I am upset and angry about the nefarious activities that have taken place in Forest Park in the past few months, mainly the denial by the electoral board of the citizens’ petition effort to put the video gambling issue on the November ballot. Twenty-five percent of registered voters’ signatures is an onerous requirement, but it was met and exceeded by hard-working, devoted citizens who want a vote on this contentious issue.
It was defeated by the cowardly and obviously biased decision of our mayor and his two puppets on this board, knuckling under to pressure from the people who will most benefit from video gambling machines. The introduction of inactive voters to the total number of registered voters in Forest Park made the percentage acquired less than 25%, but not by much. I would venture a guess that at least 75%, maybe more, of that inactive number are persons who no longer live in this town.
In collecting signatures door to door, you find that very many on the voter lists have moved away and are long gone. There was nothing fair about that decision and it could have been made in the citizens’ favor if the board was peopled by persons of integrity with a sense of fairness.
As it stands, the effort continues in spite of the nonsense advisory petitions filed on Election Day, intended to keep this important binding referendum off the next ballot, petitions paid for by our most notorious resident — or was it the gambling industry itself providing the funds?
And who could it be that keeps stealing the No Video Gaming signs, perhaps the most ardent supporters of gambling in bars? My block was cleaned out on Saturday night, adding to the approximately 200 already stolen during this campaign. No one has touched Hosty’s “I love FP” signs. Imagine that.
So with voter suppression being the thing I am most upset and angry about now, we will continue to work at preserving that right for everyone here.
We want a vote!
Donna McKune
Forest Park
