Councilmen Urge Caution on Proposal for Card Club : Oxnard: Two politicians say city shouldn’t accept casino applications until official decision to proceed has been made. They say administrators are being premature.

Concluding that city administrators are pushing a card club proposal forward prematurely, two City Council members said Monday that they do not yet know whether they want a large casino in Oxnard and intend to slow down the process.

In a report on today’s council agenda, top city administrators urge the council to pursue possible construction of a card club by creating a task force that would accept casino applications along with $25,000 deposits to pay for city review.

But Councilmen Andres Herrera and Bedford Pinkard said Monday that the city should accept no applications until the council is convinced that big-time gambling would be good for the financially strapped city.

“I think they’re being a bit premature,” Herrera said of administrators. “They’re anticipating something that may not be the outcome. We establish policy, not the staff. And direction should come from the council, and not the other way around.”

Pinkard said only six residents had contacted him about the gambling issue, so he has no real feel for whether the larger Oxnard community favors a casino as a way to help replace $4 million in pending budget cuts.

“I think we’re putting the cart before the horse,” Pinkard said. “I’d hate to have applicants spin their wheels, then we decide we don’t want it.”

City economic development chief Steven Kinney, author of the staff report, said he never intended to get ahead of the council.

“The intent of the report was to lay out a series of steps that make sense to proceed on,” he said. “But only if the council is comfortable with the basic question that underlies everything: Are they willing to entertain the idea of card clubs at all?

“Our first mission as staff is to give them the information they need to come to grips with that,” he added. “It is up to the council to say if they still need more information.”

City officials briefed the council on two preliminary card club proposals at a hearing March 23. The council then turned the issue over to a Kinney-led committee that included Councilman Michael Plisky and Mayor Manuel Lopez. The mayor has since resigned from the panel, citing his general opposition to gambling.

Today’s report from that committee recommends that the council establish a process to accept and evaluate applications promoters would submit by a mid-August deadline.

Under that process, each application--which would include background information on all casino owners and operators--would be evaluated based on the experience and stability of the operators, and the design and location of the card club.

The council would then make a decision about which applicant it prefers, if any. The winning applicant would be selected by about February, 1994, Kinney said.

Kinney, whose report was reviewed by the city manager and city attorney before release, said that the city should restrict approval to one casino, at least for now, so officials can monitor the club’s success and its impact on Oxnard.

Pinkard and Herrera said that process may be fine, except that the council members need to make a decision up front on whether they want a card club at all.

Pinkard said he wanted staff members to submit a detailed report for discussion at a future public hearing.

“My No. 1 concern is that we satisfy the community,” Pinkard said. “If we have a split in community opinion, I’d rather see this go on the ballot along with other tax initiatives.”

Four council members said Monday that they had not heard much from the public about the casino issue.

In addition, the city clerk’s office has received only seven letters about the issue--all are against a casino--since February, a spokeswoman said.

“By the silence it looks like they don’t care one way or another,” Pinkard said.

Herrera said he also wanted to hear more about whether it is legal for Oxnard to approve a casino simply by amending its current ordinance, which allows gambling only when sponsored by charity, fraternal, labor and religious groups for their members and guests.

“I don’t think we have enough information to make an intelligent decision at this point,” Herrera said.

City Atty. Gary Gillig has said that Oxnard can allow casino gambling without a ballot referendum, because Oxnard allowed gambling before the new state gaming law went into effect in 1984.

But a state gaming control lawyer said that Oxnard might violate the legislative intent of the 1984 state law if the council does not put the issue on the ballot.

Of the five council members, only two have stated positions, Lopez in opposition and Plisky in favor if the city can assure that it can limit approval to a single casino and be sure it can be run without crime influences.

Herrera, Pinkard and Councilman Thomas Holden have said they are considering a casino only because it would help replace $4 million in budget cuts next fiscal year.

Two casino promoters have estimated that the city would get $500,000 to $1.2 million a year in gambling taxes from a large casino along the Ventura Freeway, while city charities could reap another $500,000 annually.