Proposed Card Casino Divides Compton

For some Compton residents, the muted click-click of poker chips heard in card casinos throughout southeast Los Angeles County is the sound of cold, hard cash--big money moving directly from players’ pockets into city coffers.

For others, that click-click is the sound of a gun being cocked and aimed directly at the soul of the city.

The question is, which perception will prevail in Compton? A public hearing and City Council vote on the issue, scheduled for last week, was delayed until December due to changes in the development agreement between the city and Compton Entertainment Inc.

Thus far, three of five council members have voted to move forward with the proposal to erect a seven-acre, $9-million entertainment center, including the card casino, two restaurants, a bar and a nightclub.

But it is unclear whether that majority will hold up under increasing pressure from a large segment of the religious community, headed by Mayor and Congressman-elect Walter R. Tucker III, which argues that card parlors will bring increased immorality and crime into the city.

“As your mayor . . . I appeal to you to join me in prayer and fasting against the enemy that seeks to divide and destroy our community,� Tucker wrote in a letter to city ministers. “Because truly we are in a spiritual warfare.�

The proposal to open a casino angered some residents so much that they launched a recall against council members Omar Bradley, Bernice Woods and Jane D. Robbins, who support the proposal. Recall leaders say the three are conspiring to bring gambling into town.

Although other cities have asked their residents to vote on similar gambling issues, Compton’s council majority has opted to make the decision themselves--as the people elected them to do, Bradley and Woods say.

“I realize this issue could be the end of me, politically,� Bradley said. “But I have to think about what’s best for Compton.

“We can talk about the religious implications, or the supposed effects on crime, but nobody wants to talk about the one fact that matters, and that is: We’re broke. We need this revenue.�

The city budget increased by $12.5 million to almost $96.8 million for fiscal 1991-92, but the Police Department is understaffed by about 60 officers and the riots last spring caused a loss of about $500,000 in sales taxes and other levies, officials said.

Compton Entertainment Inc., the newly formed company proposing the entertainment center and card parlor, has promised the city $2 million--$500,000 in rent and $1.5 million as an advance on its licensing fee--within 90 days of the council’s agreement to the development, City Manager Howard Caldwell said.

In the beginning, developers believe, the casino would generate $4 million annually in franchise and licensing fees and sales tax for the city. If successful, the casino would pump $10 million each year into city coffers and create 1,200 jobs, according to the proposal.

And Compton’s club will be successful, predicted Rouben Kandilian, sole owner of Compton Entertainment now that Mike Aloyan has withdrawn from the company. Aloyan, general manager of Murcole Industries, which holds a trash-collection contract with the city, withdrew from the project to avoid a possible conflict of interest.

“It’s the perfect location. And we’re going first class,� said Kandilian, 38, the owner of Zakaroff Services Inc. of Los Angeles, another rubbish and recycling business that he says is worth about $15 million.

The casino site, in the near-empty Compton auto plaza, is off the Artesia Freeway (91) between the Harbor and Long Beach freeways, offering easy access. The nearby Ramada Hotel would offer a haven to tired gamblers, while the card parlor would help bolster the hotel’s sagging room-occupancy rate, Kandilian said.