Voters to decide on video bingo

• By DEBRA LEMOINE
• Advocate Florida parishes bureau
• Published: Nov 3, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:00 a.m.

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HAMMOND — A nine-month effort comes to a close Tuesday with a referendum before Hammond voters to either prohibit or continue to allow video bingo.

Voters can cast a “yes” vote to ban electronic video bingo in the city limits on Jan. 1, 2009, or a “no” vote to keep the games. The measure does not include live-call bingo games.

A grass-roots campaign against video bingo formed after the City Council adopted a zoning change in February that allowed Tangi Lanes Bowling to open the city’s third parlor. That parlor, Bingo Alley, opened on May 9.

The opposition formed a group called the Citizens for a Better Community and held a petition drive to put a measure before the voters to ban the games under a clause of the city’s Home Rule Charter.

“These video bingo casinos were snuck in without people having a choice,” said Douglas Brown, a Hammond attorney and member of Citizens for a Better Community. “After this election, I don’t think anyone will be able to suggest anything other than: the people have spoken.”

Video bingo is much like video poker in that users insert money into machines to play the games.

Video bingo machines, however, are used by sponsoring charities for fundraising purposes.

Charities receive 45 percent of the take on the games, which is incoming money minus payout to winners, according to the state Office of Charitable Gaming. Out of that 45 percent, charities pay $200 to $500 per six-hour session in rent to the owner of the video bingo hall and pay their volunteers $10 an hour to work the sessions, the state agency says.

Another 35 percent of the take goes to the owner of the video bingo machines, and the remaining 20 percent goes to the city for use on capital projects and a proposed children’s museum, according to the Hammond ordinances.

Proponents of video bingo say keeping the games is about allowing people the freedom to make their own choices and providing income to the charities that sponsor the video bingo sessions.

“There’s so many worthwhile things that are done with that money that the average person doesn’t have a clue about,” said Vito Mele, a volunteer for Richard Murphy Hospice in Hammond who runs the games for the charity.

Helen Addison, administrator for Hammond Strawberry Fields, said her organization uses video bingo proceeds to buy generators for community houses. The charity provides services for persons with physical and mental handicaps.

Noting that the income varies from month to month, Addison said video bingo brings in about $4,000 a month after expenses.