STANTON : Citywide Election on Gambling Is OKd

At a rowdy meeting, the City Council decided 4 to 1 to have residents vote on whether to allow gambling at card clubs.

About 50 residents came to Tuesday’s meeting to rail against card clubs, which are currently not allowed in the city. No resident spoke in favor. Many said they fear increased crime and a sleazy image for Stanton.

“It’s just not anything to be proud of,” resident Martha Zuniga told the council. “I don’t want a prostitute outside my house, turning her little tricks.”

Despite voting to put the measure to a referendum, council members Harry Dotson and William C. Estrada announced that they will vote against card clubs at the June 8 election. Councilman Sal Sapien said his pro-referendum vote does not necessarily mean that he favors a card club in the city.

Residents called their positions hypocritical. If the councilmen oppose gambling, why pay for the $25,000 to $30,000 special election, some asked.

“That’s a lot of money to be spending on something that is not worth it,” Zuniga said.

City Atty. Thomas W. Allen said if card clubs are approved, the city could charge the cost of the election as fees to the developer.

The owners of the Indoor Swap Meet of Stanton last week proposed turning their building into a card club and asked the council to call a special election, since card clubs must be approved by the voters.

At the council meeting, residents often cheered anti-gambling speakers, and many shouted angrily as the council readied to place the issue on the ballot. Garden Grove and Cypress are also considering approval of card clubs.

Mayor Don Martinez was the lone voter against the special election, saying that the impact of card clubs needs more study. Also voting in favor was Councilman Joe V. Harris.

Dotson was selected to write an official argument against card clubs, which will appear in the voting pamphlet mailed to registered voters.

No one on the council offered to write an argument in favor of allowing card clubs.

Sapien said, however, that a card club could keep the city from having to impose some fees or taxes on residents.

Ard Keuilian, one of the Indoor Swap Meet owners, said a club in his building on Beach Boulevard could raise $2 million to $3 million for the city, which has a $8.25-million budget. At the club, patrons could bet on poker and other card games, and the club would share a percentage of the profits with the city, he said.

“We will make sure that our neighborhood will get better, not worse,” Keuilian said at the meeting. “We will have three times the police,” he said, and suggested that the new revenue would give city workers their first raise in three years.

“This thing scares me,” Sheriff’s Capt. Robert Eason told the council. “Short of any other information, I don’t think it’s in the city’s best interest.”

Eason and city officials studied card clubs in 1987, when the issue was also raised. “There was no past proof that revenue would offset the increase in police costs,” Eason told council.

“It’s not going to help us at all,” said resident Rudy Garcia. “It’s going to draw money from the poor people.