Mayor favors Brookfield's ban on gambling machines

But city panel has recommended repeal

Brookfield -- Mayor Jeff Speaker favors the city's ban on video gambling machines, he said Tuesday.

"Why should we legalize something that's illegal?" Speaker asked in an interview.

Possessing five or fewer machines is a non-criminal offense with a forfeiture of up to $500 per machine. Possessing six or more machines is a felony punishable by possible prison time and fines.

A veteran police officer before being elected mayor, Speaker says he knows his opinion is at odds with local tavern owners who are pushing Brookfield police to stop regulating the machines. The tavern owners prefer turning over enforcement to the state Department of Revenue, which focuses on sales and income tax violations related to the machines.

The city's Legislative and Licensing Committee voted 4-1 on Sept. 22 to recommend that the city repeal its local ordinance banning video gaming devices, and the Common Council was scheduled to vote on the recommendation Tuesday night.

But that same committee later asked that the matter be tabled so the city attorney can tinker with the revised ordinance language.

About two dozen tavern owners and members of American Legion Post 449 filled the Council Chambers on Tuesday, but left after learning there would be no vote.

The debate began last spring when tavern owners cried foul after police ordered businesses to remove all video gambling machines or face possible confiscations or forfeitures. Police Chief Dan Tushaus sent businesses a letter in February after police detectives found 35 illegal machines in nine businesses.

In the committee meeting Tuesday, Ald. Steve Ponto said that he did not want to give residents or businesses the impression that the city is saying the machines are legal. He merely wants to do what other communities are doing, and that is to defer enforcement to the state, Ponto said.

Taverns statewide have been fighting for years to legalize video gambling in their establishments, saying they were losing substantial entertainment dollars to American Indian casinos. State lawmakers, while unwilling to allow gambling machines in every corner pub and truck stop, have been easing the rules for years.

In summer 2003, they designated the state Department of Revenue, and not local police or state Justice Department agents, to handle enforcement of places caught with five or fewer illegal machines.

But local police officers still can remove gaming machines if their municipality has an ordinance banning the devices. Brookfield has an ordinance, as do Port Washington and West Allis. Brookfield's ordinance has existed since 1961.

The city's neighbors, Wauwatosa, Menomonee Falls and Waukesha, do not have a local prohibition on gaming devices.

The Mount Pleasant Village Board in Racine County voted in April to eliminate its local anti-gambling device ordinance, saying enforcement would be handled solely by the state Department of Revenue.

Brookfield tavern owners say inequities in enforcement in the area are making the city an island and causing them to lose patrons to neighboring communities.

Copyright 2004 Journal Sentinel Inc. Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.