Cypress Council Favors Vegas Manager of a Card Club

Three council members said Wednesday that they would welcome a Las Vegas casino managing a card club at Los Alamitos Race Course if the club is approved by city voters next month.

“I would not have a problem with that,” Councilwoman Joyce C. Nicholson said. “It is not going to be glitzy . . . or a Las Vegas review. This is a classic, well-done club. If Vegas is so bad, why does everybody go there?”

The Times reported Wednesday that Edward Allred, one of the partners behind the proposed $30-million Derby Club, had talked briefly with the Mirage Casino-Hotel about management of the card club.

Allred said that he had received a call from Mirage officials, who expressed interest in managing the club. He said no negotiations were underway, although he would not rule them out in the future.

On June 8, voters will decide on Measure A, which would allow race course owner Lloyd Arnold and his partners, Allred and Chris Bardis, to build the Derby Club at the track.

Arnold and other card club proponents say the Derby Club would generate $12 million annually for the city.

Opponents argue that such a club would attract crime and would lower property values.

With less than a month to go before the election, the community of 45,000 is sharply divided over Measure A. At a council meeting Monday night, shouting matches broke out between residents and some council members, as both sides fought to get their opinions across.

Card club opponents said Wednesday that the Mirage’s interest in the Derby Club is another reason why Measure A should be defeated.

“He (Arnold) is not looking out for the interest of the city, he is looking to line his pockets,” said Councilwoman Cecilia L. Age, who opposes Measure A. “Can you imagine a small council trying to manage a Las Vegas casino? We don’t know the first thing about card clubs. I think this is so far-fetched.”

However, Mayor Gail H. Kerry and other card club supporters said it doesn’t matter who Arnold and his partners hire to manage the Derby Club because the deal would have to be approved by the city under an ordinance being drafted by the city attorney.

“I feel the city is in total control,” Kerry said. “To say that it (card club) is going to turn into the Las Vegas Strip is absurd. If the owners are reputable, their club will be reputable no matter who runs it.”

Councilman Richard Partin, who has not stated his position on Measure A, said he would not oppose having a Las Vegas casino operate the Derby Club.

“I actually think it would be quite a boon to the city to have Caesars or Bally’s working in this endeavor,” he said. “I don’t see it as having any impact.”

But card club opponents said they aren’t ready to gamble on the council making the right decision, if Measure A is approved.

“If the thing passes, we will start making plans to move,” said Jim Sage, a member of Cypress Citizens Against Card Clubs, a grass-roots group fighting the club. “But we will pause long enough to evict the City Council.”

An out-of-state operator could face an uphill battle getting a permit to operate here, said Debbie Wiley, manager of the state attorney general’s gaming registration program, which licenses card clubs.

A license can be denied if the applicant has gambling interests outside California, Wiley said. Only a few exceptions to those rules have been granted.

“The intent is generally to maintain the mom-and-pop-type operations as we now have them,” Wiley said. “It is to keep out the outside interests--obviously Nevada--because of the well-documented problems of large clubs.”

Since card clubs became legal in California in the early 1980s, more than 300 have sprung up around the state, Wiley said.

* STANTON COUNCIL SAYS NO: The City Council voted to urge residents to reject a measure that would allow card clubs in Stanton. B3