Lawmakers to Arlington Hts.: Take stand on slots
Legislators representing Arlington Heights and nearby towns would like the village board to take a stand on whether slot machines and video gambling should be allowed at the Arlington Park racetrack.
State Rep. David Harris, an Arlington Heights Republican; Sidney Mathias, Republican from Buffalo Grove; Tom Morrison, Palatine Republican; and Fred Crespo, Democrat from Hoffman Estates, all said Monday the board should take a stand.
“It's hard to support something that pre-empts home rule without direction from the village board,” said Mathias. “It certainly would help me in making my decision if the village board would go on record as supporting it.”
Concerns over the future of Arlington Park were already higher than normal this year, when on Sunday they got another jolt. Bob Evans, CEO of Churchill Downs, which owns Arlington Park, was quoted as saying the corporation could cut its track holdings, and that Arlington Park was “the most exposed” because it didn't have a second source of revenue besides racing.
But a spokesman for the company said there has been no discussion of selling any properties.
Morrison said it might be helpful if the village board said it supported “the idea of slots at Arlington under these conditions.”
Harris said he will oppose the current gambling expansion bill sponsored by Rep. Lou Lang, a Skokie Democrat, if it keeps the provision giving Des Plaines one-third of any tax raised by Arlington Heights from the slots or video poker machines up to $3 million.
Morrison said even more important than a vote by the village board would be more phone calls and emails from constituents, since he thinks changes at the track would seriously affect Palatine and Rolling Meadows as well as Arlington Heights.
Harris said Lang's bill has been given an extension until May 20 for the House to pass it and move it to the Senate. He said “talk” is that the bill would be “loaded” in the Senate with things — like more casinos — as it was in the bill that failed last year.
Like legislators, some board members have expressed reluctance to take a stand until they have seen the final bill and the track's plans.
Tom Glasgow, an Arlington Heights trustee who has said he probably leans toward allowing slot machines at the track, said there is no reason for the village board to pass a resolution.
While local lawmakers would pay attention to the board's position, he said, the rest of the state legislature that has apparently decided to usurp Arlington Heights home rule would not.
“We have the most beautiful area in the Northwest suburbs, but we are about the size of a single ward in Chicago,” Glasgow said.
Village President Arlene Mulder, who has recently come out in favor of a “revenue stream” for the track and said she could “tolerate” slot machines, said Monday she would be open to a public discussion of the issue by the board.
She added that perhaps the board should get more information about some questions raised concerning the bill, such as would the village be able to limit the hours liquor is served. It is her understanding that gambling at the track would be allowed only as long as live racing continues there.
She thinks most residents are very proud of Arlington Park, and many worry about their tax bills increasing if the track closes.
Crespo said that after the Arlington Heights village board expressed support for slots, he would still have to weigh the effect on the whole region, especially its impact on the casino in Elgin and the one under construction in Des Plaines.
And he questions whether expanded gambling would cure the financial problems of the Illinois horse racing industry, saying there is a limited number of gamblers in the region.