With proposals floating around the state legislature to allow slots at Arlington Park, some candidates for village board said they are open to that expansion of gaming, while others said they are opposed.
(Photos: Arlington Heights board of trustees candidates)
Incumbent Thomas Hayes and newcomer Mike Sidor, who is a small business owner, are opposed to slots.
“I’m fundamentally against expanded gambling in Arlington Heights,” Sidor said. “I don’t think it fits in our image. I don’t think I can even say much more than that.”
He wants officials to focus on attracting businesses and not rely on slot machines for revenue.
The village’s image also matters to Hayes.
“It’s not a moral issue,” he said. “But I just don’t think our village wants to publicize the fact in our promotional brochures: Come to Arlington Heights to gamble. Horse racing and casino gambling are apples and oranges. Its not the same thing.”
He opposes legislative proposals in Springfield because they would add as many as 1,200 slot machines to the track. Because they’d likely be housed in a separate building, that makes it a land-based casino to Hayes, something he would never support.
He said he would be more flexible on the idea of installing a limited number of slot machines that would operate in conjunction with the racing season.
Bruce Green, an architect and chairman of the zoning board, also is concerned about a casino popping up in the village.
“I’d love to have this decision back into our lap so that proposals can be made so people can learn about it to the fullest extent before we get to vote on it,” Green said. “I don’t like the idea that we’re getting it crammed down our throat, whatever they’re going to come up with.”
The park could be allowed slot machines without approval of the Arlington Heights Village Board.
Green said if horse racing remains paramount and slot machines a supplemental activity, he may support the expansion if he can see a building design.
Trustee John Scaletta, manager of Arlington Theaters, supports the idea of slots at the track in order to keep it viable, but like Green, he would want to see a concrete design proposal. He said he wants to know what the slot area would look like, how it would interface with the track and what kind of issues it would bring.
“It’s bigger than just saying, ‘Yes, I’m in support of slots and we’ll just work out all the details later,’” he said. “I would really like to see what the plan is prior to saying yes, I am in support of that.
“I think that the additional revenue to the village would be very important to keeping taxes low,” Scaletta said.
Trustee Carol Blackwood, a vice president of Village Bank & Trust, also pointed to the design and planning process as a way for trustees to weigh in should slots come to the park. But she believes the park, like any business, should be able to make its own decisions about what it needs to remain viable.
“Who am I to tell them how to run their business?” she said. “People know their business, they know their skills, they know their strength and weaknesses. From my perspective, everything at Arlington Park has always been done in a world class manner, so if they elect to, or are selected to be, the recipient of slot machines and they want them, then from my perspective they should be able to go ahead and do their business.”
