Game rooms are no more in the City of Odessa. At the height of their popularity, there were 32 game rooms operating within the city limits last year. By Dec. 1, only 10 were still operating and none were still open when their business permits permanently expired Dec. 31.
Odessa City Council members spent considerable time discussing game rooms in 2022. First, they spent time working with legal staff drafting and redrafting city ordinances tightening restrictions on them. They changed their hours, where they could operate, the number of machines, their window coverings.
Mayor Javier Joven even floated the idea of seizing all 8-liner gaming machines after the Texas Second District Court of Appeals declared them unconstitutional under Texas Law.
“This is a priority for people. People hate the way it makes the city look. They hate what’s going on inside them, they want to see them gone from our city,” Joven said at a July council meeting.
Council members expressed their belief game rooms bring an unwanted element into neighborhoods and take money from the poor and elderly.
Eventually, the council passed an ordinance stating the city would no longer accept new business applications from game rooms and all existing game rooms’ permits would expire Dec. 31.
The discussions about the game rooms didn’t always go smoothly. At one point, a majority of the council voted game rooms should not be allowed to operate within 1,500 feet of each other, despite the fact that then City Attorney Natasha Brooks and her staff had repeatedly told council members municipalities are only allowed to impose a 300-foot limit.
Brooks also warned the city council the city did not have any statutory authority to pass an ordinance halting the issuance of new game room business permits or prohibiting existing game rooms from renewing their licenses.
According to records obtained from the City of Odessa under the Texas Public Information Act, the city took in just under $810,000 from game room business license applications and stickers in 2022. It’s unclear how much revenue the city took in as a result of sales tax revenue as it goes to the state first and then is issued back to the city from the state.
Although Odessa Police Chief Mike Gerke said game rooms did not result in an inordinate number of calls for service, in the end, the owner/operators of 22 of the 32 game rooms had their licenses revoked due to undercover police operations.
According to records obtained under the TPIA, they were revoked after employees were arrested by the Odessa Police Department on suspicion of engaging in gambling or gambling promotion. In several instances, Ector County District Attorney Dusty Gallivan asked a judge to order thousands of dollars seized be forfeited.
A couple of owner/operators who remained open through early December said they hope to open up again in unincorporated Ector County.
Chi Vo, who operated the Golden Game Room, said he’s not yet found a location that meets the county’s requirements, but he remains hopeful.
Minh Lee, who operated the Goodtime Game Room for two years, said he’s hoping to open again, but several of his friends have simply given up.
Thi Nguyen of Thi Game Room isn’t sure what he plans to do. He said there’s a 50% chance he’ll open again.
“It is what it is. Nothing lasts forever. Sometimes you just have to move on with your lives,” Nguyen said.
He wishes the city had gone about things a bit differently, however.
“I think they should have just given them fines until they went broke,” Nguyen said. “But, I have no ill feelings toward the City of Odessa.”
Ector County Attorney Lee McClendon said the county’s game room ordinances mirror those the Odessa City Council passed in May. In other words, they restrict game rooms from operating within so many feet of each other and neighborhoods, limit the number of machines and hours, etc.
No game room applications have been accepted since February, when the county’s restrictions were imposed, McClendon said. There are 33 in operation now.
Ector County Judge Dustin Fawcett, who was sworn in last week, hopes to speak with commissioners about game rooms within the next month.
“One of my biggest concerns is the illegal and illicit activities that can take place in these facilities, the lack of transparency with the funds that go in and out of those facilities,” Fawcett said. “A lot of it is cash and understanding the type of illicit activities, whether it’s drugs or human trafficking.”
He went on a ride along with an Odessa Police Department officer during an overnight shift and the officer told him he’s never pulled over a vehicle pulling into or out of a game room and not made a drug arrest, Fawcett said. That night he witnessed a felony drug arrest outside a game room, he said.
“My view is that this is a challenge because, you know, infringing upon the way people spend their disposable income. There are some freedoms there, but also there is a public safety aspect in which I am concerned,” Fawcett said. “There’s a reason that these are not allowed in Midland County. There’s a reason that there are a lot of counties who are seeking to do a similar step that we may be taking.”
Fawcett said the county also needs to take into consideration how much revenue the game rooms take in versus how much law enforcement expends dealing with them.
Before any action is taken, however, Fawcett said he wants to hear from people who may be proponents of game rooms.
“I think that having a healthy public debate is healthy for the community and for elected officials to host. I think that is an important aspect of public discourse and I think that we in commissioner’s court are certainly going to be upholding that,” Fawcett said.
Phone messages and emails sent to Joven, Interim City Manager Agapito Bernal and Assistant City Manager Cindy Muncy were not returned. (Muncy’s last day was Friday. She announced her retirement shortly after City Manager Michael Marrero and Brooks were terminated Dec. 13.)
City Secretary Norma Aguilar-Grimaldo canceled a Jan. 9 interview the OA set up with Joven regarding the terminations, citing pending litigation.
Among the questions asked were:
- Was the revenue lost figured into this year’s budget?
- What kind of an impact will the loss of the money have in terms of capital improvement projects, raises, etc.?
- What was the estimated loss to the city in terms of sales tax revenue?
