Bingo Parlor Asks Judge to Block Move to Close It

Attorneys for the second-largest bingo parlor in Los Angeles asked a judge Friday to block the city’s revocation of the group’s bingo license because volunteers who ran the games allegedly were paid.

City officials have agreed to delay revocation of the license until Superior Court Judge Robert H. O’Brien issues his decision. Woodland Hills-based Identity Inc., a nonprofit charitable organization that provides programs and services to handicapped youth, allegedly paid its volunteers from the proceeds of bingo games and failed to report the payments, said Assistant City Atty. Byron R. Boeckman.

Robert Burns, general manager of the city’s Department of Social Services, ordered a hearing into the matter. But the person appointed to hold the hearings became ill.

Burns then appointed another examiner, who, based on the transcripts of the first hearing, ruled in December that Identity had been “paying its volunteers repeatedly and over many years.” Identity’s attorney argued in court papers that the organization was denied due process because the second law judge issued his decision without hearing first-hand testimony.