Mayor's panel to report on her proposed ban on market slots

Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones is remaining tight-lipped about the contents of a report from a committee she formed to study the future of slot machines in grocery and convenience stores in the city.

Jones, who is running as a Democrat for governor, said she would rather wait to comment at the committee's 2 p.m. meeting Wednesday in the mayor's conference room on the 10th floor at City Hall. The committee includes members directly affected by such restrictions.

Jones, who has not been shy about her general feelings on the subject, has sought to restrict slots in existing supermarkets and convenience stores.

"The issue is (grocery and convenience store) slot machines' impact on the quality of life," Jones said Monday. "Other cities have nowhere near the number of convenience stores that Las Vegas has, and it's because of the slot machines. The question is: Are we approving these businesses as convenience stores or as slot delivery systems?"

Jones said she has received no pressure from megaresort owners to restrict future grocery and convenience store gambling.

"Anyone who thinks that a $2 billion property is concerned about a grocery store with 15 slots is greatly misinformed," Jones said. "The issue here is to protect children from the accessibility of these machines."

Jones attracted widespread attention in February when she proposed to limit neighborhood slot machines, which angered area business operators who say they rely heavily on slot revenues. They claimed that restricting convenience and grocery store slots -- or banning them all together -- could put them out of business. As a result, Jones formed the committee to study the matter.

Kenny Guinn, Jones' Republican opponent, has gone on record as saying he supports slots in supermarkets and convenience stores because they provide operators with needed revenues. He also has said, however, he would like to see such gaming machines in areas that are less prominent.

The vast majority of convenience and grocery stores display their slots at the front of the shop, where the machines are the first thing anyone sees coming in and the last thing they pass as they are departing the facility.

Jones says she is not pleased that slot route operators are exempt from the 6.25 percent tax casinos pay on gross gaming revenues. As a result, Jones said, the city is out a considerable amount of potential revenue.

"They take $200 million out of the community and are not giving much back," she said.

Slot route operators, who recently spent $200,000 for a report on their operations, claim that their slots add $119 million a year to the local economy and are responsible for employing nearly 2,000 people locally.

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