OMG! Armegeddon!

“This type of gambling actually shrinks the economy,” Kindt said, citing a U.S. Senate study. He said gambling takes money away from the consumer businesses that grow the economy, adding that the cost of gaming is $3-$4 for every dollar of benefit.


Ya gotta to love the inflammatory rhetoric! Armegeddon for Pete's sake?

In an effort to force Slot Barns into communities that don't want them, local control will be lost! Not the first time! All for the sake of the phony "Let's Save the Tracks!" a dead business.

Down the road, when patrons and revenue diminish further, the Gambling Vultures will argue that they're losing money by supporting racing. Not novel or new.

How about sensible sustainable development? How about a real conversation about sensible fiscal policy instead of community destruction?




Bill Would Override Local Authority To Stop Installation At Arlington


After an hour-long community forum on the dangers and economic pitfalls of allowing slots at Arlington Park some were still not convinced.

“I think we’re looking at financial Armageddon if the track closes,” said resident Rich Hedstrom.

The three-person panel failed to persuade Hedstrom that slot machines would damage the local economy. Hedstrom argued that other gambling communities, like Joliet and Elgin, have prospered because of economic activity around their casinos.

“I think we’re fools if we don’t,” Hedstrom said about allowing slot machines at the racetrack. [Who's the fool?]

The state senate is considering a bill that would allow racetracks to install up to 1,200 slot machines — the same number as a casino — in order to bolster horse racing, which has declined in recent years. The bill would circumvent municipalities’ home rule authority denying villages like Arlington Hts. the right to regulate or stop the installation of slots.

The meeting was held at the Arlington Hts. Historical Museum Monday night. The three member panel consisted of 50-year village resident Nancy Duel; John Kindt, University of Illinois professor of business and legal policy; and Chris Anderson, director of the Gambling Recovery Center in Evanston. Each of the speakers was opposed to slot machines at Arlington Park.

“This type of gambling actually shrinks the economy,” Kindt said, citing a U.S. Senate study. He said gambling takes money away from the consumer businesses that grow the economy, adding that the cost of gaming is $3-$4 for every dollar of benefit.

Anderson said casinos have spent the past two decades chipping away at regulations like the two-hour gaming limit Illinois once enforced on gamblers.

“What is literally being talked about here is putting a land-based casino in Arlington Hts.,” he said.

Duel mostly took issue with the proposed law’s preemption of home rule.

“The Arlington Hts. community has not been consulted and all the decisions will be made in Springfield,” she told the dozens of people who showed up.

She said she was skeptical of the track’s status as an economic engine for Arlington Hts. saying that the village earns only about 0.4% of its revenue from the track.

The panel reinforced its anti-slot stance during a question-and-answer period following their presentations.

Anderson pointed out that thousands of people with gambling problems have placed themselves on a list to be arrested if they step foot in a casino.

“What other business in the State of Illinois has anything, anything like that?” he said.

Several elected officials and candidates made appearances at the meeting. Mayor Arlene Mulder and trustees Joseph Farwell and Bert Rosenberg were there. However, Mulder said they could not comment on the meeting because they did not want to violate the Open Meeting Act, which states that three or more trustees talking village business is a meeting and requires prior public notice.

Also in attendance were 66th state senate district candidate David Harris, 53rd District candidate Linda Birnbaum, 53rd representative Sid Mathias, and Cook County 14th district candidate Jennifer Bishop Jenkins.