San Gabriel Valley : Azusa Voters Reject Proposed Card Club

The odds seemed against it from the start, and now all hopes to open a card club in the San Gabriel Valley have been royally flushed.

By a margin of more than 2 to 1, Azusa voters Tuesday rejected Proposition A, a measure that would have allowed the Normandie Casino to build a gambling facility in the city, officials said. According to unofficial results, 3,511 voters opposed it, while 1,339 said yes.

Elsewhere in the San Gabriel Valley, voters have said no this year to similar measures in Baldwin Park, South El Monte, Irwindale and Pomona. Azusa was the Normandie group’s last bet to open a club in the San Gabriel Valley before a three-year state moratorium on new gaming clubs goes into effect Jan. 1. Normandie officials could not be reached for comment.

Residents and some council members said they opposed the facility out of fear that gambling clubs would attract “sleaze,” said Dick Stanford, a retired political consultant who spearheaded the anti-gambling campaign.

“We don’t need it, period, and we don’t want it in our backyards,” Stanford said.

Various churches and religious organizations joined the battle, including Azusa Pacific University, a Christian college that donated more than $6,000 to the campaign.

Proponents of the card club said a casino would bring the city tax revenue.

“This means very severe financial difficulty ahead,” Mayor Stephen Alexander said. “That’s a $5-million loss to the city.”