Keno supporters absent from Meredith hearing

MEREDITH — If a public hearing on Monday is any indication, support for allowing local businesses to offer keno may not have grown in the year since residents first rejected the idea.

Nobody was present to testify at the Board of Selectmen hearing on keno, except one resident, Wayne Heiligmann, who opposes the game.

“I am not in favor of this keno,” he said. “I just feel it’s not good for the town. I’ve watched keno in other places, especially Massachusetts.

“People just end up sitting in these places, drinking. It probably causes the police department more work. There are good things about this for revenue, but unfortunately, I feel this is just teaching students to gamble.”

The legislation establishing the game as a revenue source for full-day kindergarten was crafted to give individual municipalities the option to allow the game by placing it on city election ballots or on the warrants of annual town meetings.

So far, 66 communities, including Laconia, Franklin, Belmont, and Center Harbor, have approved allowing the game. Keno is now offered at 160 establishments statewide, mainly bars and restaurants.

Meredith is one of 29 towns, including Gilford, Plymouth, Bristol, Wolfeboro, and Moultonborough, where voters will decide in town meetings next month whether to offer the game.

Speaking at the Monday meeting, Meredith Selectman Jeanie Forrester noted the lack of people interested in speaking about keno. A petition signed by 25 people ensured the issue will be voted on during town meeting.

“I would say it’s very disappointing that the folks who brought the petition forward or the lottery commission is not here to speak to this warrant article,” she said. “I personally don’t support it.”

Selectman Michael Pelczar said the lack of supporters could be a predictor of the proposal’s fate.

“This was brought up at the town meeting last year and overwhelmingly voted down,” he said. “I don’t know whether anything has changed looking at the lack of interest in the crowd. That, to me, speaks volumes.”

The vote at last year’s Meredith town meeting was 34 in favor of offering keno, 116 against.

This year’s petition was organized by Josh Harding, who co-owns Lakeview Tavern in Meredith with Mark Young.

“We’re surrounded by it,” Harding said. “Center Harbor has keno and Laconia has keno.”

He said it’s a fun, small-stakes game that could encourage customers to stay longer, and order more food and drink.

“I compare it to bingo,” he said. “It really isn’t like a casino in Las Vegas.

“It’s funny, when we tried to get it last year, several area residents referred to it as like a heroin addiction. That is totally out of line.”

Since the game was launched in December 2017, sales have totaled $23.8 million and profits have totaled nearly $4.5 million. Driven in part by Keno sales, the New Hampshire Lottery set all-time sales and revenue records last fiscal year with total sales exceeding $371.8 million.

Beginning this year, the state is using revenue generated from keno to increase funding for full-day kindergarten from $1,800 per student to $2,900 per student. School districts get the money regardless of whether the game is offered in their community.

During each game, players choose from one to 12 numbers, and every five minutes a computer randomly generates and displays 20 winning numbers from 1 to 80 on a television monitor. A player may place a wager from $1 to $25 per game. Players win money by matching numbers.