Ronnie Gilley, a native of Enterprise and lifelong Republican who voted for Gov. Bob Riley in the last two gubernatorial elections, is the developer of the 400-acre country music entertainment hall Country Crossing in Dothan.
Gilley originally wanted to build his business in his hometown, located in Coffee. He went with Houston County because Coffee County would not give him a liquor license and Houston County had a bingo amendment.
Gilley was able to draw in stars like Randy Owen, George Jones and Darryl Worley to help throw their weight behind slot machine-style gambling, one of Country Crossing’s features.
One way he tried to use the influence of several country music stars was by bringing them to legislative public hearings to influence lawmakers to pass a bill legalizing and expanding so-called bingo gambling in Alabama.
Gilley said he did not really care one way or the other about “electronic bingo” but it was the way to fund his vision quickly. However, when asked if money from another source were available for his project would he give up on the “bingo” idea, he would not answer.
Also during the 2009 legislative session, Billy Graham (not the evangelist), vice president of Gilley’s business, Ronnie Gilley Properties, LLC, founded Enterprise-based Sweet Home Alabama Coalition, which sponsored commercials across the state calling for taxation of the so-called electronic bingo gambling industry. The group supported legislation that attempted to redefine and expand gambling in Alabama. Gilley told The Alabama Baptist that he is a member of the coalition.
In addition to the support of the country music stars, Gilley was given approval by Attorney General Troy King and his former assistant Kevin Steely, who also encouraged the county commission’s adoption of the electronic bingo ordinance.
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