OXNARD : L.A. County Club Looks Into Building Casino

A large Los Angeles County card club will hire an Oxnard consulting firm to study construction of a large casino in Oxnard, both parties have confirmed.

Top officials at the California Commerce Club--one of the largest card casinos in the state--notified consultant Keith Wintermute Thursday that the casino will sponsor an in-depth study of the feasibility of an Oxnard casino, Wintermute said.

“It’s fair to say that we’re going to continue to work with them as consultants,” said Wintermute, who would not discuss the terms of his agreement with the casino. A contract will be signed within a day or two, he said.

Wintermute said he and his partner, Charles Brohammer, formally submitted their proposal to Commerce Club directors Wednesday. They said they expected to present a project outline to the City Council before its June 8 study session on the gambling issue.

“We don’t want there to be any mixed messages” about whether the California Commerce Club is interested, Wintermute said.

A Commerce Club proposal would be the third submitted to the City Council since last year, when the board first expressed interest in a casino as a way to plug holes in a shrinking city budget.

No decision has yet been made on whether to allow any casino.