BELL : Is Casino City’s Ace in the Hole?

The city’s casino, which closed more than a year ago after a checkered decade of legal and financial scandal, is on its way to a grand reopening, city officials said. Financial analysts hope the poker club, which once brought the city $2 million a year, will be the answer to Bell’s financial woes.

The deal to open the poker parlor was cinched this month when the city received a $500,000 deposit from an interested partnership. The check is the first installment of $1.35 million in good-faith money and taxes the city has required the new tenants to pay before the club can open.

California Bell Casino, a Los Angeles-based group, and Worldwide Entertainment Centers Inc. of Carlsbad signed a lease agreement last month with club owner Bell Associates. The casino still needs to apply for state and city gambling licenses, which could take three to six months, officials said.

The casino at 4901 Eastern Ave., once the largest poker parlor in the state, could bring more than 500 jobs to the area, officials said. The city will receive as much as 13% of the club’s gross revenue, an amount that could equal more than $100,000 each month, they said.

The city has hired Pete Werrlein Jr., a former mayor and councilman, to monitor club operations. Werrlein made headlines in 1985 when he was sentenced on felony charges for mail fraud and operating an illegal gambling business, in connection with the Bell casino.

Werrlein served on the City Council from 1964 to 1980 and in the late 1970s helped push through city ordinances to ease the way for a casino. He became general manager of the casino from 1981 to 1984 and in 1985 pleaded guilty to the two felony counts.

Werrlein served 10 1/2 months of a three-year sentence at a federal prison camp, spent six months at a halfway house and performed 2,000 hours of community service.

Now Werrlein has formed a company called Western Gaming Associates and will outline how the club’s finances will be monitored. Werrlein’s company will receive 15% of the city’s revenue from the club during its first year and 10% in following years. Werrlein has owned Western Auto in Bell for about 40 years.

Chief Administrative Officer Robert A. Rizzo said Werrlein will oversee a three-person staff and report directly to his office and the chief of police.

Council members agreed unanimously last month on a 38-page ordinance tightening card club operations in the city, but Councilman Rolf Janssen opposed a separate agreement to hire Werrlein.

But Werrlein said he intends to put all fears to rest.

“The city has been put through hell because of what happened and because of my stupidity and allowing myself to get involved with people I shouldn’t have gotten involved with,” Werrlein said. “I’ll push like hell to make sure the city gets everything they’ve got coming and that they get put back on the map financially, because they are not in good shape.”