Fast Shuffle on Card Club Issue

Your recent Orange County opinion editorial (June 14) against card clubs in Stanton was extremely one-sided and, quite frankly, blatantly undemocratic. California has a long tradition of allowing the voters to decide important community issues by popular vote. The current proposal was simply to ask Stanton’s voters to express their preference at the ballot box.

Your self-righteous editorial listed all sorts of social ills that could result from an affirmative vote on this issue. However, history shows this to be a hollow argument. The California lottery hasn’t created crime, it has raised millions to improve the quality of our schools. Local card clubs in Gardena, Bell Gardens and Commerce have added attractive, well-run clubs that provide additional millions for local services as well as much-needed employment.

The Times’ editorial has been a clear attempt, and a successful one, to intimidate local officials and to deny the voters a chance to express their view. It is highly questionable that a large and powerful newspaper should have that privilege: to be the self-designated arbiter of life styles in Orange County.

Despite The Times’ obvious bias, the editorial did acknowledge that the current proposal would provide an estimated $2.5 million annually to Stanton’s treasury. That is $2.5 million for local services that won’t have to be raised from the taxpayers of that community for desperately needed police services. Incidentally, The Times has offered no solution to the economic shortfall of Stanton.

In our democratic society, The Times should not have been permitted to put such pressure on the City Council and officials of Stanton. The public should have been given the right to express its opinion in a democratic way through a popular vote and only then should The Times express its traditional opposition to all forms of gambling, including recreational card playing.

GEORGE G. HARDIE

Managing Partner, Bicycle Club Bell Gardens