Antioch residents received a flyer in the mail prior to the August 21 Antioch Planning Commission meeting to decide whether Kelly’s Card Room should move forward to the City Council. In a 5-1 vote, the Planning Commission approved moving it forward.
Even with the commission approval, many residents were left wondering who or where did the flyer come from—a four page full color mailer on card stock which is costly. According to a local print shop, if it was mailed to voters in Antioch, it could have come at a cost of $25,000. This seems like rolling the dice to sway public opinion for a planning commission meeting.
According to the postage on the flyer, it states a group called “Protect Antioch” is behind the flyer. The group is traced to a PO Box at Postal Annex where the backs of the group claim to be a growing coalition of Antioch residents dedicated to preventing crime in our community and who oppose the reopening of Kelly’s Card Room in downtown Antioch.
The anonymous flyer and its coinciding anonymous website make the argument that reopening Kelly’s will increase crime and will be bad for Antioch.
Going a step further, their website list no supporters or persons associated with the group while giving no indication this group is actually made up of Antioch residents. In fact, the website www.protectantioch.org was purchased on 8/15/13 and comes out of Culver City, CA—roughly 353 miles away. That doesn’t exactly say this is an Antioch backed group.
So who is behind this plan to sabotage the council vote and reject Kelley’s Card Room?
The fact that the attorney and manager for the California Grand Casino in Pacheco were present at the Planning Commission hearing is no surprise when you look at the establishment’s history for squashing its competition.
This anonymous flyer and the way it’s being sold to Antioch residents resembles the same strategy the California Grand Casino used to defeat a 2010 Richmond ballot measure (Measure U) which would have allowed for a casino at Point Molate.
In the Point Molate debate, the California Grand Casino and a coalition of large Northern California card rooms implemented a smear campaign and misinformation about the project to Richmond voters – utilizing the same strategy: Convincing voters that Measure U would bring more crime into Richmond.
The kicker was that in the Measure U campaign in Richmond, it was outside groups (not Richmond) fighting against the Measure. In fact, a March 1, 2010 article by the Contra Costa Times highlighted the anti-casino ad which hit TV which highlights how the Casino would deteriorate the city’s already troubled neighborhoods.
According to the Richmond Confidential in an October 25 article, three Bay Area card clubs, including the California Grand Casino, which operates 19 card rooms and a Sacramento area casino tribe, spent at least $420,000 to oppose the measure to protect their own special interest in keeping players at their own tables.
I pulled the 460 report from 2010 which shows the individual payments to fight against competition in the card room industry—leading the way was the 19-table California Grand Casino.
California Grand Casino (Owned by Lamar Wilkinson) (2010)
- Lamar V. Wilkinson – $15,000 (Aug 23)
- Lamar V. Wilkinson – $34,000 (Sept. 1)
- Lamar V. Wilkinson – $49,500 (Sept.30)
Oaks Card Club
- Oaks Card Club – $49,000 (Sept. 1)
Buk Gaming, Napa Valley
- Buk Gaming – $7,500 (Sept.7)
- Buk Gaming – $11,000 (Sept. 30)
Via Final 460 – Expenses
Through Sept. 30
- Carlco Smith Design (San Francisco) – Lit – $7,810.00
- Basic & Creative (San Francisco) – Lit – $2,250.00
- Mary Leigh Henneberry (San Francisco) – Lit – $2,530
- Cornerstone Printing (Castro Valley) – POS – $27,670
- Cornerstone Printing (Castro Valley) – Lit – $22,875.27
- Lisa Hanson (Oakland) – Lit – $3,750
- Duncan Carvey – SAL – $3,000
- Lake Research Partners – POL – $6,353.10
- Richmond Blue Print & Litho Co – office – $750
- California Dem Voter Guide $3,108
Total – $80,096.37
Whitehurst Mosher
- Lit – $69,273.87
- CNS – $7,500
- Ofc – $2,804.67
Total – $92,812
By visiting http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/DocumentCenter/Home/View/6494 You may review the report for yourself and see just how much money was spent by the California Grand Casino and other Northern California card rooms to squash potential competition.
Researching further, the opposition to Measure U, the Point Molate Casino, was not the first time the owner of the California Grand Casino was successful in blasting the competition. In fact, it is not the first time Lamar Wilkinson anonymously attempted to rid his California Grand Casino of local competition.
In 2004, the owner of the California Grand Casino attempted to anonymously purchase the failing Outpost Card Room in San Ramon after it went into bankruptcy. The Judge ordered that the true identity of the purchasers be publicly revealed – before he would permit the purchase of the Outpost out of bankruptcy (click here to check out the court documents of the Outpost Bankruptcy 1) After being required to do so by the Judge, Lamar Wilkinson, the owner of the California Grand Casino, divulged his true identity. (Click here to check out the court declaration made by Lamar Wilkinson Outpost Bankruptcy 2.)
What ended up happening to the Outpost in San Ramon after it was purchased by Lamar Wilkinson, the owner of the California Grand Casino? It was closed down and never reopened. The Outpost was no longer a threat to competition.
Fast forward to 2013, to Kelly’s Restaurant and Card Room, longtime Antioch restaurant with a six-table card room. It is no surprise that other larger casinos, like the California Grand Casino, would spend uber-thousands of dollars to ensure that Kelly’s never reopens. Throwing money around to scare voters and their elected leaders is what these big casinos do.
More troubling is why is it okay for the likes of the California Grand Casino and others to talk down about crime, negative impacts, and being bad for Antioch when they are in the same business. It’s hypocritical and on the same level of do as I say not as I do. It’s okay for one company, but not the next.
Even more troubling, along with a flyer, the anonymous Protect Antioch paid for two robo-calls which asked questions in a way that skewed answers in their favor which stages “fixed” results instead of fair and honest public opinion.
In fact, if people had concerns, they would transfer a caller to a city councilmember to sway their vote to give an impression that Antioch as a whole is concerned. Multiple councilmembers have admitted to receiving calls via a robo-call survey.
Hopefully the city council is not swayed by the dirty politics and anonymous out-of-town special interests that masquerade as local residents when, in reality, they care more about squashing competition than looking out for the interests of Antioch residents.
Stay tuned for more shenanigans from the big casinos opposing Kelly’s …
By Michael Burkholder
email: [email protected]
13 comments
so this is what big money and opposition will do, create a smear campaign. Sad
Thank you for researching this. As soon as I received the mailer I was suspicious about how it was paid for, and by whom. It’s always important to follow the money and see what their intentions are before making a decision about what’s best for out city.
You have really done your homework! Antioch should be proud to be represented by you. ‘Be a seeker of the truth” and you have presented the truth to the voting public. Hopefully, the city council will read this! Thank you from a grateful Antioch citizen
It’s all good. When Kelly’s Restaurant and Card Room gets big enough, then THEY will begin bullying others as well. It is the natural course of events when it comes to gaming establishments. Antioch has no need for such a business. Stick to a high quality restaurant only. Then I might take my family there to eat.
Kelly’s has been a staple of Antioch for many years. I don’t know the circumstances around their closing but I do know that it was a family owned facility and a good source of tax revenue for the city. On the few times I went there to either have dinner with my wife or play cards with friends, the place was always clean with a very friendly staff and the cardroom was always very quiet and carried a very friendly atmosphere. Antioch needs more businesses like Kelly’s and fewer fast-food “heat and serve” franchise joints. We lost Carpaccio to Oakley, let’s not lose another great restaurant because of perceived problems.
Agreed.
Exactly!
Kelly’s was a very good restaurant and the card room was very little problem. The card room can continue down there in the industrial part of town. It was approved. So, we now have 2 again. The 19th Hole on Lone Tree..
Those guys in Pacheco just want to be sure ALL the card room money goes to them. We were sure they were the ones behind the mailers. Good job!!! Thanks Mike.
The city historically does not make much on card rooms because they have not updated our fees is so long. Hopefully they will do something about it. We have lost money for far too long. This is a staff job not a council job they should take the bull by the horns and do it.
As City Clerk, I have no record of any FPPC filings for an organization called “Protect Antioch”.
I was surprised as everyone else when I received that flyer in the mail and immediately checked our FPPC filings to see if we had anything – but nothing.
IMHO, it was dishonest for that mailer to not list its financial backers. The residents who attended the Planning Commission meeting were clearly in favor of Kelly’s Card Room’s application.
Hey Oakley- I hear Kelly’s is looking for a new home…
i would not be surprised. antioch is doing it’s very best in driving businesses out of town.
[…] folks trying to kill the reopening of the business for their own personal gain. We highlighted on September 4 how out-of-town special interests were working to build opposition after the Planning Commission approved in a 5-1 vote to move forward with the […]
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