Irwindale Card Club Vote at Hand Today : Election: The issue has sharply divided the city’s 760 voters. Casino would be the first in the San Gabriel Valley.

Voters in Irwindale will decide today whether their city--famous for its gravel-pit lunar landscape and failed effort to lure the Raiders--will become home to the first card club in the San Gabriel Valley.

The vote, culminating a fiery campaign of insults, accusations and attack mail, has sharply divided the 760 voters in the sparsely populated city, even among families.

Voters also go to the polls here with the knowledge that separate card clubs are on the ballot for Nov. 7 in Pomona, about 15 miles to the east, and in neighboring Azusa on Dec. 12.

“This has become a very divisive issue. But we have faith that God the Lord will unite the city against these horrible casinos tomorrow,” said Nellie Tapia, 70, a card club opponent, invoking the religious opposition. “They’ll bring nothing but crime, prostitution and headaches for our city.”

Developers Frank Santin and Michael Meczka, with financing from the owners of Santa Anita Park, want to open a 60,000-square-foot club that would cater to about 3,000 customers daily, just off the San Gabriel Freeway at Irwindale Marketplace on Live Oak Avenue.

Casino advocates say a card club would be a new source of income in a city of just 1,050 residents. Irwindale’s reserves have declined from $35 million in 1987 to about $5 million this year as tax revenues from the once-thriving sand and gravel industry have dropped.

Santin and supporters such as former Councilman Fred Barbosa have promised the city more than 500 jobs and $3 million annually in taxes from the facility, to help maintain some perks offered to residents. These include free haircuts for seniors, low-cost prescriptions, college scholarships and free day trips to places such as Disneyland. All are bankrolled by the city now, thanks in part to a tax on quarry excavations.

“We’re doing this to save our city,” said Rebecca Barbosa, Fred’s wife and a card club proponent.

Seeking to capitalize on the perks, one pro-card club flyer features a photograph of young children below the title “Caring for Kids” and reminds residents about the scholarships.

Card club foes say a casino would spell trouble for a community with virtually no crime.

“We do not need a business that threatens the safety of Irwindale,” said Mayor Julian Miranda, who along with three of four council members opposes the club.

Miranda said the legacy he wants to leave is a city free of gangs, loan sharks and prostitution.

Sal Hernandez, head of Irwindale Residents Against Casino and Crimes, said that despite declining revenues, there are no plans to cut resident perks. Hernandez said the city actually added $1.1 million to its reserves this year. The group’s arguments have gotten a boost as the Bicycle Club in Bell Gardens has deluged residents with anti-casino mail.

Card club developers Santin and Meczka, however, cite crime statistics that show shopping malls are a greater target for criminals and a study of FBI crime statistics that shows no increase in crime with card clubs.

The election may not be the end of the issue. Card club opponents are already complaining about voter fraud and say they will go to the district attorney with their allegations.

“You have to remember this is a city where the mayor’s enchilada was spiked,” said Hernandez, referring to a 1972 incident in which a then-casino proponent was convicted of trying to drug the mayor in an effort to blackmail him and win his support for a casino.