Photo by yostinator.

No, really, officials from the D.C. Lottery now say they are finally ready to answer your questions about the intranet gaming system which the D.C. Council quietly and controversially approved earlier this year. A set of community meetings, one in each ward, now has dates again after being scheduled and then postponed back in August.

D.C. Lottery executive director Buddy Roogow said then that the reason for the postponement was “concerns raised by some community residents about holding the meetings during the summer months.”

Flash forward a couple of months, and the contention of many residents remains the same: the i-Gaming system would be the first online gaming program in the country, but it was slipped into the city’s budget bill in September and was not subject to a public hearing. Councilmember Michael A. Brown and Jack Evans seems confident that the system will be put into place regardless of opposition, but who knows — constituent meetings can sometimes have interesting consequences. [Update: According to his office, Evans has actually not made up his mind one way or the other; the Ward 2 Councilmember plans to use the input gathered at these community meetings to inform his stance on the program.]

The schedule of community meetings:

October 13: Ward 5, Lamond Riggs Library, 5401 South Dakota Avenue NE, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
October 17: Ward 4, Petworth Library, 4200 Kansas Ave., NW, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
October 18: Ward 7, IDEA Public Charter School, 1027 45th Street NE, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
October 20: Ward 6, Northwest One Library, 155 L Street NW, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
November 1: Ward 1, Marie Reed Learning Center, 2200 Champlain Street NW, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
November 10: Ward 3, Palisades Library, 4901 V Street NW, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
November 15: Ward 2, Jelleff Recreation Center, 3265 S Street NW, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
November 17: Ward 8, Anacostia Library, 1800 Good Hope Road SE, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Before you go to your meeting, you’ll likely want to read a copy of the proposed rules for the program; if you can’t make it to a meeting, there are ways to make sure your comments are heard.