Play Meter

- NEws . - ,, ~ I;; The coin-op amusement in· dividuals that are still dustry in Florida is beginn· manipulating the board of ing to resemble a bitter FAVA, you can be guaran· political campaign, as the teed it will only get worse. state's long-time association "We can still correct a faces allegations by a new serious legislative wrong, group that it isn't properly but we can only do it with an serving the needs of music organized effort by ex· and game operators. perienced people with a pro· The soap opera began in ven track record." April , when the Florida The unsigned letter, as it Legislature passed a bill that turns out, was penned by the imposes a gross receipts tax executive vice president of on "operators" of amuse· AMOA-Florida, Bob Rhine· ment machines. Confusion hart - the former executive has reigned since that time, director of FAVA. According because the law does not to FAVA board member make clear just who the Steve Piantieri, Rhinehart "operator" is. Members of was fired from his FAVA the Florida Amusement· post some 18 months ago Vending Association CFAVAl because he allegedly misap· have been working to have propriated funds . "First of all, I was not fired; the law repealed; they have secured influential co· my contract was not renew· sponsors for 1992 repeal bills ed," Rhinehart said. "There's in both the House and a difference . As for misap· propriation of funds, FAVA Senate. But a recently formed had an auditor look into it. association believes FAVA His report said there was no isn 't doing enough. The evidence of anything wrong. AMOA of Florida, which fil. There was simply evidence ed its articles of incorpora· · of some sloppy bookkeeping. tion on Aug. 1, has circulated So what? "Things had been running an unsigned letter that takes FAVA to task for the current smoothly in Florida. I put tax situation. Here's a por· FAVA together 23 years ago. We never had any tax pro· ti on of the letter: "CFAVAl had two very good blems as long as I was the trade shows, a good newslet· lobbyist-for that associa· ter, a strong membership , tion and all the others I well-attended social ac· represented. FAVA used to tivities at our convention, be the best association in the good hotel rates, and friend· nation , with the best two ly, hospitable attitudes of the trades shows, social events members. What happened? - everything. But all of a sud· A few self.ordained in· den one or two of the power dividuals mucked it up. Now guys got greedy and wanted we have more taxes, more to take over, without under· regulations , more record· standing the whole picture. keeping, and more govern· The coup that led to my mental problems. Clt'sl total removal was led primarily political havoc. One trade by the vending members of show failed ; the other was a FAVA. AMOA Florida is go· disaster. With the same in· ing to be made up of music PLAY METER ·:7'•"!'~~1 .· 14 NOVEMBER 1991 and game operators. Those who've joined say, 'Bob, thank God you're back! We never had these tax pro· bl ems when you ran FAVA. ' And they're right, we didn't. " Rhinehart says he's confi· dent that his many contacts in the Florida Legislature will lead to repeal-or at least a major softening-of the gross receipts tax. "Now that the new association is officially formed, I'm going to write every legislator a per· sonal letter telling them that I'm back with a group that represents the music and games industry only-well put it this way, they have to be 70 percent music and games . A few cigarette machines is OK." He added that AMOA Florida will soon have an organizational meeting to elect officers and adopt bylaws. The FAVA board of direc· tors, in a memo sent to the membership on Oct. 10, ad· dressed the status of the association and what action has been taken legislatively to combat the tax. Part of it reads as follows: "The position of FAVA is this: in order to successfully repeal the new law, a united front should be the first task at hand. With the existence of other groups in Florida, it is possible that legislative and legal efforts will be neutralized or even under· mined. To this end, FAVA has been attempting to work with other individuals and groups associated with the Florida coin-operated am· usement industry in order to unite our efforts. "The FAVA paid member· ship is at its highest level in "'~ ,·f~t ~fl/'J more than three years. It is approximately 56 percent above the le7el it was when its new executive manage· ment team was hired. The leadership of FAVA has never been stronger or more representative of the in· dustry as a whole. With your help, we can be even more ef. fective ." The situation in Florida became more muddled on Oct.1, whenFAVApresident Ed Tolisano sent a FAX to a meeting of the board to an· nounce his resignation . Former FAVA president Bill Miller ofWGM Amusements Inc. is serving as interim president until the 1992 FAVA elections. "I resigned because I didn't feel FAVA was going in the right direction," he said. "I felt that the best thing for our company would be to sup· port AMOA· Florida. It was a matter of conscience ; I couldn't continue to be FAVA president while sup· porting the efforts of AMOA Florida. The association isn't a bunch of renegades . Its members include five or six ex-FAVA presidents and two AMOA board members , Stan Seymour and Dick Butler. The association is on· ly for operators of music and games, not full-line vending operators." How will all of this affect Florida's quest for video lot· tery? Tolisano says AMOA Florida has put the matter near the top of its agenda. "I think video lottery is coming, with or without operator par· ticipation. We have to get moving to make sure operators are involved." But Florida con't. on pg. 16