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DESCRIPTION: APEC is Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation is an organization based on 
 making capitalism more profitable in the Asian rim. It has pushed 
 privatization of public resources, joint labor management partnerships and 
 the outsourcing of jobs to make more profits.\n\nIt is also linked to the 
 World Trade Organization WTO which has imposed austerity on people around 
 the world.\n\nToday the US is pushing privatization of all public services 
 through outsourcing of public jobs and turning public jobs over to 
 "non-profits". In San Francisco thousands of workers at lower pay and 
 benefits are doing public work from cleaning the streets to maintaining 
 housing for poor and oppressed people.\n\nThis meeting will report on the 
 economic polices of the APEC and also how it is affecting people such as 
 Mexico, Peru, Chile, South Korea and China. When APEC last met in China, 
 the US was pushing China to have more private public partnerships and 
 outsource more jobs. This is a major goal of APEC.\n\nWe will also have 
 speakers about the struggle against the layoffs at Tenderloin Neighborhood 
 Development  Corporation TNDC where 30 workers were laid off without 
 notice. While these non-profits are laying off worker the Mayor proposes 
 more police and repression.\n\nThe trade unions in San Francisco and 
 nationally have dropped any pretense of fighting this capitalist union 
 busting organization which is attacking workers around the world. In 1999 
 the ILWU and other unions organized protests against the WTO which is 
 directly linked to APEC but today they are completely silent since it would 
 mean fighting the Democrats in San Francisco and nationally who they 
 support. Biden is also seeking to bring Xi Jinping to San Francisco to push 
 further privatization and deregulation and like the WTO this means attacks 
 on unions, public resources and the environment.\n\nAPEC is also funded by 
 the union busting corporations in San Franciso.\nMayor Breed and the 
 Democrats have millions for APEC because the want to further gentrify San 
 Francisco and drive poor and working class people out for developers who 
 run San Francisco and other cities in the US.\n\nThey are also pushing 
 militarization of the police as their economic policies destroy the lives 
 of working people and the poor.\n\nThere will also be music and video of 
 the the protests against the WTO in 1999\n\nSunday November 5, 2023 
 3PM\n518 Valencia St/16th St.\nSan 
 Francisco\n\n_________________________________________\nSan Francisco 
 Halfway to APEC Fundraising Goal as Kaiser, Google Chip 
 In\n(https://sfstandard.com/2023/08/31/san-francisco-apec-fundraise-goal/)\nWritten 
 by Han Li, Published Aug. 31, 2023 • 11:30am\n\n\nMayor London Breed 
 speaks at a press conference in San Francisco on June 29, 2023.  More 
 big-name companies and organizations chipped in this month to help San 
 Francisco meet its fundraising goal to pay for hosting the highly 
 anticipated Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.\n\nSet for 
 mid-November, the conference is expected to bring in tens of thousands of 
 visitors and top political and business leaders from the 21 Pacific Rim 
 member economies.\n\nAccording to the latest data from Mayor’s Office, a 
 total of $9.34 million has been raised to host a variety of events, putting 
 the city about halfway toward meeting its $20 million goal. \n\nThe city is 
 not allowed to use public funds to cover the APEC-related event 
 cost.\n\n“We’re pleased to share that we have just about reached the 
 halfway mark in our fundraising efforts,” said Maryam Muduroglu, chief of 
 protocol of San Francisco, who is overseeing the fundraising effort. “San 
 Francisco businesses are investing generously in APEC because they 
 recognize the impact of the city making its mark globally this 
 November.”\n\nA month ago, the number was at $6.8 million. In August, 
 Kaiser Permanente has donated $1 million, while Autodesk, Google, 
 billionaire and investor John Pritzker, Bank of America, United Airlines, 
 OpenTable, PG&E and Lyft also donated.\n\nOther big donors include 
 Salesforce, Sutter Health, Visa, biotech company Mebo and real estate 
 company Prologis, with $1 million each.\n\n“I want to thank everyone who 
 has generously donated so far to make San Francisco shine brightly on the 
 world’s stage,” Mayor London Breed said. “Our departments are working 
 together to make APEC a world-class experience.”\n\nAPEC’s main events 
 will be held at Moscone Center, and the surrounding area in SoMa will be 
 closed off with heavy securityduring the conference.\n\nHan Li can be 
 reached at 
 han@sfstandard.com\n\n_________________________________________________\nAPEC: 
 San Francisco Accepts $4.6M from Graton Casino, Hits $20M Fundraising 
 Goal\nWritten by Josh Koehn\nPublished Oct. 06, 2023 • 5:41pm\n\n\nThe 
 interior of Graton Casino and Resort in Rohnert Park in 2013 | Source: 
 George Rose/Getty Images\nTemperatures may be sweltering in San Francisco 
 this week, but the heat appears to be temporarily off the mayor and other 
 city officials when it comes to footing the bill for next month’s 
 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit of global leaders.\n\nAPEC 
 officials and a spokesperson for Mayor London Breed confirmed on Friday 
 that the city surpassed its $20 million fundraising goal for the weeklong 
 geopolitical summit, which will be hosting President Joe Biden, more than a 
 dozen heads of heads of state, tens of thousands of foreign delegates, 
 hundreds of foreign press members and as many as 1,200 CEOs attending an 
 accompanying business conference.\n\nThe city will be under the 
 international microscope from Nov. 12-18 as it hosts important meetings and 
 panels, and local officials see the summit—as well as no shortage of 
 corresponding parties and dinners—as an opportunity to rebrand San 
 Francisco’s image beyond the headlines and viral videos that have cast 
 the city in a negative light in recent years.\n\nGraton Casino & 
 Resort—located an hour and a half north of the city in Rohnert 
 Park—committed to a massive $4,625,000 sponsorship last week to help push 
 the city above its fundraising goal. The money will go toward a series of 
 events, including a City Hall dinner for the foreign press and an outdoor 
 concert by Chase Center. The casino, which is owned and operated by the 
 Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, has become a major player in 
 California and Democratic politics in recent years after spending tens of 
 millions on political campaigns.\n\nA 200-room luxury hotel was added to 
 the massive Graton Casino & Resort outside Rohnert Park as viewed in 2016. 
 Breed told Bloomberg, which was first to report the donation, that the 
 casino will get “top” billing among all sponsors after giving more than 
 twice the amount of the second-highest donor, crypto company Ripple, and 
 almost five times as much as Apple, Kaiser Permanente, Salesforce, Visa and 
 other top sponsors.\n\nGreg Sarris, chairman of the Federated Indians of 
 Graton Rancheria, said in a statement that the casino is “dedicated to 
 social justice and environmental stewardship,” and he believes the 
 sponsorship will give the casino a chance to promote its business model on 
 “the world stage.”\n\nHowever, not everyone in San Francisco is 
 especially keen on the city leaning so heavily on gambling interests to 
 throw parties and woo foreign investments and tourism, especially in light 
 of the complex issues around gambling addiction in many Asian American 
 communities.\n\nKent Woo, executive director of the NICOS Chinese Health 
 Coalition in San Francisco, called the city’s decision to accept the $4.6 
 million sponsorship “disturbing.” \n\nWoo pointed to a study conducted 
 by his organization—a coalition of more than 30 health and human service 
 groups founded in 1985—that found gambling was the biggest social issue 
 in more than two-thirds of Chinese American households in San Francisco. A 
 New York Times report last year found that “people of Asian descent are 
 among the demographics most targeted by casinos.”\n\n“It’s been an 
 open secret among the community that gambling has ruined so many families 
 and done so much harm in the community in general,” Woo said. \n\nHe 
 noted that the sponsorship fits a pattern of Graton Casino going out of its 
 way to target the city’s Chinese American community, including its lead 
 role in sponsoring last month’s Autumn Moon Festival and the annual Lunar 
 New Year festivities.\n\nIn a web page specifically focusing on its support 
 for Asian Americans, Graton Casino noted that it worked with the city’s 
 Chinatown Community Development Center to distribute mooncakes to 
 impoverished residents of Chinatown’s single-room occupancy 
 apartments.\n\nThe people “not only received the mooncakes but also felt 
 the holiday warmth,” the web page reads.\n\nWoo accused city officials of 
 bowing to the pressure to pay for APEC by “normalizing” gambling in a 
 community that is particularly harmed.\n\n“A lot of folks don’t realize 
 that when they’re seduced by the money, they’re informally endorsing 
 the casino,” he said.\n\n'A Double-Edged Sword'\nSupervisor Aaron Peskin, 
 whose district includes Chinatown and who has led efforts to invest in 
 gambling addiction services in the city, was surprised to learn Graton 
 Casino was committing so much money to the city’s fundraising 
 efforts.\n\n“I think it will leave San Francisco with the responsibility 
 to deal with any additional impacts of problem gambling,” Peskin 
 said.\n\nHe noted that Graton Casino has “had an advertising footprint in 
 San Francisco as long as I can remember, but in the same breath, I’m 
 hoping they defray San Francisco’s costs. It’s a double-edged 
 sword.”\n\nPriya David Clemens, a spokesperson for the city’s APEC host 
 committee, noted that Graton has supported other organizations in the city 
 such as the Boys and Girls Club and the Gay Men’s Chorus.\n\n“They have 
 been giving philanthropically,” Clemens said. She declined to comment on 
 the issues raised by Woo and was unaware of the city putting any of the 
 casino funds toward gambling addiction services.\n\nSince 2020, the 
 Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria have been a significant player in 
 political spending, particularly on the state level. The tribe spent more 
 than $30 million to defeat a proposition last year that would have 
 legalized online betting in California. A competing proposition seeking to 
 give California tribes control of online betting also failed. 
 \n\nAltogether, Native American tribes and the gambling industry spent a 
 record high of almost $600 million on the two propositions shot down by 
 voters.\n\nThe Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria has also made other 
 major contributions to Democratic Party causes, including $100,000 to the 
 Bay Area Legislative Leaders PAC and $5 million in support of a ballot 
 measure by state Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, who is running for 
 lieutenant governor in 2026.\n\nCloser to home, the tribe spent almost 
 $194,000 supporting Jackie Fielder’s candidacy for state Senate in a 2020 
 race she lost to Scott Wiener. Fielder, an Indigenous woman and progressive 
 activist, is now running to be the next supervisor to represent San 
 Francisco’s Mission District.\n\nThis spring, the tribe gave $5,500 to 
 reelection committees for both Wiener and Assemblymember Matt Haney, both 
 of whom represent San Francisco.\n\nJosh Koehn can be reached at 
 josh@sfstandard.com\n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2023/10/23/18859808.php
SUMMARY:APEC, Labor & Imperialism-An Attack On The Working Class & Oppressed
LOCATION:518 Valencia St. Near 16th St.\n San Francisco
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2023/10/23/18859808.php
DTSTART:20231105T230000Z
DTEND:20231106T010000Z
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