‘92 LONG BEACH ELECTIONS : Voters Approve Term Limits, Say No to Gambling : Propositions: The idea for a card casino on the Queen Mary is scuttled. Also rejected were a tax to add police and plan to give the mayor more powers.

Long Beach voters were not in a generous mood.

The only proposition they passed in Tuesday’s election limited the mayor and City Council members to two terms of office.

Voters refused to authorize gambling aboard the Queen Mary, perhaps the best chance for the landmark to turn a profit and stay in Long Beach. They declined to tax themselves to pay for 100 more police.

And they voted down a proposition that would have increased the mayor’s powers.

The only Long Beach measure to pass, Proposition G, was backed almost single-handedly by Long Beach lawyer Dennis W. Carroll.

The measure prohibits City Council members who have served two terms from being listed on the ballot. They could run again only as write-in candidates.

Councilmen Thomas Clark and Warren Harwood, who have already served more than two terms, are exempt for one more election.

Carroll spent about $56,000 of his own money pushing Proposition I, including hiring a signature-gathering firm to qualify the measure for the ballot. He said the measure should cut the cost of campaigning and ensure greater diversity on the City Council.

“The citizenry wants to move the government closer to themselves,” Carroll said.

The mayor and some council members said they opposed the measure because it could knock out of office hard-working politicians the voters may want to reelect.

Voters turned down Proposition J, which would have authorized the operation of a card casino aboard or near the city-owned Queen Mary. Proponents of keeping the money-losing tourist attraction in Long Beach brushed off the defeat.

“If this wasn’t the way to do it, we’ll come up with another way,” said Harwood, who supported the measure.

City officials decided to put the proposition on the ballot after a consultant said a high-grossing card casino would be the only way the financially troubled ocean liner would turn a profit.

Walt Disney Co., which has operated the Queen Mary under a lease since 1988, reported annual losses as high as $10.8 million. The company is scheduled to leave the tourist attraction at the end of the year.

Some city officials want to sell the ship; others want to keep the vessel, and the hundreds of jobs it provides, in town as long as it does not drain city coffers.

A group of about 15 Long Beach residents, business people and Queen Mary employees organized Citizens for Proposition J and spent about $3,000 campaigning for the measure. They took out newspapers ads, handed out leaflets and made phone calls urging voters to approve the measures.

But their efforts were overshadowed by those of a statewide political action committee, Californians for Fair Business Practices, which spent $18,600 to send out mailers Friday and Saturday opposing the measure, according to a campaign disclosure statement.

The mailers linked card casinos to organized crime, prostitution, loan sharking and money laundering.

The PAC’s contributors include employees of the Bicycle Club in Bell Gardens and other area card clubs, according to campaign disclosure statements.

David L. Gould, the PAC’s treasurer, declined to comment on the group’s opposition to Prop. J, but a knowledgeable source said the employees fear that increased competition could make it tough for their casinos to survive, which would threaten their jobs.

Lisa Lynn Backus, a local tour guide and president of Citizens for Proposition J, said it was too difficult overcoming the moral qualms surrounding gambling.

“It has a stigma attached to it, the immorality, prostitution,” Backus said.

Supporters of Proposition H were also unable to overcome a traditionally formidable barrier: persuading residents to tax themselves.

If the measure had passed, homeowners would have paid $38 to $60 a year in additional property taxes and business about 4 cents per square foot to enable the Long Beach Police Department to hire 100 more officers.

Those favoring and opposing the measure said they hoped that the City Council would be able to cut spending in other areas to pay for the additional officers. But city officials were doubtful.

“Right now, we’re probably to the limit of what we can do without cutting parks, libraries and other vital services,” said Mayor Ernie Kell, who supported the measure.

Times community correspondent Kirsten Lee Swartz contributed to this story.