An advisory referendum to permit video gaming in Downers Grove will be on the ballot Nov. 5, allowing residents to weigh in on the issue. As election day grows near, tensions rise between community members about whether or not video gaming should be introduced.
Video gaming, otherwise known as video gambling, is the practice of gambling through electronic gaming terminals such as slot machines. Though video gaming is currently prohibited in Downers Grove, the question of whether or not it should be permitted has been an ongoing discussion for the Downers Grove Village Council since 2021 when they initially tabled the issue.
As conflict surrounding video gaming grew throughout the community, the council reintroduced the matter Oct. 2023, ultimately voting to put the issue to a referendum on the Nov. 5 ballot. Though the issue was put to a vote partly due to the strong division among Downers Grove residents, it was also a result of division within the council itself. Many of the council members hold their own views on video gaming, including Mayor Bob Barnett.
“Video Gaming is not the basis on which I want to build our future,” Barnett said. “This community has worked long and hard to clean up and improve our commercial areas over the years. All that work has been in a direction opposite the one we’d take by embracing gaming. Elmhurst, Glen Ellyn, Wheaton, and Naperville all have thriving restaurant communities without gaming. I see no reason to emulate those communities that do.”
Barnett’s views on video gaming are also held by some community members such as Tom Schroder, a 19-year resident of Downers Grove who has attended multiple Village Council meetings expressing his opposition to video gaming.
“Video Gambling is nothing more than a cash grab, targeting those who can least afford to lose money,” Schroder said. “I don’t know anyone who believes it will enhance the physical appearance of our family-friendly historic town—with the addition of neon signs, sidewalk signs, and flags—or improve the atmosphere in our restaurants.”
Schroder is one of the more than 700 residents that have expressed opposition to video gaming through DGVoteNo.org. It is this opposition that has helped shape Village Council Commissioner Chris Gilmartin’s stance on video gaming.
“The main reason I do not support this is that our community doesn’t want this. The vast majority of feedback we all have received, from actual Downers Grove residents, has been against gaming,” Gilmartin said.
However, some Downers Grove residents and community members, particularly restaurant owners, have expressed the need for video gaming in Downers Grove. Bryan Bentley, owner of Bryan’s American Grille, urges residents to vote in favor of video gaming to support Downers Grove businesses.
“As more and more retail stores continue to close, the reality is the taverns and restaurants have become the lifeblood for revenue in small communities like Downers Grove,” Bentley said.
Bentley explains that competing with restaurants in neighboring towns has become increasingly difficult when many of them are allowed to offer video gaming.
“Video gaming means we can pay our employees more, prevent them from leaving and going to work at restaurants that offer gaming in surrounding communities, and we can avoid increasing our prices.”
Although video gaming might increase profits for restaurants, some question the economic benefits for the community as a whole. In a letter to the village council, the Downers Grove Economic Development Corporation stated that they do not see an economic benefit sufficient to endorse the video gaming ordinance, a statement that Gilmartin corroborates.
“The vast majority of revenue comes from gaming cafes, not creating jobs or requiring new staff for restaurants,” Gilmartin said. “The true beneficiaries are the terminal operators and some restaurant owners, not our community.”
The profit the village would receive from the terminals is estimated to be around $200,000 as the proposed ordinance would only allow for ten terminals, none of which would be allowed for businesses in downtown Downers Grove. Though the limit would be ten terminals, some argue that this number is only the beginning and could grow over time.
Tom Chlystek, a former Darien Alderman, was faced with the same vote as the Downers Grove Village Council to allow video gaming in 2013, a vote that ultimately passed. Although their provisions only allowed for two gaming establishments, Chlystek shares how this spun out of control as more businesses requested gaming licenses, having a significant impact on Darien’s social environment.
“The issue we have is we never looked at it collectively long term and what it does to a city,” Chlystek said. “Go through the city of Darien and take a look at what happened over the years. They brought in around $200,000, but what businesses did we kick out? What reputation do you now have?”
As election day grows closer, residents will have the opportunity to vote on the ordinance and the issue will soon come to a head. If the majority of residents vote in support of video gaming on the advisory referendum, the ordinance will go into effect Jan. 1, 2025.
