Meeting details

Date: January 14, 2009

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

Members Present: Bishop Dan Gincig, David Esses, Austin Gomes, Nick Pizzuti, Daniel Toussaint

Members Absent: Julia Eddy, Don Kuzina

Secretary of State Officials Present: Rudy Johnson, Mike Shea, Patrick Ryan, Shannon Bee

Meeting was called to order at 10:04 A.M.

The Pledge of Allegiance was conducted.

A motion was made by Mr. Gomes to approve the July 23, 2008 meeting minutes as presented. The motion was seconded by Nick Pizzuti and approved by unanimous vote of the Board.

Secretary of Stater report

A report by Mike Shea on the financials was the first order of business. His reports only included through the end of 2007, but the trends show the number of occasions, gross wagered and total number of players were all down. He estimated that when all the 2008 figures were in, they would show the same continuation of this trend. The revenues and expenditure chart for the Bingo-Raffles Division shows that this is the first time the office is not in a deficit, expenditures do not exceed revenues. This is most likely due to the increase in the fees.

Newly appointed Secretary of State Bernie Buescher introduced himself briefly to the Board and audience in attendance.

Mr. Shea next reported on the report which was required by HB 08-1273 to be submitted by the end of the year from the Secretary of State’s office and Department of Revenue on moving Bingo and Raffles from the Secretary of State’s office. The previous Secretary and the Executive Director of the Department of Revenue agreed to recommend that a referred measure be submitted in 2010 to move the licensing function from the Secretary of State’s office to the appropriate office as determined by the General Assembly. The newly appointed Secretary of State has not yet decided how he feels about the recommendations of the report. It was also discussed that Mr. Shea had recommended language to change the Constitution to allow the Legislature to decide to allow paid workers for bingo. He stated he would forward this language to the Board.

Chairman Gincig pointed out that there are new games out with new electronics which would be a completely separate bingo game with a separate pricing structure (payout limits would still remain the same, however). He pointed out that this new system would not involve a group’s current sessions. He said this new concept would be a good way for groups to increase their revenue. Mr. Shea commented the new system does not meet the current statutes and rules and there would have to be changes to the current statutes and rules before this new system could be allowed in Colorado. John Amen, of Quality Bingo Supply, stated that the main change would be in the statute concerning the 35 game limit. Groups would go through this limit quickly with the new technology.

Chairman Gincig wanted to plan to demonstrate the system at the March meeting at the Secretary of State’s office for the Board and players.

Public and Board comments

David Esses asked if the report given by Mr. Shea from our office on the bingo statistics, includes progressives in the gross income? Mr. Shea stated it does not, but he will provide the new chart with these numbers included. He pointed out that the overall trend will show bingo is still declining.

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

Closing

Meeting adjourned at 11:04 A.M.

The next advisory board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. at the Secretary of State’s Office, Blue Spruce Conference Room, 1700 Broadway, Denver, Colorado.