Evanston Mayor Joan Barr says riverboat-style gambling on Lake Michigan is a bad idea.
”I just don`t think that is a decent way to raise money,” she said.
”No matter how tight you make legislation or stringent you are, there is just an element involved in the gambling industry, and you can do without that in Illinois.”
But to Mayor Bobby Thompson of North Chicago, riverboat-style gambling could mean more jobs and taxes for a city hard hit by the closing of factories over the last several decades.
”I think we should make an effort to get it here, although some people might be against that,” Thompson said. ”But the same people will go to Las Vegas and Iowa. We may just as well get a share of that revenue. I am kind of hoping the bill will pass. This will be a way of keeping taxes from going up for a period of time, maybe forever.”
The topic of riverboat-style gambling quickly became one of interest Tuesday for officials and residents along Lake Michigan, one day after state Rep. John Matijevich (D-North Chicago) said he will introduce legislation to legalize gambling on Lake Michigan off Cook and Lake Counties.
Some municipal leaders, particularly those in northern Lake County, say they believe gambling could be the revenue-making machine needed to turn their financially strapped communities around. Others, especially those from affluent North Shore communities, say they are not convinced that gambling would bring anything but organized crime and trouble to the area.
And there are those who say they have focused little attention on the issue because they are convinced they will not reap any of the benefits.
”I don`t think there will be any great hue and cry for or against it,”
said Mayor Charles Clark of Lake Forest. ”I don`t see where we will be involved.”
Matijevich said he will amend a bill that failed to pass the House in the spring session that would permit Lake Michigan gambling in Lake County only. The new measure, to be introduced in the fall veto session, would call for three riverboat licenses to be issued in Cook County and two in Lake County.
State law specifically excludes riverboat-type gambling on Lake Michigan and in Cook County but permits 10 riverboat licenses for other parts of the state.
Legislators in Wisconsin also are considering floating casinos on Lake Michigan.
Charles Isley, the president of the Lake County Chamber of Commerce, said the casinos would have a positive economic impact on Waukegan.
He said all one has to do is look at the off-track betting facility in Waukegan. He said it does not necessarily draw more gamblers to the area, but it keeps the money that would be going out of the county.
”When I talk to people there, they say they used to travel to Arlington
(International Racecourse), but now they don`t,” said Iity, where races from Arlington are broadcast, is one reason why Rev. Paul J. Cull of St. Dismas Catholic Church has no problem with the riverboat proposal.
He said the facility has presented no problems in the city and that it has brought in revenue for Waukegan.
”Our church is not against it, providing there are legitimate safeguards on who is running it and a cap on how much people can spend,” Cull said.
But Deloris Axelrod, the vice president of the Lake County Board, said she would need more proof that riverboat gambling improves the quality of life before she supports it.
