Largest Law Enforcement Group In State and Labor
Organizations Announce Support
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- In the latest statewide survey, more
than 59 percent of California voters said they would vote YES on Proposition
5, marking the highest levels of public support to date for the ballot measure
which would protect Indian gaming on tribal lands.
The survey, by The Election Connection, an independent public opinion poll
by some of the state's leading TV and radio stations and newspapers, reflects
a steady climb in voter approval for the Indian Self Reliance initiative,
which has shown solid support among California voters since qualifying for the
November ballot.
The 44,000-member Police Officers Research Association of California
(PORAC), San Francisco district attorney Terrance Hallinan and California
Police Chiefs Association former president Leslie Sourisseau as well as
Service Employees International Union(SEIU) local #790 also joined the growing
list of organizations in support of the Indian gaming initiative.
By contrast, opposition to the measure has dropped to its lowest mark --
17 percent -- since polling began on 1998 ballot issues.
Findings indicate opposition to the measure plummeting by 12 points since
The Election Connection's previous poll in September.
"79 percent of the voters surveyed said their 'minds were made up' on this
issue," said Californians For Indian Self-Reliance/YES On 5 campaign chairman
Ken Ramirez. "Weeks of multi-million-dollar-spending on negative, anti-Indian
advertising has not made a dent with California voters. "The overwhelming
support for Prop 5 continues in the face of a staggeringly expensive scare
campaign being waged by Nevada casinos that fear competition from limited,
well-regulated Indian gaming. It is genuinely gratifying to know that
California voters aren't going to let the Nevada casino deal away the truth."
"We support Proposition 5 because Indian gaming is one of the most heavily
regulated forms of gaming in this state with oversight by the FBI, the
National Indian Gaming Commission, the Department of Justice, the IRS and the
Department of the Interior as well as the security and surveillance measures
instituted by tribal gaming management," said PORAC president Steve Craig who
heads the largest police association in California.
Law enforcement organizations and individuals supporting Proposition 5
include the San Bernardino Police Officers' Association, Riverside Police
Officers Association, San Bernardino County Safety Employee's Association, the
Correctional Peace Officers Association, former Department of justice
Organized Crime & Racketeering special agent Felix Rocha, and retired National
Indian Gaming Commission senior field investigator Carl Olson.
Other unions supporting Prop 5 include Construction and General Laborers
Union Locals #220, 291, 389, 591; Communication Workers of America (CWA);
Contra Costa Building and construction trade council; Hod Carriers and
Laborers' #783; Laborers International Union Of North America locals #73, 261,
294; and Laborers' Union locals, #139, 185, 507, 550,652,802,882.
Law enforcement, labor, community, education, ethnic and business leaders
totaling more than 235,000 have signed on as supporters of Prop 5 making it
one of the largest citizens organizations in California.
Proposition 5, on the November 3rd ballot, allows California Indian tribes
to continue the types of gaming currently found on reservations. The measure
provides for revenue-sharing with non-gaming tribes for economic development,
community services and cultural preservation and with communities statewide
for emergency services. The measure also provides for new state regulatory
authority beyond existing restrictions imposed by numerous federal agencies.
SOURCE Californians for Indian Self-Reliance