Weekend Poll Shows High Percentage of Residents Oppose Casino

A weekend "flash poll" conducted following that the Graton Rancheria's bid to construct a casino in Rohnert Park would get a quick hearing before the State Legislature showed overwhelming opposition to the project, according to the Stop the Casino 101 Coalition.

The poll, which included parts of Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Southwest Santa Rosa and Penngrove, found 68% of local residents oppose the project. The poll surveyed over 5,400 residents.

AB 517 will be the subject of a Senate Governmental Organizations Hearing on Tuesday, May 1, 2012, at 9:30 am in Room 4203 of the State Capitol building. Only 14 senators are needed to kill the bill. The north bay coalition of state senators is listed here on the STC101 website.

"This poll reflects the calls where human beings answered the phone and answered the poll," said Marilee Montgomery, spokesperson for the coalition.

"It asked very simply, 'If you're opposed to the casino press 1, if you support the casino press 2, if you're undecided press 3, and if you want to hear the selections again press 4.' That's all it asked."

Complete results showed totals of Oppose: 68%; Support: 16%; Undecided: 16%. Total Households Reached: 5425 (does not include non-answers, answering machines, hang-ups, etc.)

The poll, conducted by an automatic dialing firm on contract, called a random assortment of numbers from five zip codes. "It was a very broad range, even in socio-economic terms," said Montgomery. "It seems to be a pretty good cross-section kind of poll. And it confirms what every single poll in this area [shows], … that is in the 65 - 68 percentile are opposed to it."

A call to the Graton Rancheria offices in Rohnert Park was made about the findings, and a response is forthcoming, a spokesperson in Chairman Greg Sarris' office said. The "contact us" page on their website does not appear to be functioning.

The Graton Rancheria gambling compact was signed on March 30, 2012. The ratification bill, AB 517 (Hall-D Compton) has been given an "urgency" status to accommodate Station Casinos' funding efforts. If passed, it would go into effect immediately. If the bill had "non-urgency status, it wouldn't go into effect until January 2013.

Station Casinos is the Las Vegas-based company that entered into the joint development project with the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. Station filed for bankruptcy in June 2011, and the once-public company is now largely controlled by its founders, brothers Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta. They also have controlling interest in the entity that runs Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

"Local opposition is vast," said the founder of the Stop the Casino 101 Coaltion, Pastor Chip Worthington. "Few support this project. We need the Legislature to put the brakes on this."

"We wanted an immediate pulse of the community and that’s what we got," said Montgomery. "We got a real-time reaction and it was great."