"Hawaiian Gardens Casino in Hawaiian Gardens
Opened in 1997. A group of rabbis and Middle East peace activists charge
that money from the casino and a bingo parlor is used to by its owner,
Dr. Irving Moskowitz, to build new Jewish settlements in Arab
neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. "
To Those Researchers who want the truth of matter check out further
Larry Silverstein with the 99 year lease on World Trade Center.......
Saba
See the connections between front man Larry Flynt who gives oh so much
of his smut money to the ADL - and the connection between Dr. Irving
Moskowitz.....Lovely people - but who fronts for what?
Tell me will they soon be casting lots for Christ's robes once again -
symbolically, of course - and will Israel be a big tourist attraction -
awaiting the big Bang.
This is the year of the Millennium and every nut in the country is being
manipulated by a secret hand?
Words of Meyer Lansky - get John F. Kennedy and find some nut to do it?
For the game is afoot.
Saba
Stand Up For California!
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Raising the Ante
After a decade of scandals and closures, several area card clubs plan
expansions or renovations and two new ones will be built. But cities
aren't counting on revenue windfalls.
by Hugo Martin
Los Angeles Times
1999 June 11, Page B-2
After years of scandals and dwindling revenues, card club owners in Los
Angeles County are betting on better days ahead by building two casinos
and expanding and renovating several existing clubs.
Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt is taking the biggest gamble: He
is investing $30 million in a new casino in Gardena, where five casinos
have closed since the early 1980s because of financial problems.
In Cudahy, the owners of an Orange County bail bond business are
building what a representative calls the county's first "Latino-themed"
card club.
Meanwhile, club owners in Commerce, Hawaiian Gardens, Huntington Park
and Bell Gardens are planning expensive expansion and renovation
projects to revive flagging business.
The new clubs and expansions will add nearly 260 card tables, increase
the number of tables in the county by more than a third, to 980.
In previous years, municipal officials--who depend on casino revenues
for up to 50% of their city budgets--might have welcomed these
developments effusively and counted on extra revenues. But history has
taught them caution.
Because gambling revenues have become so unreliable, these officials
say, they are trying to diversify their cities' economies.
"With the money we get from the card club, we are looking to try to
attract new businesses and retain the businesses we have in town," said
Hawaiian Gardens Mayor Pro Tem Leonard Chaidez.
The history of casinos in the county has been a sad, sordid tale. Half a
dozen clubs have closed in the last decade because of mismanagement,
corruption and what some experts say is over-saturation.
Tax revenues from the seven existing clubs have dropped by as much as a
third since 1992, according to a survey of city records. The Commerce
Club Casino, the largest card club in the county, with 220 tables, is
the only casino whose contributions to city coffers have not flagged.
The closures and dwindling revenues have created huge headaches for city
officials, who have relied on casino money to fatten meager budgets in
working-class communities with diminished tax bases.
Nevertheless, encouraged by the strong economy, club owners insist that
profitable days are ahead. They believe that the public is increasingly
tolerant of gambling, as demonstrated by overwhelming voter support in
November for Proposition 5 , the measure to expand casino gambling on
Indian reservations.
"The market will be sufficient for all of us," said Ron Sarabi, general
manager of the Hawaiian Gardens Casino, who is planning to expand from
six card tables to 150 this summer.
The state has imposed a moratorium on new casino licenses until 2001,
but the moratorium does not prohibit expansion of existing casinos. (The
two new clubs will operate under the existing licenses of defunct
casinos.)
Although gambling experts say that the demand for casinos is limited,
club owners insist that they can expand the market by reaching out to
new gamblers through improved marketing and specialized services.
The Mehr family, which operates one of the largest bail bond companies
in Orange County, is building the Club Caribe Casino in the square-mile
city of Cudahy. The club is licensed for only eight tables, but the
family believes it can compete with the larger casinos by targeting the
region's huge Latino population.
Club Caribe will have bilingual dealers and a kitchen that serves Latin
American food. The club will be heavily advertised in Spanish-language
newspapers, television and radio, said Jerry Nicholson, an attorney for
the Mehr family.
"We are going for a market that is untapped," he said.
Club Caribe will take over the gambling license of the Silver Saddle
Casinos, which struggled for years to open before permanently closing in
1989 when its two partners began feuding.
Cudahy will get a percentage of the casino revenues plus a monthly
$10,000 license fee. City officials say that they are counting on
nothing more than the monthly fee. "If it does better than that, fine,"
said City Manager Jack Joseph.
Flynt, meanwhile, is building a glitzy, 46,500-square-foot casino in
Gardena on the site of the defunct El Dorado Club, which closed in 1996
after its owner filed for bankruptcy. The name of the new club has not
been determined.
Flynt's attorney, Alan Isaacman, said he has reached an agreement with
the El Dorado owners to take over that club's license. State and local
approvals of the transfer are pending. The two-story casino, which will
include a beauty salon, a gift shop, a sports bar and 55 card tables, is
expected to open in October.
City officials have yet to complete a revenue projection study for the
casino. Isaacman says that the club "will not be anything sexual in
nature."
Gardena, too, has had a losing gambling record. Once home to six card
clubs, which brought in $2.5 million a year in tax revenues, the city
was known to some residents as "Gamblers Gulch." All but one casino
closed because of money problems.
The remaining casino in Gardena is the 80-table Normandie Club, which
generates $4.7 million a year in tax revenue. But that amount is down
11% since 1992--a disappointment considering the economic boom that
Southern California has enjoyed in recent years.
Gardena, which relies on the Normandie Club for 13% of its budget
revenue, signaled that it was trying to wean itself of casino dependence
in February when it hired its first economic development specialist to
create retail development projects.
"We are trying to develop additional economic growth, but when you only
have a limited amount of commercial space you have to work slowly," said
Gardena City Manager Mitch Lansdell.
Officials in Bell Gardens, home of the Bicycle Club, say that they are
doing the same.
For years, the Bicycle Club generated more than half of the city's
revenues. But after federal marshals seized the club in 1990 because of
money laundering at the casino, tax revenues began dropping. They have
fallen 35% since 1992.
To make up for the loss, Bell Gardens officials began last year to
develop a $20-million entertainment and retail project across the street
from the casino. It will include a 1,500-seat performing arts center and
nearly 70,000 square feet of retail space. Groundbreaking is expected in
the fall.
The partnership that last month bought the controlling interest of the
Bicycle Club from federal officials is about to invest $4.5 million in
renovations in hopes of reviving business at the club. The renovations
will include a patio area to allow gamblers to smoke while they play
cards.
The owners of the Hawaiian Gardens Casino, located less than a mile from
the border with Orange County, say they believe they can fill their
expanded club by drawing gamblers from Orange County, which has no legal
casinos.
The Commerce Club plans to capitalize on its success by building a
200-room hotel and adding about 50 tables. Construction will begin
within three months.
The club generates nearly $14 million a year in city taxes, accounting
for nearly half of Commerce's budget. City officials predict that the
expansion will add $2 million more each year--but also promise that they
will rely less on casino revenues in the future.
Commerce officials are considering plans to expand the Citadel shopping
center and develop an entertainment and retail district similar to the
Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. The district would stretch from
the Citadel to the casino.
"It's really just a straightforward business strategy," said Justin
McCarthy, the city's community development director. "Don't put all your
eggs in one basket."
Infobox
Unsteady Revenues
Despite a booming economy, casinos in Los Angeles County have
experienced inconsistent revenues.
In 1997-98, the Crystal Park Casino in Compton had revenue of $996,443
and the Hawaiian Gardens Casino had revenue of $44,406.
Municipal Dependency
Cities with casinos are, in some cases, highly dependent on revenue
generated by the casinos.
Chart shows the percentage of city budget funded by revenues paid to
individual cities by casinos and the total budget for each city for the
1997-98 fiscal year.
Casino Controversies
The history of casinos in Los Angeles County has been a sad tale. Half a
dozen clubs have closed over the past decade because of mismanagement,
corruption or what some experts say is over-saturation. A thumbnail
look:
Bicycle Club in Bell Gardens
Built partly with $12 million in laundered drug money from Florida.
Taken over by federal government but continued to have major corruption
and crime. The club's former political consultant was convicted of tax
evasion last year. Revenues to the city are down 35% from 1992.
Commerce Club in Commerce
In 1984, four city officials admitted they gave a gambling license to a
Las Vegas executive who bribed them. The casino agreed this year to pay
a fine for secretly contributing money to oppose gambling in nearby
cities.
Crystal Park Hotel and Casino in Compton
Closed in October, 1997, after auditors found the operator did not have
enough cash to cover his outstanding chips. Reopened with new operator.
El Dorado Club in Gardena
Closed in 1996 because of financial problems. Hustler magazine publisher
Larry Flynt is investing $30 million to build a new casino on the site.
Hawaiian Gardens Casino in Hawaiian Gardens
Opened in 1997. A group of rabbis and Middle East peace activists charge
that money from the casino and a bingo parlor is used to by its owner,
Dr. Irving Moskowitz, to build new Jewish settlements in Arab
neighborhoods of East Jerusalem.
L.A. Casino in Huntington Park
State agents unsuccessfully sought to revoke alcohol license in 1992
because of reports of drug sales, fighting and public drunkenness.
California Bell Club in Bell
Closed in 1990 after corruption and mismanagement scandals, including
the conviction of two former city administrators for a racketeering
scheme in 1984.
Reopened as Jackpot Casino in 1995 but closed seven months later because
of financial problems.
Copyright � 1999 The Times Mirror Company
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