Dixon Downs Horse Racing Dumped by Voters!

For those involved in the Dixon Downs debate, this news is a welcome sigh of relief! One less animal cruelty protest to attend, as the horse racing mega-stadium "Dixon Downs" won't be built by Magna Entertainment Corporation..

That means; the extra nitrates from horse feces won't enter the watershed, the extra smog from stadium traffic won't enter the valley air and the steroids and other enhancement drugs won't enter the bloodstream of the race horses. Well, at least not in Dixon! It is indeed welcome news to hear of these small victories, that it is still possible in these days of corporate dominian for small groups of regional activists to hold off the constant threat of corporate development and other unwanted intrusions..

"Dixon Downs a Dead Deal

Magna Entertainment Corporation (MEC) has terminated its development plans for Dixon and is listing the property for sale.

The approvals for MEC's Dixon lands for racing and adjacent commercial uses were put to a local referendum on April 17, 2007. MEC's proposal lost at the referendum."

article @;
http://www.independentvoice.com/Dixon%20Downs%20archive.html#Downs%20is%20Dead

Here's the last few years of events leading up to the April vote. As in other situations, when an individual issue is put to the test of public support, the outcome is often different from the initial votes of the Dixon city council..

"2006-10-23 Dixon city council approves Dixon Downs.3

2006-11-20 Davis City Manager Bill Emlen announces that the city of Davis would be suing Dixon over traffic concerns. Campbell Soup Company, which has a tomato processing plant on Pedrick Road, files a CEQA lawsuit against Dixon as well (case #FCS028760).4

2006-11-21 City of Davis files suit against Dixon in Solano County Superior Court (case #FCS028771).

2006-12-12 Dixon Citizens for Quality Growth delivers final 2 (of 4) sets of petitions to city that seek to overturn the council's decision. Signatures will need to be verified before council acts.

2007-01-09 Dixon city council unanimously approves a special election on April 17, 2007 to decide fate of Dixon Downs.

2007-02-28 Magna announces changes to the plan in order to gain more community support. These will prohibit casino-style gambling and slot machines, limit the audience size at events, close down the track during tomato canning season, and give local businesses first chance at retail space.

2007-03-09 Campbell Soup Company drops its lawsuit in response to the new changes.

2007-03-30 Sacramento Bee Editorial - "No on Dixon Downs". -"Or they could say No to Measures M, N, O, and P. That is what they should do,..."

2007-04-17 Preliminary returns report that Dixon Downs is rejected by City of Dixon voters by 53 to 47.

2007-04-18 Official numbers are released. Dixon Downs is rejected by voters by a vote total of: 2,612 votes (53.3%) against, 2,284 votes (46.6%) for."

results @;
http://daviswiki.org/Dixon_Downs

Through this ordeal with MEC over Dixon Downs, many residents also realized that the horse racing industry is increasingly less popular while ever so costly to the ecosystem and cruel to the horses..

"Both articles (The Chronicle’s "Bay Meadows on Last Legs," by Larry Stumes, and Bloodhorse’s "Bay Meadows' Days Numbered After CHRB Vote," by Jack Shinar) describe San Mateo’s Bay Meadows racetrack being forced to close down.

The forced closure comes as Bay Meadows appears unable to put forth the $7 to $10 Million required to install a more horse-friendly artificial racing surface as mandated by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB).

Jack Liebau, president of the Bay Meadows Racing Association (BMRA) is quoted in both articles as saying, "For racing in California, this is a day of infamy. Racing in Northern California will never exist as it has. It is a disaster. Horses, owners and trainers are going to be leaving in droves."

Liebau’s dire assessment of the fate of the horse racing industry in California echoes the sentiment of a study filed late last year for the City of San Mateo by economic consultants LECG, Inc., which stated. "Recent trends in horseracing attendance, purses and wagering have brought into question the long-term economic viability of the industry in California. To survive, it is likely that horseracing tracks throughout the state, including Bay Meadows, will require alternate sources of revenue."

On Tuesday, April 17th, the people of Dixon will have the opportunity to decide whether Canadian company Magna Entertainment Corporation should bring this dying industry to Dixon and put our city’s economic future at risk.

Dixon Citizens for Quality Growth urges Dixon voters not to put our city’s economic future in the hands of a dying industry. We urge a NO vote on Measures M, N, O & P.""

article @;
http://www.dixonvoteno.com/news14.html

other testimonials @;
http://www.dixonvoteno.com/testimonials1.html

This good news also frees animal rights activists to focus on existing cruelties, as in the UCD primate research facility, Solano mega daries, etc..

What is UCD trying to prove by torturing primates??

"In February of 2006, we were contacted by Cheri Stevens, a former animal caretaker, who had worked at the California Primate Research Center (CPRC) for approximately 3 years, ending in 2005. She truly cared for the primates which were her responsibility and worked to give them the best possible quality of life. She left voluntarily due to conflict with management -- they knew that truly caring for the animals was her first priority.

On Wednesday, October 11th SAEN’s Executive Director, Michael Budkie traveled to Sacramento to coordinate the dramatic news conference which would release Cheri Stevens’ detailed statement to the media along with information from internal documents obtained by SAEN through the California Public Records Act.

CPRC records revealed that primates within this facility suffered from many serious pathological conditions including pneumonia, enteritis, and peritonitis. Many of these animals had reached a point of severe emaciation (starvation) or dehydration (lack of water). This clearly indicates that they had been allowed to suffer unnecessarily and may have been denied adequate veterinary care.

Trauma is also frequent among the primates at CPRC. Both adult fighting and infant abuse is commonplace, clearly exposing the severely stressful nature of life inside a laboratory.

Cheri’s statements revealed extreme cruelty and neglect at CPRC. She spoke in general terms and about individual animals. She discussed a highly invasive procedure which is common at many facilities:

“There is nothing humane about placing a post on an animal's head that is held in place dental acrylic. First there is little room for error in the surgical procedure necessary to provide such an inhumane way to ensure an animal will remain still, whether they voluntarily wish to do so or not. More often than not infections will develop at the site of the head post unless cleaned more often than just daily.”
"

article found @;
http://www.all-creatures.org/saen/nl-2007-sp-ins.html


Waiting til the cows come home for compromise?

"Mega-dairies are a scourge, period. They are far dirtier than vineyards, but in many cases serve the same ultimate function of holding land for development, and like WalMarts, their effects on producers concerned with sustainability are the same.

At this point dairymen, admittedly squeezed by processors and distributors evermore concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, believe that volume alone will save them, right up to the moment they sell these new milk-factories for real estate in rapidly urbanizing counties like Solano and Merced. They are the essence of agricultural instability. What they have done to the genetic stock of milk cows is atrocious and their whole system of animal exploitation ought to be banned. If mad cow disease hits the US in earnest, it will come from dairy cows, whose lives have turned into a drugged-up nightmare.

But, the Vacaville Reporter dwells completely on the superficial topic of a political decision, not even considering the deal beneath, the economics or animal-rights issues beneath it. It's just another teenie-weenie example of the fear that permeates American journalism.



Meanwhile, two large-scale dairies that have said they are looking to locate between Vacaville and Dixon could be one step closer to moving through the county's environmental review for siting. Both the Borges and Machado dairy and Jongsma and Son have been active in the area for some time.

Technically, the buffer zones approved Thursday are a compromise between what city representatives have called for and what county environmental managers had originally drawn up.

As the buffers stand now, a dairy with more than 700 cows would have to be located two miles outside of a city's sphere of influence, its boundary for projected growth.

In addition, a one-mile buffer zone would be imposed between the larger dairies and parts of Solano's unincorporated area that are marked for residential development. A one-third to one-half mile buffer would exist between a large dairy and a home that is not related to its operation.

A dairy with less than 700 cows and classified as a "medium-sized" facility would have to be one mile from a city's outer boundary. "



article found @;
http://www.badlandsjournal.com/old/getarch2.php?title=Solano%20County%20mega-dairy%20ordinance