Vote on Card Clubs Divides Residents of 2 Communities : Election: On Tuesday, voters in Stanton and Cypress will decide whether to bolster city coffers by legalizing casinos.

In a state that occasionally runs wild with public referendums, voters are regularly confronted at the polls with such dry, complicated issues as million-dollar bond measures, assessment districts and utility rates. It is not the stuff to stir the passions of the electorate.

But in two small cities in northwest Orange County, voters will go the polls Tuesday to decide an emotional issue that has divided city councils, sparked heated protests and drawn wary looks from neighboring cities. Activists describe the debate as nothing short of an exercise in community self-identity.

In separate elections, voters in Cypress and Stanton will be asked to decide whether they want to legalize card club casinos, which have been absent from Orange County for more than a dozen years.

Some describe the election as a test of how far two quiet bedroom communities will bend community mores in the name of raising desperately needed revenue.

“We don’t want the stigma of being a card club community,” said Stanton City Councilman Harry M. Dotson, referring to what he called the “slums” surrounding Los Angeles casinos.

But others frame the debate differently, arguing that hard times mean cities can no longer afford to ban entire industries.

“I hope that people understand that I want Cypress to remain the quality community that it is . . . and they need to realize Cypress is in a severe budget crisis,” said Gail Kerry, mayor of Cypress, which is home to 45,000 people. “To keep the quality of Cypress up, it is going to take a lot more money than we have.”

Card club proponents are promising plenty of money.

In Cypress, owners of the Los Alamitos Race Course, who want to build a $30-million casino/entertainment complex at the track, have predicted that the club would generate 2,500 local jobs and as much as $12 million a year for city coffers. They are also promising to establish a $1-million scholarship fund for students if their proposal is approved by voters.

In Stanton, developer Ard Keuilian wants to turn his Indoor Swap Meet on Beach Boulevard into a card club. He predicts the project will mean $3 million a year in city revenues. He is also offering to donate several hundred thousand dollars to local nonprofit groups.

Stanton voters will not be casting ballots on a specific proposal, as is the case in Cypress. Instead, Stanton voters will be asked to decide whether they want card clubs in the city at all. If voters approve the idea, developers such as Keuilian may then take their proposals to the city for consideration.

The campaigns have proved to be among the most expensive that either city has ever seen, with card-club promoters leading the charge over the last several weeks. Short videos, billboards and other costly promotional materials have been employed in an attempt to sway voters.

In Cypress, investors in the Los Alamitos Race Course have reported spending more than half a million dollars to promote their cause--compared to just $21,000 by opponents. In Stanton, meanwhile, club backers are outspending their opponents by a margin of $60,000 to $23,000.

Cash-strapped club opponents have relied on top officials in law enforcement and politics to help spread the word about the dangers of legalized gambling. Such well-known figures as Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi and Sheriff Brad Gates have joined local politicians in speaking out against the initiatives, arguing that card clubs will inevitably attract crime and corruption to their host cities.

“I’ll tell you one thing,” said Dotson, the Stanton councilman. “I’ll be glad when this whole thing is over. It’s caused an awful lot of strain on a lot of people.”

In another special election Tuesday, property owners in the Three Arch Bay community in Laguna Beach will vote on whether to assess themselves as much as $150 a year to help maintain security guards in the area. Lot owners would pay $100 a year.

As a community service district, Three Arch Bay relies on property taxes from about 500 properties to pay for security patrols and storm drains. Because the state will be taking a larger chunk of those taxes, residents concluded that they must consider another way to pay for neighborhood security, said Bill Cunningham, the district’s executive director.

One sign that the election in Three Arch Bay has not attracted quite the level of attention as the card club issue: Laguna Beach’s city manager said he was not even aware that a special election was going to take place in the city.

Times correspondents Leslie Ernest and Lynda Natali contributed to this report.