Roy Choi, a California entrepreneur does not want a casino built in Elk Grove, Sacramento. Due to his lobbying efforts against it, California may reject a US $400 million gaming venue. It seems a casino in Elk Grove would be a financial boon to its economy, however Choi disagrees. Wilton Rancheria, a tribe native to the area thinks it would be a good idea, and it was they who introduced the plan to Elk Grove residents.
Elk Grove’s City Counsel shows all signs of wishing to approve the proposal, but residents who are against the idea have produced a referendum to prevent the building of a casino in their town. It’s public knowledge that Roy Choi, CEO of KCM Agency (a marketing firm in Los Angeles), is backing the effort to block the casino. Working hard to prevent government approval, Choi has helped to gather more than 14,800 signatures saying they agree with him, and don’t want a casino in Elk Grove either.
Interestingly enough, Roy Choi is also the operator of Knighted Ventures LLC which is the company that financed gathering the signatures, and that’s not even the best part. Choi has interests in a Sacramento casino that stands to suffer financially if it has to compete with a bigger casino in the same general area, such as the one the Wilton Rancheria tribe wants to build in Elk Grove. There are only 30 days to assess this referendum supported by Knighted Ventures LLC, and the clock is ticking.
It remains to be seen whether a local tribe will win the day, or a businessman who apparently is simply trying to block future competition. The City Counsel has already granted the tribe 35.9 acres for the project, and now they wait. All that remains to be seen is which side has the stronger voice in whether or not the casino gets built, and new jobs come to the area. One gets the feeling this issue is far from over whatever happens to the referendum. Many feel Choi’s connection to that “other casino in the area” puts him in the worst possible position to be trying to block another one from being constructed.
