Last week Circuit Judge Charles Robinson denied a motion for stay, which allows for electronic bingo to be played in Ashville.

But Ashville Mayor Robert McKay said that legal hurdles in Montgomery may keep it from happening.

The bingo battle has driven a rift between many citizens in the county.

The City of Ashville, American Legion Post 170 and Shooting Star Entertainment Group, LLC, had asked the judge for a declaratory judgment to see if they were in compliance with State Amendment 542, when the Ashville council passed an ordinance allowing for permits to be issued for electronic charity bingo in December of last year.

Robinson’s ruling denied the motion put forth in April on behalf of Sherriff Terry Surles and District Attorney Richard Minor, who were seeking to wait until the Alabama Supreme Court can rule on the issue.

Traditional card bingo has been played at the American Legion Post 170 since the 1970s and was approved as officially being allowed in 1989.

McKay said that though he was happy with Robinson’s ruling, he felt like he has been getting too much flak over his town’s decision to allow electronic bingo.

“I felt very strongly that we’re getting a bad deal,” McKay said of having to wait until the Alabama Supreme Court ruling before the official green light is given on electronic bingo in St. Clair County.

He said that the Etowah County sheriff and district attorney “are staying quiet about all this because they want the money to stay up there. We do not want another Walker County. Some people have tried to get permits and we’ve denied them. We have a very strict ordinance that prevents overrunning us with [bingo machines].”

He said that one group had approached the council about obtaining a permit, but after they ran a background check it was found that the group had already defrauded a church out of millions of dollars.

“We’re very strict about our permits and if we end up with one [bingo hall], then that’s fine,” McKay said. “If anybody meets the requirements, then we’ll look at getting them a permit. The city of Ashville would be happy enough if we end up with one [bingo hall].”

The city, like some others in the county, is faced with declining revenue and Ashville looked to bingo to bring in not only revenue, but jobs as well.

McKay took issue with the sheriff, local pastors and the district attorney, though he said he still supports each of their efforts.

“Why push [the issue] after we had a judge—the most experienced judge not only in the county but possibly in the state—say that it’s legal and now they want to let it get bogged down. Ashville’s been the bingo capital in the county since 1971,” McKay said.

He also noted, “There’s a couple of other municipalities that want [electronic bingo], now, I’m not going to name names; but they’re waiting to see what happens to us before they go ahead with this. I’m always getting chewed up by the Baptists and the sheriff on this…. The Baptists give me so much grief on this. Where was the convention of the Southern Baptists held in 1989? Well, in case you didn’t know, the 1989 Southern Baptist Convention was held in Las Vegas…. Why would you want to have their convention in sin city?”

McKay continued and noted that he was not happy at all with the way things were headed for the possibility of a legal pile up in Montgomery.

“The sheriff could have let this go,” he said. “Ashville could have had millions of dollars annually and the school system could have had millions of dollars annually…. We don’t know now if it will get out of Montgomery or not. They’ve let this grow in Montgomery. Why did the governor wait until now to start on this?”

McKay sited the governor’s gambling task force cracking down on bingo machines in the town of White Hall a few months ago.

“Why did he pick on White Hall instead of Milton McGreggor?,” McKay aked. McGreggor is the Chief Executive Officer and President, of Victoryland; Chief Executive Officer and President, Jefferson County Racing Association, which oversees the greyhound racing facility.

“They’re picking and choosing who they mess with,” McKay said. “We’re up here trying to do this legitimately and we’ve been doing this since 1971 and a referendum was passed in 1989. I’m mad and I’m going to stay mad regardless of the way this works out. There’s a lot of stuff in this county that’s been said and I’m ticked off about it…. I want them to come back on me about this; but I’m going to try to keep quiet. They’re cheating the city out of millions of dollars annually and they’re cheating the school system out of millions of dollars annually. As I said [at the mayor’s meeting on Monday], any fulltime elected official is recession proof. Any preacher is recession roof. They don’t have to worry about jobs in this economy. We’re ready to put 600 people to work in Ashville, which is more than anyone in the county, save they board of education. It’s like they’re cutting with a double-edged sword [in Montgomery]. They’re picking and choosing who they mess with. What ticks me the worst is that Bob Riley is picking and choosing who to pick on. You’ve got the Indians who were allowed to put up a $360 million facility in Atmore, then you’ve got another facility in Wetumpka… The sheriff and the DA have cost the city and the county BOE millions and millions annually.”