Lakewood casino battle enters key week

Friday deadline for Lakewood gambling petitions

BRENT CHAMPACO; brent.champaco@thenewstribune.com
Last updated: July 27th, 2008 07:11 AM (PDT)

The hunt for petition signatures picked up intensity last week after the Pierce County Auditor’s Office checked the nearly 5,000 signatures already submitted and determined nearly 40 percent are invalid.

That means members of Save Lakewood have until Friday to collect an additional 760 valid signatures to force the City Council to adopt their proposed anti-gambling ordinance or else put it to a public vote in November.

The City Council is unlikely to adopt the minicasino ban outright, in part because Lakewood would lose some $2.8 million in annual revenue.

David Anderson, a longtime resident who’s spearheading Lakewood’s first-ever petition drive, said his group thought it had turned in more than enough valid signatures July 15. Group members even held a small party to celebrate their efforts.

“We were disappointed, definitely,” he said of last week’s auditor report.

On the other side are cardroom workers such as Melanie Buza, 33; Sheila Clifton, also 33; and Gary Hess, 45.

The three say their livelihoods will be destroyed if the initiative makes it to the ballot and passes.

That’s why they spent much of last week outside the Safeway store at Lakewood Towne Center, handing out flyers to potential voters. The red-lettered headline reads: “Urgent!! Do not sign this petition!”

“We’re just out here trying to keep our jobs,” Hess said Friday while sitting on a bench outside the store.

The three didn’t disclose which of Lakewood’s four casinos they work for. They said only that they are talking to voters on behalf of their families, not their employers.

The Save Lakewood group accuses them and other gambling supporters of being too aggressive on the campaign trail.

Anderson said a group of minicasino workers who wouldn’t identify themselves “borderline harassed” volunteers who were trying to obtain signatures Wednesday and Thursday outside Safeway.

The workers, Anderson said, were trying to prevent customers from signing by bombarding them with fliers and cutting off petition gatherers when they tried to speak.

“Why would they be so concerned now if they didn’t realize they were going to lose once it’s on the ballot?” he said.

Anderson made a complaint to Lakewood police.

Buza, Clifton and Hess told a reporter Friday that they were the casino workers Anderson was talking about.

But there was no harassment, Clifton said. They were just telling supermarket customers their side of the story.

“They just needed to know both sides,” she said. “That’s fair.”

Lakewood police apparently agree. Lt. Heidi Hoffman said the department took the report and interviewed Anderson and the volunteer, but determined there was no harassment.

“That’s the freedom of speech,” Hoffman said.

The Save Lakewood group is also questioning whether the casino workers have violated state public disclosure laws.

Mandy Candler, the group’s treasurer, said the pro-casino flier fails to identify who produced the political material.

State law requires political groups to file with the state Public Disclosure Commission when they raise and spend money on an election issue. They also must identify themselves on any political advertising they produce.

Save Lakewood is registered with the PDC; the state has no record of any opposition groups.

“If it’s truly a group of people who pooled their money, then they should have registered,” said PDC spokeswoman Lori Anderson.

She said an exception would be made if a single individual paid for the campaign and got volunteers to help out.

That’s exactly what the casino workers say is happening in Lakewood.

Frank Miller is a Tacoma attorney who represents Lakewood’s four minicasinos.

He reiterated that the workers outside Safeway do not represent their employers, and that there is no organized campaign against Save Lakewood.

The bigger question, Miller said Friday, is why a group that seemed so sure it had gathered enough signatures in the middle of July is now scrambling.

“The fact that 1,900 or so were invalid raises a lot of questions,” he said.

Brent Champaco: 253-597-8653

PETITIONERS BACK to DRAWING BOARD

The Pierce County Auditor’s Office contacted Lakewood city leaders last week with the news that it had checked all 4,939 signatures turned in by gambling foes. It determined only 2,947 are valid.

A total of 3,707 valid signatures are needed to force the anti-minicasino measure to the ballot.

The city then contacted the Save Lakewood group, giving it the required 10 days to gather more signatures. The deadline is Friday.

Pierce County Auditor Pat McCarthy said the main reasons for declaring the signatures invalid were that the signers don’t live in Lakewood or aren’t registered to vote, or both.

Originally published: July 27th, 2008 01:27 AM (PDT)