Meeting details

Date:  February 9, 2011

Location: Secretary of State’s Office, Blue Spruce Conference Room, 1700 Broadway, Denver, Colorado

Members Present: Bishop Dan Gincig, Beau Williams, Tom Bednark, Austin Gomes, Nick Pizzuti

Members Absent: Nick Pizzuti, Jeanne McEvoy, John Smith, Vera Craven

Secretary of State Officials Present: Rudy Johnson, Patrick Ryan, Shannon Bee, Tom Downey

Meeting was called to order at 10:15 A.M. 

The Pledge of Allegiance was conducted.

A motion was made by Tom Bednark to approve the December 8, 2010 meeting minutes as presented.  The motion was seconded by Beau Williams and approved by vote of the Board.

Secretary of State report

Mr. Ryan stated that the report given to the Board were mostly complete for 2010, but there are still some outstanding reports that have not been received, and therefore, are not included on this handout.   The Board commented on the fact that the report indicates that there has been a drop in bingo since 2009, and this could be do to the economy.  Mr. Bednark said he would like to suggest that changes be considered to try to improve the income from bingo rather than pulltabs.

Mr. Downey reported that he will be leaving the Secretary of State’s office in June.  Around March, a new Director will come in and Tom will move to another temporary position in the division at that time, and until he permanently leaves in June.  In June there will be a new Deputy Director hired to take his place. 

Chairman Gincig commented that a document was submitted to the Secretary of State’s office with suggestions for the IT department to focus on concerning bingo.  The first item would be filing and paying quarterly reports online, with the ability to pay through direct deposit or bill pay, but still allowing for the ability of the office to accept paper filings from groups if necessary.  The next item would be the ability for games manager’s to be able to take the test and be recertified online.  Next the Board would like to see an option to file bingo-raffle renewals online, and last for the office to have the ability to e-mail Board meeting announcements to all licensees. 

Doni Glassburn commented that he would like to see a comparison on our website of the gaming industry with the bingo industry here in Colorado.

How to improve bingo revenue for charities

Chairman Gincig stated there needs to be an increased in the number of faces allowed to be played on electronic devices.  Colorado is one of the lowest.  A report was submitted to the Secretary of State showing the number of faces allowed in other states.  Chairman Gincig felt that the minimum in Colorado should be no less than 54 faces set by rule. 

Mr. Williams would like to know of the 364 licensees reporting bingo activity in 2010 on the reports submitted to the Board, how many of those use electronics?

Mr. Gincig commented that he would also like to change the rules to allow a type of pari-mutuel  giveaway on bingo games.  Mr. Ryan commented that many of the smaller groups already do games this way, the rules do not currently prohibit this.  The smaller groups post percentages given at each game before the first pack is sold.  Mr. Pizzuti stated that the problem is the $2,000 limit, as this could be exceeded with this type of setup.  He would like to change the rules to allow this maximum to be changed.

Chairman Gincig wanted to bring back a discussion of the 24 number games.   The Board would like to submit another brief to the Secretary of State’s office showing the 24 number games meet the current bingo/raffle rules and regulations, and what rules may need to be changed so the game can meet the law 100%.  Mr. Williams and Mr. Pizzuti, along with John Amen, will form a sub-committee to prepare this report.

Open discussion

Tony Townsend, of the Colorado Gaming Consumer Council, wanted to advise the bingo industry that some casinos are being allowed to provide alleged lottery schemes to customers, which could be considered unfair competition to the bingo industry.  The Board may wish to take this into consideration. 

Wayne Thompson, of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, felt that anything that negatively affects the bingo industry should be taken seriously by the Secretary of State’s office, and should be acted upon in any way possible. 

Closing

Mr. Gomes moved to adjourn the meeting.  The motion was seconded by Mr. Williams and approved by the Board.

Meeting adjourned at 11:55 A.M.

The next meeting of the Board will be April 13, 2011 at 10:00 at Secretary of State’s Office, Blue Spruce Conference Room, 1700 Broadway, Denver, Colorado.