SYCAMORE – Video gambling will be allowed in city bars and fraternal organizations after the majority of City Council members agreed it was not their role to protect residents from themselves.

Alderman Greg Taylor voiced the common theme among his colleagues, saying there are many societal ills such as cigarettes, alcohol and overeating that can hurt people and are legal because it is not government’s role to tell people how to live.

“I don’t have as much control as I would like when it comes to food,” he said as an example of personal choice. “But people need to be responsible for their own actions.”