(A) Other Permits/Licenses Required. All interest-holders, key management employees, managers and employees shall apply for and be issued permits after an individual personal background investigation prior to operating or working in a card room.
(B) All individuals and entities must first obtain a business license, card room operating license and have a use permit for the address at which they intend to operate a card room prior to commencing operations and card room gaming activities within the city.
(C) Any person desiring or proposing to commence or conduct any business, activity, enterprise or undertaking pertaining to or involving a card room, shall file an application with the Finance Director using such forms as are provided by the city. Each application shall contain and each applicant shall execute a statement as follows. "The undersigned applicant(s) declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct."
(D) The card room operations license, if granted, will be issued only in the name of an individual, a sole proprietorship, a partnership, or a corporation (such entity to be referred to as card room operations license applicant), and, the card room operations license shall require that, concurrent with the granting of the card room operations license, each interest-holder and key management employee of the card room operations license applicant shall make application for permits allowing such individuals or entities to be involved in the activities, profits and direction of the card room operation. Interest-holder permits shall be issued only in the name of an individual. City officials, city employees and relatives of Council Members, Department Directors and Management and Confidential employees shall not be eligible to apply for card room operations licenses, interest-holder permits or any form of employee permit or registration card. For purposes of this section,
RELATIVES means any person who is related within the third degree to those city officials and employees listed above by blood or marriage, and includes a spouse, child, step-child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, mother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, parent-in-law, brother-in-law and sister-in-law or another individual living in the same household.
(E) In addition to other information as may be required by said application forms for a card room operations license, the applicant shall complete and provide the following information in as great detail as is available or as the Finance Director or his or her designee may require:
(1) The date of the application;
(2) The true name of the applicant;
(3) The status of the applicant as being an individual, a sole proprietorship, a partnership or a corporation;
(4) If the applicant is an individual, the residence and business address and personal history record of such applicant;
(5) If the applicant is other than an individual, the name, residence and business address of each of the partners, stockholders who qualify as interest-holders and the name, residence and business address of each of the officers and directors of the entity. For purposes of this chapter such officers and directors shall be deemed "Managers" as defined above and shall be subject to all terms and conditions that managers are subject to;
(6) An application for an interest-holder's permit, including a personal history record, for every interest-holder who has, or is proposed to have, a financial interest, direct or remote, in the proposed card room operation;
(7) An application for a business license, including all information requested on said application form and any additional information deemed necessary by the Finance Director or his or her designee;
(8) An application for a key management employee's permit, including a personal history record, for each individual who is or is proposed to be a key manager of the proposed card room operation;
(9) An application for a manager's permit, including a personal history record, for each individual who is or is proposed to be a manager of the proposed card room;
(11) A description of the premises to be used in relation to card room activity including but not limited to card playing area, restaurants and parking;
(12) The number of card tables to be placed, employed or used;
(13) A description of any other business conducted or proposed to be conducted on the premises;
(14) A financial plan and source of funding for the development, including projected development cost;
(15) A statement of the applicant's experience in the operation and management of card rooms and/or other lawful gambling and/or other related activities;
(16) A three-year cash flow projection, which shall be a confidential document and not open to public inspection or disclosure. Said projection shall be prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles;
(17) A statement that such premises will conform to all the laws of the state and the city for occupancies of the nature proposed;
(18) A complete description and layout of all security measures proposed in as great a detail as available, which shall be a confidential document and not open to public inspection or disclosure;
(19) A complete description of the internal accounting controls intended to be implemented at the location for which application is being made. Said description shall identify internal controls designed to verify gross receipts, daily deposits and protect against defalcation by employees, management and interest-holders.
(F) If the Finance Director or his or her designee determines that a landlord whose lease rental payments are based upon a percentage of the revenues or profits of the card room or financier thereof, by reason of the extent of his or her holdings or his or her inherent financial control cannot, in fact, be separated from the card room, and, that as a practical matter a single entity exists regardless of the apparent form of the organization, he or she may require that all such individuals be designated interest-holders and subject to all investigatory, financial and background reporting procedures established by this chapter for card room interest-holders. Any such determination shall not, however, be deemed to make any such lessor an owner or operator of the card room for purposes of this chapter.
(G) Each applicant for a card room operations license, an interest-holder's permit, a manager's permit, or a key management employee's permit shall include the following:
(1) A statement that the applicant understands that the applicant shall be considered only after a full background investigation and report has been made by such members of city staff as are designated by the Finance Director;
(2) A statement that the applicant understands and agrees that any business or activity issued under such application shall be operated in full conformity with all the laws of the state and the laws and regulations of the city applicable thereto, and that any violation of any such laws or regulations in such place of business, or in connection therewith, may render any permit or permit therefor subject to immediate suspension or revocation;
(3) A statement that the applicant has read the provisions of this chapter and particularly the provisions of this section and understands the same and agrees to abide by all rules and regulations contained in this chapter;
(4) A complete statement of financial position for each applicant. The financial statements required by this division (G) shall be prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles and shall be confidential documents not open to public inspection. Documents shall be available only to those officials and employees having direct jurisdiction involving the provisions of this chapter and to any court of competent jurisdiction where any matter thereto may be actually pending.
(5) Concurrently with the filing of their applications, the card room operations license applicant along with their interest-holder and key management employee permit applicants shall be fingerprinted by the Madera Police Department. Applicants shall authorize the city to obtain any available criminal offender record information relating to applicant and shall further authorize the updating of that information on an annual basis if a permit is granted. Each applicant shall provide two full-face, 2-inch by 2-inch photographs of the applicant for use in preparing the investigation documents.
(H) Interest-holder and Key Management Employee Permit Application. If an applicant for a card room operating license is a publicly-traded corporation, each person having a beneficial interest of at least 5% in the applicant corporation shall be identified and may be required to meet all the requirements for applicants and permittees.
(I) Each license and/or permit applicant shall be responsible for providing complete and accurate information and for signing the permit or license application. However, it shall be the responsibility of the card room business license applicant (or licensee for subsequent applications) to submit the completed applications and pay any additional fees.
(J) The applications for all interest-holders and key management employees shall be submitted as part of the application for the card room operations license. Failure to submit complete applications for each proposed interest-holder and key management employee may be grounds for denial or revocation of a card room operations license.
(K) Application Fees. The applicant(s) for a card room operations license shall pay the following fees at the time that the application is made with the Finance Director:
(1) A card room operations license application fee in the amount specified in the Master Fee Schedule as amended from time to time. Said application fee shall be retained by the city for the payment of costs of investigation.
(2) An interest-holders and key management employees permit application fee in the amount specified in the Master Fee Schedule as amended by the Council from time to time. Said application fee shall be retained by the city for the payment of costs of investigation.
(3) An employee work permit application fee in the amount specified in the Master Fee Schedule as amended by the Council from time to time. Said application fee shall be retained by the city for the payment of costs of investigation.
(4) A business license application fee in the amount specified in the Master Fee Schedule as amended from time to time. Said application fee shall be retained by the city for the payment of costs of investigation.
(5) Any use permit as required by Title 10 of this Code.
(L) Application Review and Approval Procedures.
(1) Whenever a card room operations license application pursuant to this chapter has been filed, the Police Chief or his or her designee shall cause an investigation to be made covering all matters relevant to the proposed activity of the applicant, individual interest-holders, key management employees and managers. Such matters may include but are not limited to the following:
(a) Identity character and background of the permit applicant, all individual interest-holders, and all key management employees and managers;
(b) Type and degree of security personnel and facilities to be provided;
(c) The financial stability of the interest-holders involved in the application and the financial ability of the applicant to comply with the conditions and requirements of the city and other governmental and legal requirements and conditions in the event the application is approved.
(2) Following the investigation, the completed report of the investigation together with the Police Chief's findings and recommendations shall be forwarded to the Council. The Council shall not consider any application for a card room operations license or individual permit applications related to the card room operation license applied for until the Police Chief's findings and recommendations have been completed and forwarded for review.
(3) At such time as the Police Chief forwards findings and recommendations to Council, the City Clerk shall give at least ten days' written notice of the time and place of the Council's hearing on the card room operations license to the applicant to every person whose name and address appears on the last equalized County Assessment roll as the owner of any property within 1,000 feet of the exterior boundaries of the premises of the proposed card room, and to every person filing with the City Clerk a written request for notice of any hearings relating to proposed card rooms.
(M) City Council Hearing and Determination.
(1) Upon the submission by the Police Chief of the report on the investigation and recommendations and findings related thereto, the Council shall have jurisdiction to consider such an application.
(2) During the public hearing on the application for a card room operations license, the Council shall consider the application, the Police Chief's report of findings and recommendations, including any report on the investigation along with written and public testimony. Within a reasonable time after the close of the hearing the Council shall make a determination on the application.
(3) The Council, by resolution, has the authority to either grant, conditionally grant or deny the card room operation license application. If the Council finds that the application shall be denied, the order will be accompanied by written reasons upon which the order is based. All such orders will be made public.
(4) It shall be possible for the Council to approve tentatively the application of a license applicant, but disapprove the application for a permit of one or more of the interest-holders or key management employees or managers. In such cases the Council can grant the license applied for subject to the condition that any interest-holder, key management employee or manager disapproved of, be removed as an individual having an interest or control in the card room. Compliance with the removal requirement shall be monitored, reviewed and approved by the Finance Director and the Police Chief prior to final issuance of the card room operations license.
(N) Grounds for Denial. The Council may, in its discretion, deny or condition a license, a license application, a permit or a permit application for any of the following reasons, without being limited thereto, or for any reason consistent with the general policy for this chapter:
(1) Conviction of any crime punishable as a felony or of any crime of violence, any crime involving fraud, gambling, bookmaking, thievery, bunco, moral turpitude, or any crime involving evasion of taxes, or any other crime of moral turpitude indicating a lack of business integrity or business honesty whether committed in the State of California or elsewhere, whether denominated as a felony or as a misdemeanor and notwithstanding the passage of time since the conviction.
(2) Failure of the applicant to have a valid registration from the Attorney General of the State of California issued pursuant to the Gaming Control Act.
(3) Failure of the proposed business or activity to be operated in compliance with federal, state or city laws or regulations.
(4) Identification by any law enforcement agency legislative body or crime commission as a member of, or an associate of organized criminal elements.
(5) Knowingly making any false statement in the application, or as to any other information presented as part of the application process.
(6) Failure to satisfy the Council as to the source of funds to be invested in the proposed card room.
(7) Prior unsuitable operation as a card or gaming permittee in another jurisdiction without regard to whether disciplinary action was taken at that time or whether the acts were sufficient to justify revocation of a permit.
(8) Applicant does not have the financial capability or business experience to operate a card room in a manner which would adequately protect the patrons of the card room and the citizens of the City of Madera.
(9) Applicant is presently under indictment or the subject of a criminal complaint for any of the crimes described in division (N)(1) of this section.
(10) Making or causing to be made any statement in an application or document provided to the city or orally to a city officer, employee, or agent in connection with an application, which statement was at the time and in light of the circumstances under which it was made, knowingly false or misleading.
(11) Lack of evidence that there is adequate financing available to pay potential and/or current obligations and, in addition, to provide adequate working capital to finance the opening of the proposed card room.
(12) Failure of any person named in the application when summoned by the Council to appear and testify before it or its agents at such time and place as it may designate.
(13) Inadequate security measures are identified in the operations license application and/or use permit application.
(Ord. 684 C.S., passed 6-3-98)