Villa Park’s Kathy Gilroy honored for anti-gambling efforts

VILLA PARK — Kathy Gilroy was living in Davenport, Iowa when the city opened the nation’s first riverboat casino in 1991.

“I saw the picture of it on the front page of the newspaper,” Gilroy said.  “And I just said, ‘Uh oh. I felt like it was Pandora’s Box being opened.”

She watched as people she knew fell victim to gambling addiction, jeopardizing their livelihoods and relationships.

“I knew I had to do something,” she said.

Since then, Gilroy – now a resident of Villa Park – has pushed hard for tougher regulation of gambling in Illinois. She has fought against the possible Chicago casino, unlicensed “casino nights” for charity and the rising tide of online gambling.

In December, the Citizen Advocacy Center in Elmhurst took note, giving Gilroy a 2012 Citizen Initiative Award for her “indefatigable advocacy efforts.”

“[The honor] means they recognize I’m taking the reins and doing something,” she said.

Gambling has long been a contentious issue in Illinois. Some feel it would bring in additional tax revenue that could help balance state ledgers. Others, like Gilroy, feel the human cost is too high.

“It’s an addictive activity,” she said. “But at least if you go to Las Vegas or Atlantic City, you come home three days later. If it’s in your own town, that’s another story.”

And though the government does tax other addictions, like cigarettes and alcohol, “the government doesn’t promote cigarettes. The government isn’t running cigarette stands.”

“The government needs to get out of gambling,” she said.

To that end, Gilroy works with several organizations, including the Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems and the Northern Illinois Anti-Gambling Task Force, to monitor gambling legislation, contact public officials and speak out at public meetings.

Gilroy expects many of the same debates – the Chicago casino, slots at race tracks – will crop up again during the new legislative session. She also worries legislation permitting online gambling will be legalized.

“If that happens, that will spell the end for brick and mortar casinos,” she said. “I really think it would be bad for the country.”

Gilroy was one of five people or groups to receive the honor from the center.