City Agency Approves Talks for Card Club : Finances: Opponents brand gambling “a tool of Satan,” and the mayor’s brother warns the council of possible recall efforts.

Invoking budget woes, the lure of Satan and the Lord above, officials and citizens of Compton debated Tuesday night the benefits and moral perils of allowing card gambling in their city.

A bitterly divided City Council voted to begin negotiations with a newly formed development company that wants to build a card club at the beleaguered Compton auto mall. But opponents of the plan promised retribution.

“If you think this gambling is going to pass without a fight, you’re wrong,” said Kenneth Tucker, brother of Mayor Walter R. Tucker III. “There are a lot of Christians out there, and they are wide awake and they vote.

“We know how to use the recall,” he said.

Despite the protests, three members of the council--and about half the audience--insisted that a card club was necessary to bolster Compton’s shrinking tax base.

The gambling club, proposed by Compton Entertainment Inc., would be the key development in a seven-acre, $9-million “entertainment center.” The center would also house two restaurants, a bar and a nightclub.

Compton Entertainment Inc., which is based in Los Angeles, was formed by RoubenKandilien and Mike Aloyan, who said they have never held a gaming license in California.

City Manager Howard Caldwell said, under the proposal, the development would be financed in part by bonds that the city would back, but he assured the council that Compton would not be liable if the investors defaulted.

According to a Community Redevelopment Agency staff report, the project initially would generate more than $4 million in license and tax revenues and eventually would add $10 million annually to city coffers.

The entertainment center also would create about 1,200 jobs in a city that lost 102 businesses to the Los Angeles riots, the report said.

“We cannot afford to turn this down,” said Councilman Omar Bradley. “This company isn’t looking for a loan from the city. They want to give us dollars for the land. They want to make us money.”

Compton finances have been hit hard by bad investments over the past decade, Bradley reminded the council. The city lent millions of dollars to the developer of the Ramada Inn, who defaulted, and to the Auto Plaza developers, who have made fractional monthly payments on the mostly empty car lots.

In local funding cuts outlined in the state budget, Compton stands to lose about $7 million of its $25-million annual budget. City staff has been cut from 860 to about 610 employees.

In response to concerns about crime, Bradley insisted that cities, such as Bell Gardens and Inglewood, which have gambling facilities, were safer because they could afford more police officers. Inglewood, with a population of 109,000, has 214 police officers and Bell Gardens, with about 42,000 people, has 56 sworn officers, police department spokesmen said. Compton has 90,000 people and 124 officers.

Increased city revenues, jobs and saying “yes” to investment were the catch phrases of card club proponents, but both sides hotly debated the morals of allowing gambling into their city. Many quoted Scripture.

“Some people ask me, ‘How can an ordained minister condone gambling?’ ” said the Rev. William R. Johnson Jr. of Compton’s Curry Temple. “But I say, ‘Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s.’ A lot of the churches offer chicken dinners and buses to Las Vegas. If we don’t follow Scriptures, how can we expect the city to?”

“Gambling is just another tool of Satan’s for breaking up families,” countered Pastor Irene Robinson. “Compton is a black city. We see in Gardena the gambling hasn’t helped the black people there. It’s only made the rich richer.”

Census figures show that Compton is 53% black and 44% Hispanic and that 27.5% of the residents live in poverty.

After 2 1/2 hours of debate that several times erupted into yelling matches, the council--acting as the Urban Community Development Commission--voted 3 to 1 to enter into an exclusive negotiation agreement with Compton Entertainment.

Council members Bradley, Bernice Woods and Jane D. Robbins voted for the agreement; the mayor voted against it. Councilwoman Patricia A. Moore, who voiced disapproval of gambling, was absent during the vote.