Confusion abounds in Walker County as supporters and opponents of electronic bingo gambling for charity continue to disagree on where, when or even if bingo halls should operate in the area.
A slow-moving court case has only added to the confusion as the presiding judge recently reinforced his previous order to keep all bingo enforcement “to status quo.” “Nobody knows what that means or what we can or can’t do,” said Deputy Randy Fielding, Walker County’s gaming compliance officer. “We mostly monitor right now.”
Fielding said permits for charities are being renewed as they expire but can’t be issued to any new charities until the case is resolved.
While the county awaits the judge’s ruling, which will determine the legality of currently used bingo machines, the area’s gambling industry continues to grow, according to Fielding.
“We have more permits than we have bingo halls to use them,” he said. “We have 327 charities that are registered in my office. Each bingo hall only needs about 15 to be open 24 hours a day, six days a week.”
Since charities can be swapped around to open new bingo operations, Fielding said even more bingo halls can be added to the 18 or 19 currently located around the county.
Fielding noted four halls are in the process of being built: one in Sumiton (see story, this page), two in the Eldridge area and one on Argo Hill on U.S. Highway 78, an area he refers to as “Bingo Alley.”
In a recent press conference, the Walker County Political Accountability Coalition addressed the area’s “explosion of casinos” and the reported $1.8 million paid to the county for permits this fiscal year.
“The money is only a small bribe being paid so that out-of-county and out-of-state pirates can take away hundreds of millions of dollars in cash,” said Bucky Rizzo, co-chair of the nondenominational, nonpartisan group. “Any business which operates in cash leaves the door open to … corruption, bribery or fraud.”
Rizzo believes the County Commission should not have issued any permits until the courts decided the legality of the “casinos.”
“It is incredible and shameful that our local law enforcement ‘negotiates’ with casino owners about how they will be regulated,” Rizzo said. “They have not given us the protection they are required by law to give us nor have they represented the best interest of the majority of the citizens of Walker County.”
Sen. Charles Bishop, R-Jasper, also sees the opportunity for corruption with several million dollars being generated through what he thinks is “illegal gambling.”
He added that history teaches that large amounts of cash, which are almost impossible to track, create corruption.
“You need not look any further back than Phenix City,” Bishop said, referring to the city’s rampant crime, corruption, gambling and prostitution of the 1940s and early 1950s. “In the end, there were even people that got killed there. Walker County, to me, is awfully close to being another Phenix City. … It’s not a pretty site.”
He thinks bingo supporters are trying to keep motions before the judge to slow down his ability to make a ruling and will continue to do that as long as they can get away with it. But Bishop added, “We desperately need a decision.”
Fielding said part of the reason the case has dragged on for about two years now is because every one of the charities has an attorney — meaning there are more than 300 involved in the case.
“You will never get 300 attorneys to agree on anything,” he said. “I just wish we could get on to enforcing the rules, but we don’t know what the rules are until the judge gives us a ruling.”
Regardless of the decision in this case, Lee Taylor doesn’t believe it will end the county’s gambling woes. “The owners of these machines are prepared either way,” said Taylor, pastor of First Baptist Church, Dora, and president of Walker County for Moral Leadership, a citizen-led group against electronic gambling. “If the judge rules that the machines are illegal, I have already seen the new machines they will be replaced with. For us, the only way to win or get rid of bingo is to have a ballot vote in Walker County to allow the people to vote bingo in or out.”
Although Fielding said supporters at bingo rallies outnumber opponents 10-to-1, Bishop said polls show that people in the area would vote against bingo if they had the chance. “I think those numbers are growing because the people here in the county are beginning to see the overall damage that is occurring because of these casinos,” he said. “I think if the two other representatives, Rep. (Ken) Guin and Rep. (Tommy) Sherer, don’t allow the people to vote on this, they will be replaced without question in the next elections.”
According to Taylor, county commissioners voted unanimously about two months ago to petition the legislators to allow this vote but have not proceeded on the matter since.
“They are dragging their feet,” he said. “I have no idea why they are being so slow about it. If they voted unanimously, it should be done.”
Despite the commission’s inactivity, Bishop plans to again introduce legislation making electronic bingo gambling illegal in Walker County during the 2009 legislative session.
And the coalition plans to help with this legislation.
“You might fool the people of this county once, but we don’t think you can fool them twice,” Rizzo said.
In the mean time, Bishop, Rizzo, Taylor and other area leaders plan to continue fighting the bingo halls they say are hurting families and business throughout the county.
“It’s a joke what’s going on in this county,” Bishop said. “Fast-loan places and pawn shops are the only new industries we are getting. It’s tearing the county apart.”
Taylor asks that Christians in Alabama make this a matter of prayer.
“We are praying that God’s will will be done through all of this,” he said. “God said that some things can only happen through fasting and prayer. I think this is one of those things because this is bigger than we are. This is a God-sized task, and only God is going to be able to give the victory to the Christians and the people of Walker County.” (Krista Leonard contributed)
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