On August 30th, the city of Inglewood called a special city council meeting with a 9:00 am start time. Besides a closed session discussion of a potential lawsuit, the city also pondered withdrawing from the California Cities for Self-Reliance Joint Powers Authority.
This Joint Power Authority has membership from Bell Gardens, Commerce, Compton, Cudahy, Gardena, Hawaiian Gardens and Inglewood. All of these cities share a common denominator of a card club.
The Joint Power Authority was created in 2011 to protect the local gaming economy by seeking more opportunities for the clubs solvency.
In 2018, the card club operators faced new fears regarding new state regulations that could force them to stop blackjack type games. Indian gaming casinos pour millions into state legislators campaign coffers.
For many years, as revenue declined, Inglewood heavily relied on revenue generated by Hollywood Park Casino, who’s owners have heavily contributed to the campaigns of many of the city council members. Inglewood receives roughly $5 million per year from the casino.
Citing costs and uncertainty of the California Cities for Self-Reliance Joint Powers Authority future, the council voted unanimously to withdraw from their membership.
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