The Commerce Casino, which opened in 1983, has a history of political corruption.
Parties for retiring deputies also are often held there.
In addition to the one-day management meetings, the sheriff’s department held its recent medal of valor awards ceremony for deputies at the casino hotel. 20 generated about $4,000 for the casino. At $35 a head, the 125-person meeting Oct. Sheriff’s managers are required by the department to pay for the catered meetings, said Undersheriff Larry Waldie, who organizes the events. The management meetings at the Commerce Casino are daylong events that typically include awards ceremonies and policy discussion. In the same election, Baca endorsed a statewide proposition that could have allowed the Commerce Casino to install more than 1,000 slot machines. In 2004, the Commerce Casino donated $10,000 to the campaign for Measure A, a Baca-led initiative that would have raised the sales tax to fund law enforcement in Los Angeles County. A Baca spokesman said the permits were originally approved by Sheriff Sherman Block and were renewed by the department because of ongoing threats at the casino. Three Commerce Casino executives - Ralph Wong, Harvey Ross and Haig Papaian - hold concealed weapons permits approved by the Sheriff’s Department.
