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Kane County Board Reverses Decision To Ban Video Gambling In Unincorporated Areas

Posted on May 13th, 2010

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On Tuesday, the Kane County Board voted 17-7 to withdraw the ban imposed by the county in December wherein the board decided in a close vote to prohibit the installation of video gambling machines in about eleven qualified establishments in the county’s unincorporated areas. Last year, the Illinois Legislature passed a capital measure allowing video poker machines to be installed in bars, restaurants and truck stops all over the state with the aim of raising hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues from the machines to help fund the state’s capital improvement program, at the same time generating nearly half a million construction-related jobs.

The measure gave local governments the opportunity to opt out provided they pass ordinances expressly prohibiting video gambling, which the cities of St. Charles and Batavia and the villages of Elburn, Campton Hills and Kaneville have done. Tuesday’s voting was accompanied by heated debate between board members who supported the ban and labour groups who showed up in the meeting and encouraged the move to cancel the ban. Local union members said the county should allow the machines in order to help the state accomplish its program to improve roads, bridges and schools and give rise to employment. They said they needed the jobs.

Supporters of the ban argued that video gambling would destroy lives and its negative effects would outweigh its good intentions of more jobs and revenues. They believe that crime and poverty would rise and board member Tom Van Cleave, R-Batavia, expressed doubts that its promise of more employment may even happen. Board member Phil Lewis, R-St. Charles, said the measure could just be a strategy by the state legislature to draw funds out of Kane County and turn them over to the cash-strapped capital city. Some board members who were in favour of the ban wanted to suspend the vote and suggested a referendum to allow county residents to have a say on the fate of video gambling in the county. The proposal was turned down by the board by a 16-10 vote.

The idea elicited a retort from a visibly annoyed board member Bill Wyatt R-Aurora, who said, “I realize this is a tough issue in front of you and you don’t want to vote, but are you going to tell all of these people, out of work, that they’re going to have to wait until after the next election to get a job?” Mark Davoust, R-St. Charles may have summed up the board’s decision to repeal the ban when he said that all they want to see is economic recovery, and they have removed an obstacle to recovery.