Chicago’s aviation commissioner and the City Council’s Aviation Committee chair said Thursday they are concerned that installing slot machines at O’Hare and Midway airports would cheapen the look and feel of the city’s airports.
The reservations expressed by Aviation Commissioner Michael McMurray sent conflicting signals about Mayor Brandon Johnson’s commitment to forge ahead with an idea with potential to raise tens of millions of dollars for cash-strapped Chicago.
Under questioning at City Council budget hearings, McMurray acknowledged there have been “conversations about” installing slot machines at Midway. But McMurray said he has yet to see “any comprehensive proposals from anyone regarding slots machines” at either Midway or O’Hare.
“If we were to do it — and again, I haven’t spoken with anyone — I couldn’t imagine slot machines, for instance, in our hold rooms or anything like that. We’re not Las Vegas. We’re not in the casino business. We’re in the airport business,” McMurray said.
“I’m always willing to … listen to what people have to say. That’s the right thing [and] the sensible thing to do. But I haven’t seen any forecasts. I haven’t seen anything about … how much somebody is willing to invest. I haven’t seen anybody identify locations for any slots. So it’s very difficult for me to speak to that whole issue without having any information on it.”
Aviation Committee Chair Matt O’Shea (19th) said he, too, has “very serious concerns” about airport slots.
“We’re not Harry Reid [International Airport] in Vegas. We’re Midway International Airport and O’Hare International Airport. Gateways to the world. I’d be very concerned about just taking over parts of the airport with slot machines. … I wouldn’t like this to be out in the open. We would have to talk about, would there be dedicated space,” O’Shea told the Sun-Times.
With a $1.15 billion budget shortfall, O’Shea said there is no question that “we need the revenue.”
But he added, “There’s a lack of trust and a lack of communication and a lack of transparency. You would need the City Council to have buy-in here and … nothing’s been brought to me by the administration, which is going to drive people absolutely nuts.”
Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) said the conflicting signals from top mayoral aides about airport slots only exacerbates the deep distrust between Johnson and an emboldened City Council.
“Where’s the transparency? Where’s the integrity. If we don’t have [it] as the base, we can’t move forward,” Waguespack said. “There’s a lot of backroom dealing going on with this administration. … Nobody knows what the plan is. … This is a constant refrain with this administration. … You ask questions and you get diversions and delays and obfuscations.”
In early August, senior mayoral adviser Jason Lee tried to ground the idea of airport gambling, telling the Sun-Times that installing slots at O’Hare and Midway would turn the aerial gateways to Chicago into a chintzy Las Vegas replica.
“I don’t know if a broader expansion or Vegas-style slots in a Chicago airport would really be something that the public is interested in,” Lee said. “That would be a pretty significant change to the culture of our airports. Chicago is not known primarily as a gaming destination like Las Vegas. It would … raise a number of concerns.”
Earlier this week, Chief Financial Officer Jill Jaworski reversed field.
She told the Budget Committee that Chicago is actively pursuing the possibility of installing slot machines at O’Hare and Midway airports — and that Bally’s has “expressed interest” and identified a site for those machines at Midway.
On Thursday, Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) asked McMurray whether revenue from airport slot machines would remain in the “aviation enterprise fund” that bankrolls airport operations or, like casino revenue, be used to help the city’s police and fire pension funds avoid bankruptcy.
“What I would hate to see is Bally’s moving in there and the revenue derived from Bally’s technically subsidizing the airlines at the expense of our police and fire pensions,” Reilly said.
McMurray said he needed to consult the Law Department, but, “I would imagine that, somehow maybe, it would have to stay at the airport.”
Reilly also joined Budget Chair Jason Ervin (28th) in venting frustration about the abrupt termination of the licensing agreement for the Midway outpost of Chicago’s iconic Gene & Georgetti steakhouse.
“I’m just trying to understand the rationale and the reasoning behind the loss of very iconic Chicago brands at our airports,” Ervin said.
Reilly added, “I certainly do hope that … this is not some secret plan” by Midway’s master concessionaire “to bring in Bally’s at the expense of locally owned businesses.”