The Region : Bid to Outlaw Card Club Fails by 1 Vote

A measure to outlaw card club gambling in the mile-square municipality of Cudahy failed by a single vote. When asked if they wished to repeal a 1982 ordinance that made card clubs legal, 290 voters in the southeast Los Angeles County community said yes, but 291 said no. The outcome of Tuesday’s election became clear after City Clerk Gerald Caton tallied 10 absentee and so-called “provisional” ballots that had been cast by voters whose eligibility had been questioned. Caton disallowed three ballots, because they had been cast in person by voters who had also taken out absentee forms. The city’s only card club, the Silver Saddle Casino, opened in February but has failed to produce the tax revenue that city leaders anticipated, when such clubs were approved four years ago. Caton said he was “surprised” by the outcome, particularly because two pro-casino City Council incumbents were soundly defeated in last month’s municipal election.