Voters to Decide on Council Seats, Casinos : Elections: On Tuesday, Pasadena will fill three posts, while Compton weighs raises for top officials and Pomona considers card clubs.

Will calm finally reign in rancorous Pasadena? Is gambling in the cards for Pomona? Will Compton--whose residents are among the poorest in Los Angeles County--give its mayor and City Council a hefty hike in pay?

These are the major questions facing voters Tuesday as the three Los Angeles County cities hold municipal elections.

All three campaigns have been marked by name-calling, the exchange of accusations and, in the case of Pasadena, continuing fireworks by departing Councilman Isaac Richard, who tore down campaign signs of one candidate and scuffled with the candidate’s brother, leaving the man with a broken nose.

Pasadena voters must fill three City Council seats, including one held by the volatile Richard, who is retiring after a controversial term that included three censures by his colleagues.

No matter who wins the three seats, the departure of Richard and his nemesis, Councilman Rick Cole, is expected to bring instant calm to the notoriously contentious seven-member council. In addition to Richard, Cole and Mayor Kathryn Nack decided not to seek reelection.

The candidates in Tuesday’s runoffs were the top vote-getters in a March 7 primary in each of the three districts.

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Saundra L. Knox, the director of a nonprofit housing agency, and Joyce Streator, a former county probation director, are running to replace Richard in the city’s 1st District, which covers northwest Pasadena.

Paul Little, a communications coordinator, and Mark R. Nay, an architect, are running for Cole’s 2nd District seat, which represents central and northeast Pasadena.

Nack’s 6th District seat is being sought by William J. York Jr., a manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Ann-Marie Villicana, a lawyer and real estate agent. The 6th District covers southwest Pasadena.

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The 1st District race has attracted the most attention, largely because of Richard’s actions. The councilman, who supports Knox, recently admitted taking down some of Streator’s campaign signs. He also got into a fight with Streator’s brother, Andrew L. Ewing, 54, who suffered a broken nose in the scuffle. Each man blames the other for starting the fight over the placement of a Streator campaign sign in Richard’s neighborhood.

In Compton, a city dogged by political scandal, voters are being asked to give their City Council members full-time status and hefty raises. Just within the last year, federal bribery indictments targeted two former council members, including current Rep. Walter R. Tucker III (D-Compton).

Two ballot measures ask voters to grant the mayor an annual salary of $80,000 and pay the four council members $60,000 each. All five currently receive $24,000 for their efforts, as well as a monthly car allowance and other perks.

Two council seats are also up for grabs, with nine challengers opposing two incumbents--one of whom, Jane D. Robbins, has held her post for 19 years.

In Pomona, another gritty city with high unemployment and chronic poverty, voters will decide whether to allow card clubs. City officials, who support the measure, maintain that it will generate up to $10 million in annual revenue.

Opponents say it will increase crime and fail to benefit residents. The fight turned ugly earlier this month when a political action committee sent out an inflammatory mailer which said that the Chinese American owner of a proposed card club would invite Asian organized crime into Pomona.

Community correspondent Emily Adams contributed to this story.