How Burr Ridge Officials View Video Gambling

BURR RIDGE, IL – A majority of Burr Ridge trustees said last week they would oppose gambling in town.

In 2010, the village decided against allowing such activity. And eight years later, officials arrived at the same conclusion.

A few months ago, Trustee Joe Snyder asked for the issue to be brought up again before the seven-member Village Board.

Trustees agreed that virtually all the written public comments they have received opposed video gambling.

Such was also the case with the people speaking about the issue at last week's Village Board meeting, except an industry representative.

At the meeting, Trustee Guy Franzese objected to video gambling. He noted the debt-free village's finances are strong, so it has no need to rely on gambling taxes.

"We can pick and choose our revenue streams," Franzese said. "That's why we don't have red light cameras in our village. We don't want to prey on our residents."

In recent times, Franzese said he has witnessed video gamblers in nearby towns. People come in, get a drink and spend time alone gambling, he said. Others leave their family and friends at tables and play alone.

"To me, that's not social. That's not what our restaurants are about," Franzese said.

He also said the branding and cultural impact of gambling on Burr Ridge would far outweigh any gain in taxes.

Trustee Tony Schiappa agreed.

"I don't think there are any positive connotations to gambling," he said. "There's always a winner and a loser in gambling. If we move forward with this, Burr Ridge would be the loser."

Trustee Al Paveza said the aggravation of video gambling for the village was not worth the relatively small amount of taxes. And Trustee Anita Mital said video gambling could tarnish the reputation that Burr Ridge has worked so hard to build.

Meanwhile, Trustee Russell Smith said Snyder showed courage in bringing up the issue. Smith said he would only support video gambling if the taxes were dedicated to a specific purpose, such as paying for police pensions.

Snyder said his goal was to bring forward information about the topic. He took issue with a resident's allegation that restaurants and bars showed greediness and laziness when they asked for video gambling.

Mayor Gary Grasso did not take a position on video gambling, but he said he feared he would have to use his gavel. He did not, which he credited to residents and officials showing civility.

"It's so absent in our society when we get in a room like this when we're talking about a sensitive subject, and this is – we're talking about culture. I do believe video gaming affects the culture of our village," Grasso said.

He said part of trustees' job is to think about the future.

"Just because we're considering something doesn't mean we're all in favor of it," the mayor said.

He said the issue may not come up again.