McHenry County Blog

At the McHenry County Board meeting Tuesday, a couple of folks commented on allowing video slot machines in local taverns and restaurants. Below is what Harvard’s Pat Kennedy contributed to the discussion:

Good Morning,

I am Patricia Kennedy, 20712 Streit Road, rural Harvard.

I understand your desire for money to do work on our roads.   I really understand the need for the jobs that work would create.   However. . .

Addressing the issues of rules for video gambling. . .

• How well do you think those rules can be enforced?
• Who will be enforcing those rules?

Doubtless that will be the employees of the establishments where these machines would be installed.

So the business which would be receiving the financial benefit of the machines would also be expected to police the system.   A pretty strong conflict of interest.

Add to that the strong track record that indicates that video gambling is truly a different animal.   It is vastly more addictive than other forms of gambling.

I understand that this can be difficult decision for you, however
I hope that you will look at the long range view on this and realize the true cost in dollars and destroyed families.

Please vote to ban video gambling.

As to the 2030 Plan, being mindful of your long agenda this morning, I look forward to talking to you about the current draft in the near future.

Thank You.

The McHenry County Board meeting debate Tuesday was extraordinary in its lack of focus on the gambling issue.

Algonquin’s Marc Munaretto put it best, asking why two resolutions, one to hold an advisory referendum on the issue and the other to ban video slot machines in unincorporated areas had gotten out of the License and Liquor Committee.

I wasn’t at the committee meeting when that happened, but someone who was told me that Barb Wheeler had made a motion to recommend a resolution banning video gambling and it almost failed for lack of a second.

The majority of the committee pretty obviously wanted a vote on the referendum resolution first, although Mary McCann may have changed her mind, because she voted against holding an advisory referendum.

The committee being a collegial group, however, both resolutions were forwarded to the county board.

A vote on the referendum question was scheduled for Tuesday; the one on the outright ban at a later meeting.

This did not please Wheeler, who tried to change the agenda so the ban could be voted upon Tuesday.

Clearly Wheeler is against this extension of gambling and was satisfied that her vote would represent her constituency.

It is much less clear how her colleagues would have voted today or will vote in a month.

If any of the opponents have taken the kind of tallies I used to take on the House floor in Springfield before one of my important bills, they have not shared that with me.

With many of the members up for re-election, going to a referendum could be considered a cop-out, that is, a way to avoid making a potentially dangerous political decision before the Feb. 2nd primary election.

Others believe with Mary Donner:

“I truly believe in my heart this belongs on a referendum first.

“I want to know what the voters in McHenry County feel about this.”

More tomorrow.

John Hammerand, Chairman of the McHenry County Board’s Liquor and License Committee has informed McHenry County Blog that the question of whether an advisory referendum will be put on the February 2nd primary election ballot will be voted upon November 3rd.

About a month later, the question of whether to ban video poker, as it is euphemistically called by proponents, will be discussed December 1st.

= = = = =
From left to right are McHenry County Board members Bob Bless, Mary McCann, License and Liquor Committee Chairman John Hammerand, Assistant State’s Attorney’s Sara Jansen and Cynthia Schaupp and County Board member Barb Wheeler.

With McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler so in favor of the expansion of the gambling passed with the help of McHenry County State Representatives Mike Tryon and Mark Beaubien, with the help of State Senator Pam Althoff, I was surprised when I looked at the agenda of the County Board’s Liquor and License Committee.

You will remember DuPage County made big news by banning slots (which most proponents call video poker).

There’s an ordinance to prohibit video gaming on the agenda of the 9:30 meeting in Woodstock.

You can see it below:

ORDINANCE PROHIBITING VIDEO GAMING WITHIN
UNINCORPORATED AREAS OF MCHENRY COUNTY

WHEREAS, the Video Gaming Act (230 ILCS 40/1 et seq.; PA 96-0034) became law July 13, 2009 and allows licensed retail establishments to conduct video gambling; and

WHEREAS, recognizing that some Illinois local jurisdictions would desire to opt out of video gambling, Section 27 of the Video Gaming Act permits counties and municipalities to prohibit video gaming by ordinance within their respective corporate limits or unincorporated areas; and

WHEREAS, states such as Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina have abandoned experiments with the legalization of video poker because of regulatory difficulties, corruption, and the high social costs associated with this form of gambling; and

WHEREAS, electronic gaming is designed to entice people to play longer, faster, and at higher rates of wagering, according to a study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and

WHEREAS, the McHenry County Board and the McHenry County Liquor and License committee agrees that legalized video poker would present a variety of adverse impacts on residents of McHenry County including the potential for corruption, impact on the costs of law enforcement, regulatory difficulties, and high social costs; and

WHEREAS, the legalization of video poker within McHenry County is not consistent with our desire to maintain a family friendly environment for citizens and their children; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED that the McHenry County Board hereby exercises its right under Section 27 of the Illinois Video Gaming Act (230 ILCS 40/1 et seq.) to prohibit video gaming from unincorporated areas of McHenry County effective
immediately.