Several bar owners and employees in Palatine, Illinois recently asked the village council to remove the ban on video gambling. However, council members were split on whether or not they should reconsider the issue.
In an advisory referendum in April 2015, 60 percent of Palatine voters supported keeping the ban on video gambling machines in bars and restaurants, enacted in 2012. Bartender Barbra Letos said she felt it was time to revisit the issue, since Palatine was missing an opportunity to earn additional revenue. “If we don’t change with the world we’re standing still,” Letos said.
Several bar owners and employees who supported for video gambling noted only 11 percent of registered voters participated in the 2015 referendum. That offended Councilman Tim Millar, who said a low turnout does not mean the result doesn’t count. “We aren’t going to change the president of the United States or a U.S. senator if there wasn’t a high enough turnout,” Millar said. He and two other council members said they were opposed to discussing lifting the video gambling ban in Palatine.
But Councilman Greg Solberg and two others said they were in favor of discussing the issue again.
No formal vote was taken, and Mayor Jim Schwantz said the council would decide whether to take up the issue again at a future time.
