the project released yesterday.

The report, written by professor William Thompson of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was commissioned by several East Bay card houses to determine the social and economic impact of the proposed casino on neighboring areas.

The casino-located off Interstate 80-would house 2,500 slot machines if the proposal by its owners, the Lytton Band of Pomo Indians, is approved.

The report found that although 90 percent of the casino's income-more than half of which would come directly from Alameda and Contra Costa county residents-would come from the Bay Area, only 62 percent of that money would remain there, Thompson said.

More than $20 million every year would be funneled directly into Nevada's gaming industry, the only source of most gaming supplies like slot machines, Thompson said.

The Lytton tribe said the casino would create 6,600 new jobs and have a positive economic impact on the East Bay.

Thompson disagreed, saying the casino would generate 2,000 new jobs and lead to a loss of 7,219 jobs-resulting in a net loss of 5,219 jobs. His analysis was based on related data from cities facing similar expansions.

A casino would not attract additional patrons to local businesses, said Dean Marshall, a San Pablo resident and marketing consultant for local businesses.

"The present casino has never yielded additional revenue to merchants in this area," Marshall said. "Gambling patrons don't come to the area to have their dog groomed or their eyes examined. They come there for one purpose, and that's to gamble."

Many East Bay communities fear the slot machines will prey on people who can least afford to gamble.

"It's become sort of a cancer," said Oakland City Councilmember Jean Quan. "Slots have the least return of all the kinds of gambling."

The Lytton Indians maintain Thompson's report is nothing more than an attempt by local businesses to elbow competition out of the way, said tribal spokesperson Doug Elmets.

"It's not an independent report," Elmets said. "It's paid for by the card clubs who have been on a mission to strip the Lytton Indian Tribe of any opportunity at economic self sufficiency."

Similar studies have been preformed over and over again across the country, and all of them have proven false, Elmets said.

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