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Birmingham: During the Aug. 4 Birmingham City Council meeting, council members decided to delay approving electronic bingo gambling permit applications for eight weeks.
Before the council meeting, 14 nonprofit organizations sought permits to operate 17 electronic bingo gambling businesses at various points around the city.
According to The Birmingham News, Councilwoman Valerie Abbott also requested a moratorium on such approvals until the issue is settled by the Supreme Court but the motion was rejected.
Covington County: Electronic bingo gambling in Covington County is a “dead issue,” according to Commissioner Harold Elmore. After months of considering whether to allow and regulate electronic bingo gambling in the area, commissioners decided during a June meeting to wait and see how the issue plays out in the state’s court system. But gambling opponents in Covington County have not let their guard down.
“No one seems to be pressing the issue at this point, which we hope is a good thing,” said Fred Karthaus, pastor of First Baptist Church, Andalusia, in Covington Baptist Association. “We’re just waiting and seeing and monitoring the County Commission meetings to make sure there is not an issue brought up.”
Elmore believes the public, not county commissioners, should decide whether electronic bingo gambling is played in the county.
“I don’t think the County Commission ought to have that much authority,” he said. “I think it’s too much responsibility for a man to have that much power.”
St. Clair County: Mayor Robert McKay says he has abandoned his plans to bring electronic bingo gambling to Ashville because it “disrupted a lot of lives.”
“We were depending on electronic bingo to be our (financial) savior, and it looked very promising but it didn’t last long,” McKay said referring to the stay granted by the Alabama Supreme Court in July halting electronic games after less than two weeks of operation. “We feel like we have been thumbed over, and everybody else has continued to play.”
Before the stay was allowed, McKay said Ashville gained nearly $13,000 from electronic bingo gambling at the American Legion Hall where he serves as business manager, now an unpaid position. The facility employed about 75 people, and payroll was more than $42,000 during the 10 days, McKay added.
Now the facility has returned to the paper bingo games offered in the past but McKay said it’s not making as much money as before. “People are wanting to play the electronic version (offered by nearby counties),” he added. “We have to go to the bank and take money out to operate.”
McKay believes the state’s electronic bingo gambling debate is political. “I feel like we have been singled out. In other counties, (the sheriff and district attorney) are sitting on their hands saying the money is great.”
In nearby Argo, the mayor and city council are considering allowing electronic bingo gambling to operate in the city hall because it is in Jefferson County, which currently doesn’t have a clear rule on how the game can be operated.
Jefferson County: Sheriff Mike Hale is ready to move forward with establishing bingo permit application rules.
“Previously Sheriff Hale had been advised by the former District Attorney David Barber that it was the responsibility of the county governing body to issue bingo permits and promulgate the rules for bingo,” said Lt. Randy Christian in the sheriff’s public/media relations bureau.
“A recent ruling by Judge Scott Vowell superseded Barber’s opinion. Since that ruling, the sheriff’s office has sent the rules and the permit application process to [Jefferson County] District Attorney Brandon Falls and District Attorney Arthur Green in the Bessemer Cut-Off (Bessemer district of Jefferson County) for their review, opinion and acceptance since they have to prosecute these cases. We are waiting to hear back from them with any changes they recommend before moving forward,” Christian said.
Jefferson County Deputy District Attorney Joe Basgier said although electronic bingo gambling is always “on the front burner,” the county’s current budget crisis has “consumed” his office lately.
EDITOR’S NOTE — As a way to consistently monitor electronic bingo gambling issues across the state, The Alabama Baptist will provide updates such as these each week.
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