Council Denounces Casino Initiative
Saying it would attract crime and ruin property values, the City Council has unanimously passed a resolution denouncing an initiative to allow a Las Vegas-style casino at Los Alamitos Race Course.
“Casinos are not welcome in Cypress,” said Mayor Tom Carroll after the council’s vote. Added Councilwoman Mary Ann Jones, “No matter who put this initiative together, we now are sending our message on this.”
Council members, in their discussion of the casino initiative, noted that mystery still surrounds who launched the measure and why.
The initiative, which is currently authorized for statewide signature-gathering, would authorize casinos at the race tracks in Cypress, Inglewood, Arcadia, San Mateo and Albany. The measure would forbid any of the host cities from taxing a casino or getting any share of the profit.
The Cypress City Council two weeks ago discussed the initiative but took no vote on the advice of City Atty. John E. Cavanaugh.
But at this week’s council session, Cavanaugh said he found no legal obstacle to the council’s taking a stand.
The resolution passed by the council denounces the casino initiative as being against the best interests of the city.
The measure is now authorized for voter-signature gathering statewide. If it gets 693,230 signatures, it would be on the June 1998 statewide ballot.
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