Politics & Government

Drury Calls for Highwood Gambling Referendum

Mayor postpones Nov. 19 vote by Highwood City Council to allow video gaming.

With the Highwood City Council debating whether to permit video gaming in the city and the rest of the town jumping into the discussion, state Rep. Scott Drury (D-Highwood) called for a referendum of the voters to decide the issue today at a public forum in Highwood.

Neither Highwood Mayor Charlie Pecaro nor Alderman Brad Slavin, who were at the meeting organized by Drury, would agree to put the question to a vote of the citizenry. Pecaro did say the Council would not vote on a proposed ordinance at its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday as originally planned.

“We’re not ready for a vote yet,” Pecaro said after the meeting. “We need to do our due diligence. We need to have a discussion.” He is not thrilled with the idea of gaming but sees the ordinance as one way to derive income for needed infrastructure repairs. Slavin favors the idea.

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Drury, who opposes video gambling in Highwood, gave his reasons early in the meeting including the fact it is not the vision he has for his hometown. Midway through comments from some of the more than 60 people who attended, Drury suggested the voters of Highwood make the decision.

“All you have to do is get 25 percent of the people to sign a petition to put it on a ballot,” Drury said. “Nothing would make this show Highwood better than having the people decide. Table it and have a referendum. That’s democracy.”

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Neither Pecaro nor Slavin said how they felt about a referendum when Drury made his suggestion and then turned to them and asked. After the meeting, neither showed much enthusiasm.

“I don’t have a problem with it personally but I am concerned about how it would affect future mayors and future councils,” Pecaro said.

Slavin felt a non binding referendum might help him and his fellow lawmakers judge the pulse of the community. He expressed concern about a binding referendum that was decided by a slim margin.

A number of people spoke offering either opposition or support while others wanted to know how thoroughly the Council studied the issue. Many longtime community members were there and remained silent.


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