The Sacramento City Council voted to delay a vote on changes to the card room ordinance. Card room owners and the city negotiated changes to the law two years ago. But, half of the council has changed since then.
Larry Carr was one of the council members who was inclined to vote against many of the changes.
"I'd like to get some basic understanding because I've only been to a card room once and didn't stay very long at that time. Would the casino operator -could you come up? Did he leave? Sir, how does it work at the table in the card rooms?"
Carr and other council members asked about bringing back the Sacramento Police vice squad to oversee card rooms. Carr and others were reluctant to support any action that might contribute to gambling addiction.
Barbara Mikacich and her husband have owned the Lime Light card room for 40 years. She says the council doesn't understand establishments like hers.
"They need to be educated on the workings of card rooms. They really don't understand what goes on. We have a lot of regulations. We do a large thing with problem gambling that, it's regulated by the state, I think Department of Public Health. I just paid it today."
The ordinance would have required the planning commission approve a new card room location and would have increased the number of tables allowed per card room by two.
The council is only considering the ordinance now, because the state department of justice took 10 months to review it before giving its approval.