As Bay 101 floats plans to build a new casino with adjoining hotels closer to competitor Casino M8trix, our selfless public servants in Sacramento are trying to do the right thing by green-lighting the San Jose card club’s exit to Milpitas. Amazingly, State Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, even though he’s from Culver City, cares enough about this border dispute that he introduced a bill custom designed for Bay 101. His law would allow Milpitas voters to approve the card club’s relocation. Why does Ridley-Thomas care about a card club 340 miles away from his district? His press officer says Milpitas officials approached him to be their champion, but that sequence of events couldn’t be immediately confirmed. The bill has the support of Assemblywoman Nora Campos (D-San Jose), who can distance herself from hometown scorn by avoiding authorship. Campos has little choice but to be on board, however, considering her political consigliere, Ed McGovern, also serves as lobbyist to Bay 101. Our spies say McGovern is making Sactown overtures to move the bill and has enlisted former Milpitas mayor Bob Livengood and former state Senator Don “The Don” Perata. Bay 101’s defection would be an economic blow to San Jose, as the card club contributes about $8 million in annual tax revenue. City Manager Ed Shikada, whose future could depend on the outcome of the mayor’s race, has apparently geared up for a fight. Lobbyist Roxanne Miller, the city’s “eyes and ears” in Sacramento for roughly 20 years, might need to bend some ears to defeat the bill, which is taking a coffee break in a Senate committee. If it does move forward, though, mayoral candidate Smilin’ Sam Liccardo could opt out of gambling winnings and say good-riddance. Liccardo came out hard against Casino M8trix and casinos in general after Attorney General Kamala Harris accused the former Garden City establishment of playing Three-card Monte with its profits. Liccardo says millions in revenue may be nice, but the money comes with hidden costs to public welfare.
The Fly
More than Meets the Eye in Bay 101’s Potential Milpitas Move
/ 3
Bay 101 could be on its way out the door to Milpitas.
How can Assemblywoman Nora Campos support a bill that will so obviously hurt San Jose? She voted as a Councilwoman to increase benefits for public unions, and now as an Assemblywoman she is helping her lobbyist ally drive out the tax dollars paying for those benefits.
Sam the man and Dave “don’t call me a hypocrite” Cortese both want casinos out of the city. Eddie is in a pickle because if he goes against Sam and try’s to keep the casino he’s fired and if Dave is elected he’s already said he would fire Ed. Start packing now Ed. Sounds like some smart people behind the scenes in Milpitas to take advantage of the situation.
a Huge mistake to let the casinos leave San Jose .It is income that San Jose desperately needs. except of course that, San Jose would be in better shape had Liccardo not voted to “ease up” on the oversight of the casinos. they need to heavily monitored by some one with no affiliation to the Mayor or council