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Bessemer: “They did us a favor,” Mayor Ed May said Oct. 20 after the Bessemer City Council failed to override his veto of a second electronic bingo gambling ordinance passed Oct. 6.
But May believes his fight to keep electronic games out of the city is far from over since council President Earl Cochran refused to accept May’s veto and is said to be working on an electronic bingo gambling permit application.
The ordinance, voted 4–2–1 by the council, would have allowed bingo facilities around the city to operate 24–7 except from 12:01 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Sundays.
In his veto, May cited the “alarming and unanticipated” growth rate of controversy surrounding electronic bingo gambling operations in Jefferson County.
“It becomes more and more obvious each day that the legality of the gaming device on which this new game of bingo would be played is truly at the heart of the controversy,” May wrote.
“As you can see, the law is very unsettled in this area and until municipalities are given clear directions or at least one defining decision is rendered by the Alabama Supreme Court, the governing body of the city of Bessemer would appear remiss if it succumbs to the pressure of outside entities and legalize the playing of bingo by electronic means in Bessemer.”
But Cochran, who heads the electronic bingo gambling committee named to prepare the ordinance, and council member Louise Alexander, also a member of the bingo committee, questioned the timing of the veto.
May, City Clerk Travis Brooks and City Attorney Aaron Killings all verified the veto was turned in before the required 10-day period was up, but Cochran and Alexander claim it was not.
“How do we know (the veto) hit the clerk’s hand within 10 days,” Alexander said. “You can go back and stamp anything. … He (the clerk) is going to say or do whatever it takes to keep his job.”
In turn, the council neither accepted nor rejected the mayor’s veto. It just ignored it.
Killings said the Alabama Code is clear.
“At the first regular meeting, the council can vote to override the veto,” he said. “When you don’t do it, the veto stands.”
Council member James Stephens agreed.
“No action at all is paramount to upholding the veto.”
Still Cochran said he will proceed with his plans.
“We’ve got a bingo ordinance because the council didn’t vote to accept (the mayor’s veto),” Cochran said. “We’ve got applications coming in. We’re getting ready to go to work.”
After the council meeting, Stephens said he recently was told bingo operators are trying to open a facility in a skating rink in his district.
But the city’s permit office said it had not received any applications.
Regardless of Cochran’s actions, May said he has given the fire, building and inspections and zoning departments, as well as the chief of police, “directives not to proceed on anything that has to do with (electronic) bingo.”
Alabama Supreme Court: Gov. Bob Riley and St. Clair County District Attorney Richard Minor have moved one step closer to receiving a once-and-for-all electronic bingo gambling judgment from the Alabama Supreme Court.
On Oct. 22, Riley’s office issued a press release stating the two parties had jointly filed their final brief in challenging Ashville’s city ordinance allowing electronic games.
“Slot machines are illegal in every county of this state — period,” Riley said.
“But because Alabama’s law against slot machines is not being uniformly enforced, they are popping up in communities throughout the state. Now, finally, all the legal maneuvering is over and the Supreme Court has the opportunity to issue a final decision both in this case and (in similar litigation in) White Hall.”
According to the press release, if gambling interests win, “the decision could embolden organized gambling interests who are pushing similar measures to bring slot machine gambling into other communities all over the state.”
The press release added, “If the governor and district attorney win, however, the Supreme Court could issue a ruling that effectively shuts down slot machine casinos operating throughout the state.”
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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