Arlington Hts. board takes informal stand supporting slots at track

Support for slot machines at Arlington Park came from a majority of the Arlington Heights village board in an informal discussion Monday night.

Village President Arlene Mulder will draft a letter supporting slots at the racetrack to Illinois legislators. It will be sent unless four of the eight trustees are dissatisfied with the letter and call a special meeting for Monday, May 23.

The board has not taken a formal position on expanding gambling at the track, instead objecting to legislative proposals to authorize the slot machines without requiring local approval.

But at the end of the board's agenda, Mulder read a statement she had written for publication at the request of the Daily Herald's editorial board.

While Mulder's statement did not mention slot machines, it did say that it is important to support ways to keep the track viable and critical to “preserve Arlington Park and all that it provides.”

She had tried to get approval of the statement from the trustees before submitting it to the newspaper, but she said it was impossible to get all they wanted within the 250-word limit she had.

Trustee Thomas Hayes, the only board member who spoke strongly against proposals to expand gambling with 1,200 slot machines in a separate building, said the community should look at what Churchill Downs, which owns Arlington Park, has built at Calder Casino and Racecourse in Florida.

“I am not in favor of a land-based casino in Arlington Heights. It is not in the best, long-term interest of our village,” he said.

After all the trustees had spoken, Hayes said it was obvious that the majority of the board supported the expansion of gambling and he does not think the special meeting will be necessary.

Trustee Joseph Farwell pushed the board to take a stand, quoting local legislators who had told the Daily Herald they wanted the board to do that. He also said he had run an informal poll on Facebook and had received one no vote of the 26 residents who responded.

John Scaletta said if there were a vote he would be a yes.

Carol Blackwood reaffirmed her longtime stand in favor of the slot machines.

Bert Rosenberg said the jobs and the traffic the track brings to small businesses in the village make it critical to keep it open. Norm Breyer said people who oppose the track should bring forward viable alternatives.

Michael Sidor said he had lost sleep over his stand, which has been generally negative, but he was not opposed to a vigorous discussion. Thomas Glasgow was absent.

Arlington Park leadership had sent a “white paper” about the expansion of gambling to trustees over the weekend. Tony Petrillo, general manager of the track, was in the audience, but he did not speak. After the meeting he said he was pleased with the stand.

Judith Royal, an outspoken opponent of gambling expansion, also attended the meeting and did not speak.

Slots: Dissenting trustee says no further meeting on stand will be needed