Southeast : Casino Supporters Sue Over Mail Campaign

Supporters of a proposed Hawaiian Gardens casino sued two card clubs in neighboring cities this week for trying to quash competition with a direct mail campaign aimed at scaring voters into defeating it at the polls Tuesday.

The lawsuit, the latest blow in a venomous feud that has washed over the city of 14,000 for the last three months, alleges the Bicycle Club in Bell Gardens and the Commerce Club in the City of Commerce have misrepresented the impact of a new casino by claiming that it would attract prostitution, loan sharking and gang violence.

Proponents, led by Irving Moskowitz, a physician who would own and operate the new club, contend it would rescue the city from its $1.5-million budget deficit and prevent layoffs and cuts in services.

Opponents, including councilwoman Kathleen Navejas and the two casino-backed groups, insist it would breed crime, spur addiction and drain voters’ bank accounts.

In its lawsuit, Moskowitz’s group, United Citizens to Save Hawaiian Gardens, charges that two campaign committees funded by the neighboring casinos have illegally mailed brochures and other literature to voters in what amounts to an anti-competitive business practice.

The lawsuit asks that the two groups cease their mail campaign and pay unspecified damages.

The treasurer of the Southern California Voter Education Project, the campaign committee backed by the Commerce Club, denied the group had sent such mail.

Jerry Westland, a political consultant for Concerned Taxpayers of California, the group supported by the Bicycle Club, said, “It’s a sad day when Dr. Moskowitz and his consultants feel that everyone is not entitled to participate in the election process.