Let Forest Park Vote Fund
Donation protected
Let Forest Park Vote: Fund to defend our community’s right to vote on Video Gambling
October 9 Update
**Act Now! We have a $500 challenge match! Donate any amount and once we reach $500, it will automatically be matched to yield $1000!
Match goal has been reached!! Thank you to all contributors, and to our generous match fund donor, who has made the match contribution as promised!**
On October 9, the fund was at $4,388 raised, funds that were used to cover legal and administrative fees. The match will start based on this dollar amount.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
- Margaret Mead
This is the final stretch leading up to the midterm elections on November 6th. And we, your neighbors and friends from Let Forest Park Vote , find ourselves up against a well-financed video gambling machine that is ready to throw over $60,000 into multiple flyers, mailers, lawn signs and storefront displays.
We are hard at work trying to reach voters with our campaign to Vote YES to prohibit video gambling. Our resources are pooled from the grassroots support we have received from many in our village, and reflected in the one-on-one conversations we continue to have with our neighbors.
The money that our supporters generously donated over the past 8 months was exhausted by legal fees when the gambling lobby pushed this case all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court. So now we ask again for your help.
In order to continue this growing wave of support, we need your support to raise an additional $5,000. This will allow us to send one direct mail piece (yes, you read that correctly - one mailer - although if we get lucky we might just be able to do two), so as to make sure registered voters in our Village have the needed facts to make an informed decision on November 6. And because we do not forget our friends, we will also be sending a letter to our supporters - all 3,522 of them - thanking them for getting us this far, for allowing the issue of video gambling to be on the ballot.
Compare that to our opponents, who have thousands in their gambling coffers, and who have already sent 5 mailings within the Village, and who are distributing many lawn signs and storefront placards - far more than we can ever afford.
Let Forest Park Vote is indeed a coalition of thoughtful citizens, a band of citizen sisters and brothers who believe the future of our village can aspire to be more than the empty promises made by our opponents.
And it is in this spirit that we come to you with this last request: please consider a donation to the Let Forest Park Vote fundraising campaign. No amount is too small, and your support is greatly and deeply appreciated.
Early Voting begins on October 22. Please remember to check that you are registered to vote, or register to vote if you haven’t already.
And then: take back your voice: We urge you to join us in voting “YES” to prohibit video gambling in Forest Park on November 6.
++++++++++++++++
VOTE YES TO PROHIBIT VIDEO GAMBLING
ELECTION DAY IS NOVEMBER 6!
Vote “YES” on the referendum to prohibit video gambling in Forest Park!
* Gambling proponents claimed that gambling would reduce our taxes and fees. But taxes and fees have gone up since gambling was allowed (1)
* Gaudy signage and gambling cafés have not arisen…yet. The village attorney said the signage restrictions won’t survive a legal challenge (2) And gambling cafes need only operate for a year without gambling to apply for a license (3)
*Forest Park receives minimal benefits from gambling. With almost two years of data in, gambling receipts cover about 40 hours of the cost to run the village. At the same time, the village is responsible for bad outcomes, from crime to community health effects.
* Gambling revenue places an undue burden on our friends who gamble. They must lose $1 million to get the village $50 thousand. Only 5% of gambling revenue is guaranteed to stay in Forest Park. 70% goes to the bar owners and gambling box owners. 25% goes to the State of Illinois (4)
The gambling industry spent tens of thousands of dollars and engaged in assorted dubious tactics in a coordinated campaign to stop Village residents from voting on this issue. And it has been a hard battle—all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court—against vested interests to get on the ballot.
Take back your voice: We urge you to join us in voting “YES” to prohibit video gambling in Forest Park on November 6.
For more information, please email us at [email redacted]
Follow us on Facebook at Let Forest Park Vote.
To donate, visit https://www.gofundme.com/letFPvote/
Thank you for your support!
Members of Let Forest Park Vote
1: http://www.forestparkreview.com/News/Articles/6-4-2018/Village-increases-water-fee-for-residential,-commercial-customers/
http://www.forestparkreview.com/News/Articles/5-22-2018/Village-increases-ambulance-fees/
http://www.forestparkreview.com/News/Articles/12-5-2017/Get-ready-to-pay-a-premium-for-parking/
2: Village Gambling Forum July 12, 2016
http://www.forestparkreview.com/News/Articles/10-2-2018/Signage-issues-at-the-heart-of-referendum-campaign/
3: Village code 3-3-5 Section O-2
4: The Gaming Act, IL 230 ILCS 40
July 12 Update
We have won at the Supreme Court, and now we vote in November. This issue is not yet over, but we have passed a very big hurdle.
Please consider contributing to this Fund, as we continue to defend the rights of Forest Park citizens to a vote.
June 11 Update:
On May 17, the Forest Park gaming lobby, led by James Watts of O’Sullivan’s, filed an appeal asking the Illinois Supreme Court to overturn the Appellate Court's decision favorable to Let Forest Park Vote. If successful, their appeal will remove the “Shall video gaming be prohibited in Forest Park?” question from the ballot, thus suppressing Forest Park voters from the right to vote.
Their legal action was a last-minute response to the March 16 Illinois Court of Appeals decision that overturned the Cook County Circuit Court’s ruling upholding the local Election Board’s decision to prevent the citizens of Forest Park the right to vote on video gambling in the Village. This unanimous Appellate Court decision allows the voters in Forest Park to settle the matter of whether video gambling is right for our village with a binding vote in the upcoming November 2018 elections.
Once again, we find ourselves asking for your help to raise an additional $4,000 in order to finance legal, administrative and communications costs associated with the latest appeal by the gaming lobby in Forest Park. We are now working to defend the Appellate Court’s decision that gives Forest Park citizens the right to vote on this issue.
Please consider a donation to our campaign. Let Forest Park Vote. The village wants a say in this matter, and we continue to say that voter suppression should not be allowed to become the norm.
________________________________________________________________________
The right to vote on a ballot referendum to determine the fate of Video Gambling in our village is one issue that has many of us fired up and coalescing around.
On February 21, the Cook County Circuit Court upheld the Village Council Electoral Board’s decision to strike all 3,522 signatures collected in a community petition drive. Our fellow neighbors have been silenced by this ruling, and we are raising funds in order to continue the fight to give them a voice. This ruling is surprising and the law is being narrowly construed at the detriment of every single person who signed the petition.
An honest mistake in circulation resulting in 89 disputed signatures should not suppress the right to vote for more than 3,500 people.
And it is worth remembering: more people signed our petition than voted for any of the Village Commissioners or Mayor in recent elections.
We, with the backing of 3,522 fellow citizens, believe that no matter where you stand on the issue of video gambling in Forest Park, IL, it is completely reasonable and fair to allow citizens a say in this matter through the ballot box.
And here is where we could use your help: we are raising funds to finance legal, administrative and communications costs associated with the Cook County Circuit Court appeal. We are contesting the recent decision by the Cook County Circuit Court to throw out all 276 certified petition sheets containing signatures from 25% of registered voters in Forest Park.
Please consider a donation to our campaign. Let Forest Park Vote.
Because this village wants to have a say on this matter, but more importantly, because we cannot allow for voter suppression to become the norm.
Some background information
Forest Park is the village in the western suburbs of Chicago we call home. We are an independent and iconoclastic mix of people from all walks of life, who celebrate the village motto of “big city access, small town charm”. We are actively involved with our community, passionately advocate for issues that matter to us, and participate in events that bring our Village together for a common cause.
Let Forest Park Vote on Video Gaming is a group of dozens of local citizens that have banded together to challenge longstanding practices by the current Village Council to suppress our right to vote. We are standing up to practices that have become the accepted way of administering in our Village.
Despite two previous non-binding votes that overwhelmingly called for not introducing this practice into Forest Park, the Village Council overrode voters’ preferences, and allowed licensed establishments to introduce Video Gambling in Forest Park as of January 2017.
We have an excellent attorney, and are committed to making sure that we retain him. But fighting against special interests in our village, and protecting our right to vote, make this an effort that will require support from other concerned citizens in Forest Park.
Brief recap of recent events
On December 18th, 2017 our group, organized under the political action committee Let Forest Park Vote on Video Gaming, submitted a petition to the Village of Forest Park to place video gambling on the March 2018 ballot.
An investigative reporter at Forest Park Review revealed on January 22, 2018 that a member of the Electoral Board is known to have business ties with a bar owner known to have been intimately involved with the efforts to prevent Forest Park residents from voting.
On January 23, 2018, the Electoral Board of the Forest Park Village Council unanimously voted to strike all petition sheets collected by the group . Most telling: the Electoral Board made this decision against the counsel of the village attorney, who had stated on several occasions during the hearing that “the appropriate remedy” would be to remove 6 of the 276 petition sheets that had different headings.
Our group of citizens is committed to appealing this decision to the Cook County Circuit Court.
Let Forest Park Vote on Video Gaming is a political action committee formed by a group of Forest Park citizens. Jordan Kuehn is the president of the committee and Kristin McCoy is the treasurer.
Illinois campaign finance laws requires that all donations over $150 per fiscal quarter must be reported to the Illinois State Board of Elections with donor's name.
October 9 Update
**Act Now! We have a $500 challenge match! Donate any amount and once we reach $500, it will automatically be matched to yield $1000!
Match goal has been reached!! Thank you to all contributors, and to our generous match fund donor, who has made the match contribution as promised!**
On October 9, the fund was at $4,388 raised, funds that were used to cover legal and administrative fees. The match will start based on this dollar amount.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
- Margaret Mead
This is the final stretch leading up to the midterm elections on November 6th. And we, your neighbors and friends from Let Forest Park Vote , find ourselves up against a well-financed video gambling machine that is ready to throw over $60,000 into multiple flyers, mailers, lawn signs and storefront displays.
We are hard at work trying to reach voters with our campaign to Vote YES to prohibit video gambling. Our resources are pooled from the grassroots support we have received from many in our village, and reflected in the one-on-one conversations we continue to have with our neighbors.
The money that our supporters generously donated over the past 8 months was exhausted by legal fees when the gambling lobby pushed this case all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court. So now we ask again for your help.
In order to continue this growing wave of support, we need your support to raise an additional $5,000. This will allow us to send one direct mail piece (yes, you read that correctly - one mailer - although if we get lucky we might just be able to do two), so as to make sure registered voters in our Village have the needed facts to make an informed decision on November 6. And because we do not forget our friends, we will also be sending a letter to our supporters - all 3,522 of them - thanking them for getting us this far, for allowing the issue of video gambling to be on the ballot.
Compare that to our opponents, who have thousands in their gambling coffers, and who have already sent 5 mailings within the Village, and who are distributing many lawn signs and storefront placards - far more than we can ever afford.
Let Forest Park Vote is indeed a coalition of thoughtful citizens, a band of citizen sisters and brothers who believe the future of our village can aspire to be more than the empty promises made by our opponents.
And it is in this spirit that we come to you with this last request: please consider a donation to the Let Forest Park Vote fundraising campaign. No amount is too small, and your support is greatly and deeply appreciated.
Early Voting begins on October 22. Please remember to check that you are registered to vote, or register to vote if you haven’t already.
And then: take back your voice: We urge you to join us in voting “YES” to prohibit video gambling in Forest Park on November 6.
++++++++++++++++
VOTE YES TO PROHIBIT VIDEO GAMBLING
ELECTION DAY IS NOVEMBER 6!
Vote “YES” on the referendum to prohibit video gambling in Forest Park!
* Gambling proponents claimed that gambling would reduce our taxes and fees. But taxes and fees have gone up since gambling was allowed (1)
* Gaudy signage and gambling cafés have not arisen…yet. The village attorney said the signage restrictions won’t survive a legal challenge (2) And gambling cafes need only operate for a year without gambling to apply for a license (3)
*Forest Park receives minimal benefits from gambling. With almost two years of data in, gambling receipts cover about 40 hours of the cost to run the village. At the same time, the village is responsible for bad outcomes, from crime to community health effects.
* Gambling revenue places an undue burden on our friends who gamble. They must lose $1 million to get the village $50 thousand. Only 5% of gambling revenue is guaranteed to stay in Forest Park. 70% goes to the bar owners and gambling box owners. 25% goes to the State of Illinois (4)
The gambling industry spent tens of thousands of dollars and engaged in assorted dubious tactics in a coordinated campaign to stop Village residents from voting on this issue. And it has been a hard battle—all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court—against vested interests to get on the ballot.
Take back your voice: We urge you to join us in voting “YES” to prohibit video gambling in Forest Park on November 6.
For more information, please email us at [email redacted]
Follow us on Facebook at Let Forest Park Vote.
To donate, visit https://www.gofundme.com/letFPvote/
Thank you for your support!
Members of Let Forest Park Vote
1: http://www.forestparkreview.com/News/Articles/6-4-2018/Village-increases-water-fee-for-residential,-commercial-customers/
http://www.forestparkreview.com/News/Articles/5-22-2018/Village-increases-ambulance-fees/
http://www.forestparkreview.com/News/Articles/12-5-2017/Get-ready-to-pay-a-premium-for-parking/
2: Village Gambling Forum July 12, 2016
http://www.forestparkreview.com/News/Articles/10-2-2018/Signage-issues-at-the-heart-of-referendum-campaign/
3: Village code 3-3-5 Section O-2
4: The Gaming Act, IL 230 ILCS 40
July 12 Update
We have won at the Supreme Court, and now we vote in November. This issue is not yet over, but we have passed a very big hurdle.
Please consider contributing to this Fund, as we continue to defend the rights of Forest Park citizens to a vote.
June 11 Update:
On May 17, the Forest Park gaming lobby, led by James Watts of O’Sullivan’s, filed an appeal asking the Illinois Supreme Court to overturn the Appellate Court's decision favorable to Let Forest Park Vote. If successful, their appeal will remove the “Shall video gaming be prohibited in Forest Park?” question from the ballot, thus suppressing Forest Park voters from the right to vote.
Their legal action was a last-minute response to the March 16 Illinois Court of Appeals decision that overturned the Cook County Circuit Court’s ruling upholding the local Election Board’s decision to prevent the citizens of Forest Park the right to vote on video gambling in the Village. This unanimous Appellate Court decision allows the voters in Forest Park to settle the matter of whether video gambling is right for our village with a binding vote in the upcoming November 2018 elections.
Once again, we find ourselves asking for your help to raise an additional $4,000 in order to finance legal, administrative and communications costs associated with the latest appeal by the gaming lobby in Forest Park. We are now working to defend the Appellate Court’s decision that gives Forest Park citizens the right to vote on this issue.
Please consider a donation to our campaign. Let Forest Park Vote. The village wants a say in this matter, and we continue to say that voter suppression should not be allowed to become the norm.
________________________________________________________________________
The right to vote on a ballot referendum to determine the fate of Video Gambling in our village is one issue that has many of us fired up and coalescing around.
On February 21, the Cook County Circuit Court upheld the Village Council Electoral Board’s decision to strike all 3,522 signatures collected in a community petition drive. Our fellow neighbors have been silenced by this ruling, and we are raising funds in order to continue the fight to give them a voice. This ruling is surprising and the law is being narrowly construed at the detriment of every single person who signed the petition.
An honest mistake in circulation resulting in 89 disputed signatures should not suppress the right to vote for more than 3,500 people.
And it is worth remembering: more people signed our petition than voted for any of the Village Commissioners or Mayor in recent elections.
We, with the backing of 3,522 fellow citizens, believe that no matter where you stand on the issue of video gambling in Forest Park, IL, it is completely reasonable and fair to allow citizens a say in this matter through the ballot box.
And here is where we could use your help: we are raising funds to finance legal, administrative and communications costs associated with the Cook County Circuit Court appeal. We are contesting the recent decision by the Cook County Circuit Court to throw out all 276 certified petition sheets containing signatures from 25% of registered voters in Forest Park.
Please consider a donation to our campaign. Let Forest Park Vote.
Because this village wants to have a say on this matter, but more importantly, because we cannot allow for voter suppression to become the norm.
Some background information
Forest Park is the village in the western suburbs of Chicago we call home. We are an independent and iconoclastic mix of people from all walks of life, who celebrate the village motto of “big city access, small town charm”. We are actively involved with our community, passionately advocate for issues that matter to us, and participate in events that bring our Village together for a common cause.
Let Forest Park Vote on Video Gaming is a group of dozens of local citizens that have banded together to challenge longstanding practices by the current Village Council to suppress our right to vote. We are standing up to practices that have become the accepted way of administering in our Village.
Despite two previous non-binding votes that overwhelmingly called for not introducing this practice into Forest Park, the Village Council overrode voters’ preferences, and allowed licensed establishments to introduce Video Gambling in Forest Park as of January 2017.
We have an excellent attorney, and are committed to making sure that we retain him. But fighting against special interests in our village, and protecting our right to vote, make this an effort that will require support from other concerned citizens in Forest Park.
Brief recap of recent events
On December 18th, 2017 our group, organized under the political action committee Let Forest Park Vote on Video Gaming, submitted a petition to the Village of Forest Park to place video gambling on the March 2018 ballot.
An investigative reporter at Forest Park Review revealed on January 22, 2018 that a member of the Electoral Board is known to have business ties with a bar owner known to have been intimately involved with the efforts to prevent Forest Park residents from voting.
On January 23, 2018, the Electoral Board of the Forest Park Village Council unanimously voted to strike all petition sheets collected by the group . Most telling: the Electoral Board made this decision against the counsel of the village attorney, who had stated on several occasions during the hearing that “the appropriate remedy” would be to remove 6 of the 276 petition sheets that had different headings.
Our group of citizens is committed to appealing this decision to the Cook County Circuit Court.
Let Forest Park Vote on Video Gaming is a political action committee formed by a group of Forest Park citizens. Jordan Kuehn is the president of the committee and Kristin McCoy is the treasurer.
Illinois campaign finance laws requires that all donations over $150 per fiscal quarter must be reported to the Illinois State Board of Elections with donor's name.
Organizer and beneficiary
Betty Alzamora
Organizer
Forest Park, IL
Jordan Kuehn
Beneficiary
