Bessemer’s gambling battle is spreading to the circuit court system, and the city’s residents and general fund could be the biggest losers.
For months, City Council President Earl Cochran vowed to continue pushing plans to bring slot machines, referred to as electronic bingo, to Bessemer. With consistent votes from Councilor Jesse Matthews and fellow bingo committee members Louise Alexander and Dorothy Davidson, Cochran attempted to pass several “electronic bingo” ordinances but was prohibited by vetoes from Mayor Edward May.
Now the four council members are suing May and acting City Clerk Travis Brooks to invalidate one of May’s vetoes and direct him to issue bingo permits in the city. “They are asking the court to rule that my veto was untimely, therefore making the ordinance valid,” May told The Alabama Baptist. “If that were the case, then Bessemer would have an (‘electronic bingo’) ordinance and the people (casino operators) could open up under that ordinance.”
While Bessemer’s gambling facilities remain closed to avoid raids from city police, other casinos in the Bessemer Cut-off area of Jefferson County have reopened following a March 8 ruling by Jefferson County Circuit Judge Robert Vance.
Now the circuit court will decide whether May or the bingo committee holds the trump card concerning gambling in Bessemer. The council members who filed the lawsuit are being represented by Birmingham attorney Kim Davidson, who May said was not authorized by the full council.
“They are acting off the advice of a lawyer who is a proponent of electronic bingo who was not present during the time of the veto,” May said. “I think her opinion is flawed and compromised because I think she is working for other operators of bingo. She is doing what a lawyer is not supposed to do. … I think she is giving an opinion that will generate work and income for her.”
Cochran and Kim Davidson did not respond to calls by press time.
Since the ordinance being debated does not include the Alabama Supreme Court’s six-pronged test for determining legal bingo and the city must foot the bill for Kim Davidson and two additional attorneys needed to represent May and Brooks, May called the lawsuit a “waste of money.” He said it could easily cost the city between $60,000 and $150,000, denying important services to its residents.
“I was told they are trying to get Lucky Royale (an area casino) to open up in anticipation that I would shut them down, then file an injunction with Judge Eugene Verin, and I was told that he was prepared to do it. … The question is are they going to risk opening before the judge enters an order? If they do and the judge enters the order invalidating my veto, any reasonable person would have to conclude that the court or the judge has been compromised.”
According to May, Circuit Judge Dan King refused to become involved with the case but Verin has set a status conference for April 1 to schedule the case’s timeline.
While the four city councilors are pursuing their case against the mayor, a Bessemer resident is suing them for violating the Alabama Open Meetings Act (OMA).
Plaintiff Thomas Pack named 11 dates when the group “conducted meetings without proper notice and in violation of the OMA” to further its plans for legalizing and expanding gambling in Bessemer.
In his complaint, Pack said these actions are “detrimental to and for the citizens of Bessemer and have resulted in unauthorized use of taxpayer funds from the general fund of the city of Bessemer.” According to him, these actions include hiring an attorney to file cases without approval of the full council and approving renewal licenses and applications for “bingo operations” proposed for the city.
The three other city councilors, who have consistently voted against gambling in Bessemer, have often complained in council meetings that they did not receive notice of the bingo committee’s meetings or documents of its actions.
“The purpose of a committee is to investigate and make recommendations based on what they’ve found for action of the full council,” Councilor James Stephens said. “A committee has no authority to take action or to authorize any actions. They’ve authorized a lawsuit, transfers of bingo licenses and approval of bingo licenses without the full council.”
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