Town voters reject raffles

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Tuesday, May 27, 2003 | 9:56 a.m.

BRYN MAWR, Pa. -- Streetscape renewal efforts in Bryn Mawr have suffered a setback because a ballot initiative allowing raffles failed.

The Bryn Mawr Stakeholders Group, which oversees downtown revitalization, was planning to raise money through raffles. The law against raffles of that sort is seldom enforced, but since the Stakeholders Group includes government officials, they decided to seek the voters' approval for "small games of chance."

"We assumed it would just pass without issue," Lower Merion Township Commissioner Charlie Bloom said. So backers of the initiative didn't bother to educate voters about it.

Although there was no vocal opposition to the measure, nearly 56 percent voted against it last week.

"Most people thought we were trying to introduce casino gambling, or trying to take a perfectly legal activity and tax it," Bloom said.