We appreciate all of you who turned out for the Saturday, November 1st march on City Council. You made hundreds of phone calls, distributed flyers, spoke with your neighbors, and together with neighborhood associations and community groups from all over the city we packed the City Council chambers after a march of nearly 1,000 people.

At least for now, the City politicians appear to be behind the proposal to put Foxwoods on Market Street. During Saturday's hearing, Deputy Mayor Andrew Altman endorsed the bills. Another lowlight of the hearing was when Foxwoods made its presentation and the Council-president asked her colleagues whether anyone had any questions for Foxwoods. There was silence and it was clear that City Council had no questions. That's right, not a single question for Foxwoods. In the end, the City Council rules committee voted unanimously, without discussion or debate, to recommend approval of the zoning bills.

The challenge ahead is clear. At least for now, our City government is standing with the predatory gambling industry and attempting to enable it to exploit our families, friends and neighbors. We are determined to increase our voice to challenge our City to do better on this issue. After the bills move through City Council, they then go to Mayor Michael A. Nutter's desk for his signature. Stay tuned for our future emails about what you can do to help our Mayor fight for the people of Philadelphia.