Taylor, Wyatt on opposite sides of video gambling in Kane Co. District 5

When Kane County Board member Bill Wyatt recasts his vote in favor of video gambling next month, the only question will be if he's doing it as a re-elected incumbent. Wyatt's Republican opponent in the Feb. 2 primary, Melisa Taylor, believes Wyatt's position on video gambling is one of the biggest reasons he'll be voted out.

Wyatt openly supported the addition of video gambling in Kane County during several public meetings last year with the rationale that business owners should be allowed to decide for themselves if they want the machines. Wyatt has also said it's hypocritical of the county board to ban video gambling but lobby state lawmakers to push forward a capital bill. Video gambling was approved by the state to be one of the main funding sources for capital projects.

"I'm not a big proponent of the act of gambling, but I am a big proponent of the capital bills," Wyatt said. "Whether we like it or not, the state legislature used video gambling to fund a part of the capital bill. Without that funding, the roads are going to go to heck. To defund the capital bill means that roads won't be built and bridges will continue to disintegrate."

Taylor, a Sugar Grove trustee, said Wyatt's views are out of touch with the majority of District 5 residents.

"I'm not selling my ethics and my morals for a pothole," Taylor said. "Do we need a capital bill? Yes. But the law isn't clear. How do we know that money is going to go where they say it will go? And with every new revenue there are always new expenses. When am I going to see what is the expense of this coming into the county?"

Wyatt said it's not his job to try and legislate morality.

"I don't transpose my morals on anyone," he said.

But more than that, Wyatt believes the issue is a moot point in District 5 because there is not a single establishment in the unincorporated areas the county oversees that currently qualifies for a video gambling license.

Taylor said she believes there's a possibility that video gambling already exists, unregulated, in various places in the county, perhaps even in District 5. She cautioned Wyatt and the county board to not assume that just because another governing body, like the Sugar Grove Village Board, hasn't banned video gambling that it amounts to passively approving it.

"That would be an assumption that is giantly incorrect," Taylor said. She pledged to vote to ban video gambling if the issue comes before the village board or if she ever has a chance to vote on video gambling as a county board member.