NATIONAL CITY : Casino Backers Spend $240,000
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Developers of a proposed National City card casino spent $240,000 between March and June in an effort to win approval of a ballot measure in the Nov. 3 election, according to campaign disclosure documents.
According to the disclosure statements, developer Highland Roosevelt Corp. of La Jolla contributed $240,000 to its political action committee, the National City Economic Improvement Committee. The committee spent $226,000 in that time period, the documents said.
About $107,000 was spent to hire workers to gather signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot and to inform residents of the proposition, said Larry Nuffer, a spokesman for Highland Roosevelt. Most of the rest went to consultants for the project, authorities said.
Critics of the proposal fear that the city could become the card-room capital of the county because the city of San Diego recently rejected such a proposal.
Councilwoman Rosalie Zarate said National City residents who oppose the idea know they will never be able to raise a comparable amount of money, so they have formed the Committee Against Card Casinos.
“We will work grass roots and send out the message,” said Zarate, the committee’s chairwoman.
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