In an echo of Waukegan’s last mayoral race, dollars tied to the video gambling industry appear to be a significant force in Waukegan’s aldermanic races, campaign disclosure records show.
About $47,000 in donations has been declared across the nine wards so far, a third of which was contributed by the Waukegan Voter Alliance, a political action committee created in January and primarily funded by Video Gaming United PAC and Tap Room Gaming.
The Waukegan Voter Alliance, the single largest donor so far across the aldermanic races, has contributed at least $12,400 over nine donations to 7th Ward candidate John Patterson, who is running to replace outgoing Ald. Lisa May; and at least $3,200 in two donations to 2nd Ward incumbent Ald. Patrick Seger, who like Patterson is a Democrat, records show.
The tallies only include donations of at least $1,000, which are required under state law to be reported within five days most of the time, and within two days once the election is 30 days away.
Smaller donations won’t be reported until campaigns submit their quarterly reports in April. State law gives them until April 15 — nearly two weeks after the April 2 election — to submit those reports, which show all the donations they received between Jan. 1 and March 31.
Mailers and other campaign literature show the Waukegan Voter Alliance has also thrown its support behind incumbent 1st Ward Ald. Sylvia Sims Bolton, 4th Ward candidate Roudell Kirkwood, 6th Ward candidate Keith Turner and 9th Ward candidate Annette Darden, all Democrats.
The political action committee was formed to, “protect hundreds of small businesses who have been under attack by some members of the Waukegan City Council,” Michael Bond, a former state senator from Grayslake and current chief executive officer of Tap Room Gaming, said in a written statement.
“These business owners employ thousands of people across our community and provide significant tax revenue to Waukegan,” Bond said in the statement. “When these politicians decided to go after our small businesses and the jobs of our friends and family members, we decided it was time to fight back.”
May, who is not seeking re-election in the 7th Ward, said she knows some local businesses have been saved by the extra money brought in by video gambling, but she’s also heard from a lot of residents who think, “there’s too much, it’s over-saturated and they’re tired of looking at all the signs.”
Bond has also been meeting with many of the incumbent aldermen over the last several months with ideas for the 32 acres purchased by the city at Fountain Square in 2003 with an eye toward bringing in a casino, according to three aldermen who had met with Bond.
Bond declined to answer any questions beyond his statement.
Taylor, who is currently wrapping up her first term, said she thinks if a casino is going to be built in Waukegan, it would be better at the lakefront. Either way, she said, the city should go through a public request-for-proposal process.
Taylor added she met with Bond about his Fountain Square proposal in early December where she was shown renderings, but said the project didn’t have any commitments from the other businesses that would be involved.
“You can have a plan and you can talk to aldermen, but when you’re financially supporting them to the degree they are, that changes things,” she said.
A casino is “never mentioned” in the mailers funded by the Waukegan Voter Alliance, said candidate Alicia Giles, who is running against Seger and another independent Jose L. Guzman in the 2nd Ward.
“It’s disguised as, ‘We’re pro economic development and selling city-owned property and protecting our city services,’” Giles said. “They use these veiled phrases to not say casino, but they mean casino. They’re not being very transparent. If the casino were popular, they would just come out and says support our candidate, they’re pro-casino.”
Multiple attempts to reach Patterson and Seger to discuss the contributions and their positions on video gambling and a casino were unsuccessful.
Darden, who is running against Taylor in the 9th Ward, declined to answer any questions and instead issued a one-paragraph statement.
“As I walk door to door talking with voters, they’re not concerned about labels and parties,” Darden said in the statement. “Voters are concerned about our high property taxes, politicians who enrich themselves and city budgets. … I will fight for our local taxpayers and support proposals that reduce property taxes while putting more money into our schools and roads.”
Taylor, who posted about Darden’s contributions on her campaign website and Facebook, contrasted her own donations, which all came from 9th Ward residents, from Darden’s. Taylor said the fact that most — if not all — of Darden’s donations have come from a single business interest raises ethical concerns.
Taylor has received seven big-ticket donations totaling $27,000, the most of any candidate, campaign disclosure records show. Her opponent has not declared any donations greater than $1,000, though Taylor said she’s received seven mailings from Darden over the course of the campaign.
May said the amount of money being spent by the video gambling industry in the aldermanic races is “really astounding.”
Rivera said the amount of money his opponent, a downtown business owner, has received has made it hard to compete. According to Rivera, Patterson has sent out about 10 mailers, including ahead of the primary where he faced insurance agent Ricardo Retana-Nava.
Rivera added he’ll have enough funds to send out one, and is trying to decide when the best time will be.
He received $3,000 from May, records show. May said she’s also donated to two other independents — Giles and 6th Ward candidate Jack Dye.
Rivera said he wouldn’t want to take video gambling away from any businesses that currently have it, but any expansion needs to “somehow be monitored and limited.” He said he also doesn’t think a casino is the “silver bullet” some think it is, and the social costs and costs to the city would outweigh any benefit.
The candidates like Taylor should “run for the race and stop complaining about this,” Mayor Sam Cunningham said, who contributed $2,500 to the Waukegan Voter Alliance because of its support for Democratic candidates.
Taylor has an advantage as an incumbent and being in the 9th Ward where residents can afford to write larger checks, Cunningham added. He said what matters more than money is going door to door and making a connection with residents.
“Residents don’t care who gave to you,” Cunningham said. “They want to know if you’re going to be there.”
Cunningham said despite receiving donations tied to the video gambling industry during his mayoral campaign, he said if anything, regulations have tightened up under his watch.
Video Gaming United, which is chaired by Bond, contributed $50,000 to the Waukegan Democratic Organization leading up to the 2017 mayoral election, the News-Sun reported at the time. The Waukegan Democratic Organization in turn donated more than $19,200 to Cunningham’s campaign.
The Waukegan City Council enacted stricter regulations around video gambling in a 5-3 vote last year, capping the number of dedicated video gambling cafes to existing businesses and creating a requirement that businesses seeking to add video gambling be at least 1,500 feet, or about three blocks, from an existing establishment with video gambling.
The no votes came from Seger, Bolton and 5th Ward Ald. Edith “Edie” Newsome. Ald. Bill Valko, 8th, who lost his primary challenge last month, was absent.
Some aldermen are now rethinking the distance requirement, concerned that it’s arbitrary and that the waiver process could open the city up to litigation.
The city’s attorney, Bob Long, and May, who also serves as the chairwoman of the judiciary committee, have asked the aldermen what they’d like to see in place of the distance requirement, if anything, but have not gotten “significant, constructive feedback,” May said.
Cunningham said he’d like to see the distance requirement removed so that all hotels, bowling alleys, bars and restaurants are treated equally. He added he has more concerns about video gambling parlors and cafes, and those should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Candidates who want to roll back video gambling need to come up with an alternative stream of revenue to replace the $900,000 the city receives each year, Cunningham said. Those dollars are currently earmarked for the city’s police and fire pension contributions.
The city also can’t continue to hold out for a casino, Cunningham added, saying he said he would like to the city start a public request-for-proposal process next year so that if the 2020 legislative session ends once again without a bill authorizing a casino in Lake County, Waukegan can move forward with a plan B.