Card clubs raise a stake in Capitol

SACRAMENTO -- Watching anxiously as the state deals lucrative contracts to Indian gaming groups, a coalition of seven Los Angeles County casinos has anted up to increase its influence with legislative leaders, donating $1.3 million to lawmakers’ pet causes in the last 18 months.

The contributions were made to committees with ties to state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland) and others. Legislative leaders have passed a batch of bills this year that relax rules on the casinos.

At least one of the contributions by the Los Angeles Casinos Political Action Committee has raised eyebrows.

The casinos gave $250,000 to a Perata-supported political group that is paying petition circulators to gather signatures for a recall of state Sen. Jeff Denham (R-Merced), who has clashed with the Democratic leader over the budget and other issues.

The donation to the Voter Education and Registration Fund, a general-purpose political committee whose goals include registering voters and recalling Denham, has prompted questions about why the casinos would become involved in a recall campaign 300 miles away. Denham supporters contend that the casinos are grateful for Perata’s having helped push through a package of bills this year that relaxed state rules and restrictions on card clubs.

“When people are in leadership, they have the ability to move or not move legislation,” said Wayne C. Johnson, a political consultant for Denham.

Denham voted against a flood-control bond backed by Perata last year, then ran afoul of the Senate leader during the summer by refusing to join Democratic lawmakers and one GOP colleague in voting for the state budget that Perata wanted passed, according to Paul Hefner, a spokesman for both Perata and the committee funding the recall. The budget stalled without the second Republican vote, and Perata confessed he was embarrassed.

Perata supports recalling Denham because “he doesn’t want to go through next year what he went through this year,” Hefner said.

Perata and Denham both declined to be interviewed, referring calls to spokesmen.

Los Angeles County casino operators said their donation to the Voter Fund had more to do with Perata than Denham. In addition to that contribution, the card clubs gave $250,000 to a separate political fund supporting a measure on the February ballot.

The measure would change term limits so Perata, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) and 32 other lawmakers would not be forced to leave office next year.

Larry Flynt, whose Hustler Casino in Gardena donated to the PAC, said he was not aware of a Denham-Perata feud. His hope is that the money helps the casinos politically at a time when, he says, Indian gambling seems to be getting preferential treatment in Sacramento.

The L.A. County card clubs have sat on the sidelines as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature recently approved agreements with Indian tribes in Riverside and San Diego counties that authorize the addition of 17,000 slot machines among the tribes in exchange for profit sharing with the state.

The governor has “given the Indians everything,” Flynt said. “We are trying to create an even playing field.”

Andrew Schneiderman, vice president of the California Commerce Club, the PAC’s biggest donor, said through a spokeswoman that he didn’t know there was a recall campaign against Denham.

Other casino operators said they gave money to the Voter Fund to promote the election of legislators sympathetic to their industry. They expressed surprise that the Voter Fund had taken the lead in trying to oust Denham. They had no grievance with Denham, they said.

Perata is “the central force” in fundraising for the Voter Fund, according to Perata political spokesman Hefner, who would not say how much money the Senate leader raises. Neither Hefner nor the casino operators would say whether Perata solicited their donations.

The Voter Fund’s executive director is Sandi Polka, a close friend of and top political strategist for Perata.

The casinos’ contribution represented 70% of the money raised by the fund in the month before the recall effort was launched. The fund has raised money from many supporters and has done voter registration, said Hefner, who also speaks on behalf of the Voter Fund. He said it was a coincidence that all $47,000 spent by the Voter Fund after the casinos’ donation went to recall expenses, including the design, printing and circulation of petitions.

Denham referred calls for comment to his political consultant, Johnson, who said it was “outright wrong” to raise money for voter registration and then use it for a recall campaign.

During the budget dispute, Perata removed Denham from a key Senate committee. Around the same time, a group of voters in Denham’s district filed papers to circulate a recall petition. “He won election based on the promise to be a bipartisan problem solver and he reneged on that promise,” Hefner said.

Denham, who is 40 and runs an almond farm in Merced County, has a committee that has raised $200,000 to fight the recall. His district, which extends from Merced to Monterey, is seen by Democratic Party leaders as one they should hold, because redistricting in 2001 gave the party a 9% edge in voter registration.

State records show that Perata supported the efforts of casinos this year to win approval of a batch of bills aimed at relaxing gambling rules.

The bills included SB 289, which allows people who hold California gambling licenses to also have an investment in Nevada gambling companies and tribal casinos.

The bill, recently signed into law by the governor, was written “on behalf of a group of card clubs in Southern California,”’ according to a legislative analysis.

“The way it is set up now you can’t own an interest in a casino in Nevada,” Flynt said. “It’s stupid.”

The bill was opposed by the California Coalition Against Gambling Expansion, which argued that such partnerships encourage “the continued slide toward unfettered gambling in California.”

Perata also supported and the governor signed SB 730, which allows licensed employees to work in multiple key positions in any gambling establishment and also allows chips to be used on a gambling floor to pay for food and drinks.

That legislation was sponsored by the Southern California casinos, which said it would give casino workers more flexibility to move from position to position.

Another bill was SB 152, which would have allowed some cities and counties to increase the number of card tables without voter approval. The governor vetoed the bill, saying it would be a significant lifting of the state moratorium on card clubs.

In addition to the Commerce and Hustler clubs, the Los Angeles Casinos Political Action Committee has been funded this year by the Hawaiian Gardens Casino, the Bicycle Club Casino in Bell Gardens, Normandie Casino in Gardena, the Hollywood Park Casino in Inglewood and the Crystal Casino and Hotel in Compton.

patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com