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Bessemer: The Bessemer Police Department returned to the area American Legion Hall Sept. 8 to seize the nearly 280 electronic bingo gambling machines left after its first raid Aug. 28, but the devices had been removed. Mayor Ed May said the machines had to have been removed some time after the city acquired a new search warrant late Sept. 4. The first raid was halted after Judge Eric Fancher issued a cease and desist order while the raid was taking place.
“They knew we were coming,” May told The Alabama Baptist. “If you all are legitimate, why do you have to remove them under the cover of darkness?”
Supposedly the door was padlocked and an officer was guarding the door. No explanation to what happened to the machines had been reported at press time.
And as for the controversial electronic bingo gambling ordinance that is being revised by a bingo committee appointed by Council President Earl Cochran, confusion still exists.
While Cochran reported Sept. 4 that a new electronic bingo ordinance was going to be presented to the council soon, he said Sept. 8 “nothing is happening right now.” He said he needed to talk to “my lawyer” first, referring to the council’s attorney, Greg Harris.
The Birmingham News has reported that Harris and the city attorney, Aaron Killings, are working with Cochran on the new ordinance, but May does not believe that to be the case. He said he specifically does not want Killings working on it.
Council member Louise Alexander, who serves on the bingo committee and has been charged with five counts of state ethics law violations, said the first bingo ordinance — which passed the council 5 to 2 — was vetoed because of something the attorneys added to it. But May said he vetoed the bill based on his religious convictions and obligations to the city as mayor.
“As a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I have an obligation to not do the things that would cause harm to my brothers and the city,” said May, who is also an associate pastor at New Bethlehem Baptist Church, Bessemer. “Gambling could not do the community any good. It gives the community where it is located a negative image, and those people that would most participate in those activities are the ones that can least afford it. … It creates another level of poverty.”
May said electronic bingo gambling leaders want to give the impression that they are coming to the city’s aid financially, but the games would cause the city to suffer by decreasing revenue.
“They talk about gambling creating revenue but it doesn’t do that because revenue is already here,” he said. “If gambling activities were to come, the city, at best, would only be replacing a significant portion of the revenue they are already getting through consumable products that we would ordinarily receive sales taxes on.”
May added, “I’m very concerned that some of the elected officials might have motives other than the care and concern of the citizens. I’m very concerned that there may be some motives that may not be ethical or legal and definitely not moral.”
May said he would only allow an ordinance to pass if electronic bingo gambling is deemed legal by the state Legislature or Supreme Court.
Birmingham: Birmingham City Council candidates received more than $25,000 in campaign contributions from political action committees (PAC) heavily supported by “gambling interests,” according to The Birmingham News. More donations were “untraceable” since many PACs had not disclosed their information to the Secretary of State office as required by Alabama’s Fair Campaign Practices Act.
Contributors playing a part in the race include the Poarch Creek Band of Indians, who own three “casinos” in the state, and Ronnie Gilley Enterprises, which is currently developing a large entertainment destination and electronic bingo gambling facility in Dothan.
Victoryland racetrack owner Milton McGregor reportedly gave $100,000 to a PAC that gave $7,500 to Council President Carole Smitherman’s campaign.
According to the News, a PAC funded by Jimmy Brewer, who is involved with Creekside Charity Bingo in Walker County, gave more than $11,000 to various council candidates to ensure the city would create a “strong and effective bingo ordinance.”
Walker County: Since the first electronic bingo gambling facilities began popping up across the state, gambling opponents have questioned how much charities would receive from bingo operations because bingo operations in Alabama are supposed to be for charity. Now court documents submitted by bingo operators in Walker County have shed some light on the issue.
According to The Birmingham News, some charities have paid as much as $92,000 per month for building leases and “some pay up to 90 percent of the profits from each machine in machine rental fees.”
“The charities, if in fact they are charities, are getting ripped off because the people who control the money determine which way it goes,” said Bucky Rizzo, chairman of the Walker County Political Action Committee, which is fighting the gambling efforts. “So the charities are not going to get anything. [The bingo operators] are going to do everything they can to hide how much actual money they are taking in, and they are going to make their expenses so exorbitant that nobody’s going to get anything but them.”
After Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Robert Vance ordered six electronic bingo gambling facilities to shut their doors when evidence they submitted proved them to be illegal operations, the facilities slightly changed their business models before the deadline and were allowed to stay open.
But Rizzo said according to the 1993 bingo resolution passed by the Walker County Commission, this new business model is not legal.
“When [Judge Vance] starts looking at the total resolution, he is not going to allow them to stack charities, and that’s what they are doing,” he noted. “To be able to operate 24 (hours) six (days a week), you’ve got to have 15 charities. … They cannot stack charities for the purpose of increasing the amount they can give out in prizes. But they are doing whatever they want to right now. One bingo facility [advertised giving away] $50,000 on Labor Day even though they are only supposed to give out $3,250 per session or $6,500 per week.”
The next court date is set for Oct. 13.
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