THE devil, as they say, is in the details.

That old proverb certainly seems to be holding true for Proposal A that calls for the legalization of for-profit bingo at the site of the former Guam Greyhound Park, on which the people of Guam will be voting Nov. 6.

As reported by Zita Taitano on page one of today’s Variety, at their regular monthly meeting yesterday, the Mayors' Council of Guam considered a draft resolution opposing the initiative. The concern of Mayors' Council Vice President Robert Hofmann, who introduced the resolution, was that certain wording of the act might actually prohibit existing non-profit bingo games from continuing their operations if the measure is approved.

Hofmann expressed the fear that even the small-scale bingo games conducted at senior citizen centers and the Liberation Day bingo could be affected.

At issue is the paragraph in the proposed act, which reads:

“This title shall not authorize Bingo anywhere other than the facility formerly known as Guam Greyhound Park having a physical address of 743 Chalan San Antonio Road, Tamuning, Guam 96913, but shall not prohibit the passage, in the future, by a vote of the People of Guam as a result of one or more additional initiatives or by the Guam Legislature allowing Bingo at other locations.”

We aren’t lawyers, but it does seem this paragraph could be taken as granting an exclusive bingo monopoly to the owners of the Guam Greyhound Park, or at least requiring that any future bingo operations – presumably including non-profits – would have to go through a cumbersome legal process before starting a new game. Quite a lot to ask of your local man’åmko' center!

At the same time, another paragraph of the initiative seems to contradict this one completely.

“This Title does not limit, repeal or otherwise affect any laws or regulations relating to the operation or conduct of Bingo outside the Bingo Facility,” it states.

As it developed, the mayors were not ready to vote on Hofmann’s proposed resolution. Not only had a number of the mayors not yet read the text of Proposal A, it seems some of them really didn’t have much of an idea of what it was about.

As a result, the Council decided to table the resolution until their October meeting, to give everyone a chance to get up to speed on the initiative and to consult with their constituents.

In the meantime, a 500-word summary of the pros and cons of Proposal A is now being prepared by the Guam Election Commission. We do hope it will shed some much-needed light on exactly what would and would not be permitted in the event the proposal passes.