The City Council will review its long-time ordinance on card
rooms Monday night to bring regulations and fees up-to-date as two
local men prepare their application to establish the city’s only
card room.
Hollister – The City Council will review its long-time ordinance on card rooms Monday night to bring regulations and fees up-to-date as two local men prepare their application to establish the city’s only card room.
At their last meeting on March 21, the council members voted to adopt a $625 fee for card room applications. Councilwoman Monica Johnson expressed some concern during the meeting that the rules for gambling establishments in Hollister could be outdated, since they’ve been absent for years.
“We hadn’t had any card rooms for a long time. We actually didn’t even have an application process on the books,” said Police Chief Jeff Miller, who screens applicants who want to open card rooms in the city. Miller added he didn’t know when the last time a card room had operated in Hollister.
“I’m told it was years ago,” he said.
The regulations for card rooms in the city have existed since 1964, so the council also wants to make sure they are updated, according to Councilman Doug Emerson.
“When it came up… I don’t think anybody knew there was an ordinance on the books on card rooms. So I think this is just to make sure we know what’s in there,” Emerson said. “The way I understand it, this ordinance was developed like 50 years ago. So we all kind of thought ‘This is pretty old, let’s go back and see if there’s anything we want to update.'”
Since the last council meeting, city staff has developed an application process, Miller said, which two men will be going through in hopes of setting up a card room near Maverick Barbecue on Fifth Street.While the council did have some doubts about allowing a card room to come into Hollister, especially with an Indian casino knocking on their door at the same time, most concerns were minor and were quickly allayed by Miller: Alcohol would be prohibited, maximum bets set at $200, the number of card rooms in the city restricted to two, and the number of players limited by a cap of three card tables and nine players per table, he said.
“They’re really controlled. In the past we’ve never had any problems with them, and the people who are going to run it are really upstanding people,” said Councilman Robert Scattini Friday. Scattini has known one of the applicants, school teacher Charles Filice, for many years. The other, David Kaplansky, used to coach basketball at San Benito High School with City Manager Clint Quilter, Scattini added. “So I think it’s going to go through and I don’t think there are going to be any problems.”
Scattini said he remembered Hollister always having two card rooms up until about 10 years ago, when their owners died and the whole thing “kind of fell by the wayside.”
The council will review its existing card room regulations at its meeting at 7pm on Monday.
Jessica Quandt covers politics for the Free Lance. Reach her at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or at [email protected].
