Mesa council approves Turf Paradise off‑track betting license after public comment

Mesa City Council voted unanimously on Feb. 23 to grant Turf Paradise an off‑track betting license after a public comment period in which a resident urged the council to consider gambling’s social harms.

During public comment, Reggie Braun said gambling contributes to homelessness and mental‑health harms, and criticized online betting platforms such as FanDuel for design features that he said encourage addictive behavior. “When you gamble, generally, you are associating with…people that are not necessarily the most friendly people you want us to think of,” Braun said, arguing that gambling increases trauma, loneliness and depression. He also offered an approximate figure for public costs of addiction‑related services that he said ranged “close to 650,000 to 1,000,000 dollars” for the program he referenced.

After public testimony the council returned to item 4a. Mayor Freeman called for a motion; the item was seconded by the vice mayor (per the transcript) and Miss Taylor, and council members voted in favor. The council did not elaborate on record in the transcript about changes to the license terms or conditions before the vote.

The meeting record indicates the licensing item was handled as part of standard agenda procedures and received no recorded council abstentions or no votes.