I see that my former colleague Janice Cader-Thompson is still smarting over Measure S in 2004 — the advisory vote I authored on the Rainier cross-town connector and interchange — that won with 72 percent “yes” votes.

Janice signed the “no” ballot argument. Measure S is the reason why the current City Council majority hasn’t killed Rainier, even though they grumble about it. Bottom line: advisory votes matter.

Fast forward to 2006. Petaluma voters approved Measure H, which I also authored, to oppose a proposed casino just south of Petaluma, by a vote of 79 percent “yes” to 21 percent “no.” That casino proposal quickly derailed. Bottom line: advisory votes matter.

Which brings us to the present. I have been trying for over two years to get an advisory vote on the proposed Rohnert Park casino. A previous Rohnert Park City Council effectively gave away their citizens’ right to an advisory vote there by agreeing to an MOU with the Graton tribe. So an advisory vote called by the Board of Supervisors is the only available option.

I do agree with Janice that people overwhelmingly oppose this casino. It would generate 18,000 vehicle trips per day, but the environmental impact statement proposes to spend not one dime upgrading Highway 101. And serious water supply issues are also unresolved.

Importantly, however, casino supporters refuse to concede that the public strongly opposes the casino. Rather, they conjure a Potemkin Village illusion of great public support for the casino when talking to state or federal officials, and then do everything possible to avoid an actual advisory vote. They shouldn’t be able to have it both ways.

When I testified in Sacramento last summer in support of Assemblyman Huffman’s bill on casino advisory votes, it was obvious that the supporters of the Rohnert Park casino are scared to death of an advisory vote. They should be. That’s because it would be a game changer, particularly in the run-up to the election of the new governor, who would be responsible for negotiating a gaming compact for the casino.

I do realize that the cost issue has grown in importance as the county’s financial situation has continued to deteriorate. That is why we are now pursuing having the county call an advisory vote in only the areas closest to the casino site: Rohnert Park, Cotati and the surrounding unincorporated areas. That reduces the cost by nearly 90 percent, and we have pledges in hand to completely defray the county’s costs — actually, the county will probably make a small profit.

In terms of my supposed political motivations, Janice fails to mention some salient points. First, I’ve been pursuing this issue for years, long before Mike Kerns decided to retire. Second, with the scaled-back advisory vote measure described above, a big majority of the voters live in the 3rd and the 5th supervisorial districts, rather than the 2nd.

An advisory vote is particularly timely now because of the status of the federal lawsuit challenging the federal government’s ability to take the Rohnert Park site into trust for the Graton tribe. I am one of the plaintiffs in that lawsuit. Because the lawsuit is currently before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, it is virtually certain that the Rohnert Park site will not be taken into trust before the June election.

Now is the best time for an advisory vote on the Rohnert Park casino.

(Mike Healy is a local attorney and a member of the Petaluma City Council.)