Struthers council nixes caf idea

By jeanne starmack

starmack@vindy.com

struthers

Council went on record against supporting an Internet caf that would feature sweepstakes gaming.

Pam Dibble, a Struthers resident, wants to open a business where customers would buy Internet time and go on websites to play sweepstakes games. She likens the games to the McDonald’s Monopoly sweepstakes games, saying they are not considered gambling.

Council, however, has decided that it will follow the city law director’s interpretation that the games constitute gambling.

At council’s meeting Wednesday, Councilman Robert Burnside, chairman of council’s Finance and Legislation Committee, also said lawmakers will not change the city’s gambling ordinance to accommodate the caf .

Mayor Terry Stocker said he got an answer from the state attorney general’s office to a letter he’d written seeking an opinion.

The letter, from Kevin McIver, chief of the attorney general’s opinions section, said lower-court rulings have conflicted.

He said the office is waiting for an Ohio Supreme Court decision in a case out of Pickaway County that pits the attorney general against a gaming company.

He also said the city should follow its law director’s recommendation.

Burnside said Dibble could open the Internet caf if she wants, but if a city detective determines gambling is taking place there, the city would shut it down.

Dibble was not at the meeting. She has said before she does not want to indicate where she would open the business.