Cathedral City Voters Reject Gambling

Cathedral City voters on Tuesday soundly rejected a proposal to legalize card room gambling, spoiling Mayor George Hardie’s dream of building a card club and resort on land he owns in the desert community.

Hardie, co-owner of a casino in Los Angeles County, attributed the outcome in part to residents’ “fear of the unknown” and called it “an unfortunate loss” for the city.

“The people have spoken and I accept their decision,” the mayor said. “I’m going to go on running the city. It’s time to put this divisive issue behind us.”

Anti-gambling crusaders, meanwhile, said the results were particularly sweet given the well-financed campaign mounted by Hardie and his allies.

“We’re delirious, we’re floating on Cloud 9,” said Jack Zachary, a leader of a group called No Organized Gambling. “Beating the pants off a powerful man like George Hardie is a real job.”

Unofficial totals showed voters defeating by a margin of nearly 2 to 1 a ballot measure that would have repealed an existing ban on card rooms in the city, which sits between Palm Springs and Indian Wells. A second measure that would have established regulations governing the establishments also was defeated by the same margin.

Tuesday’s vote capped a bitterly contested campaign over perhaps the most controversial issue to confront local residents since Cathedral City incorporated in 1981.

Proponents were led by Hardie, 55, managing partner of the Bicycle Club casino in Bell Gardens. Raising nearly $190,000, supporters billed legalized gambling as economic salvation for a city struggling to provide services for its mushrooming population.

A study done by the city estimated that the Emerald Court Resort--the $25-million card parlor and hotel that Hardie planned to build if the card clubs were legalized--would create 600 jobs and generate $604,000 in annual revenue for Cathedral City.

But opponents, who raised about $45,000, predicted that legalizing gambling would increase crime, harm property values and deter vacationers.

Inseparable from the debate over gambling was the issue of Hardie’s performance as mayor. Elected in April, 1988--about one year after his proposal to build a card club in Cathedral City was rejected by local leaders--Hardie has been attacked by those who say he ran for office merely for personal financial gain. The mayor denies the charge.

Card rooms are legal in nearly 120 California cities, but a state law passed in 1984 greatly limited the spread of such establishments. That law gave the state attorney general regulatory power over card parlors and required approval of local voters before a club could open. Previously, approval of the City Council was all that was needed.