CALEXICO — About 50 members of the Friends and Neighbors Against Measure N gave the Calexico City Council an earful during its regular meeting Tuesday night.

Voters will voice their opinions concerning the Manzanita tribe building an off-reservation casino within Calexico city limits during an advisory vote June 7. The casino would have 2,000 slot machines and would create 2,400 jobs.

The Friends and Neighbors Against Measure N let the City Council know they don't want a casino in the city during a raucous public comment period during Tuesday's meeting.

Danny Ramirez, a Calexico resident known for his staunchly conservative moral stances, read a letter written by the Rev. James Bahash of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Calexico.

Bahash wrote: "The Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe does not support Measure N. ... We do encourage that voters be well-informed of the issues in question here and that they vote responsibly."

Patricia Leon lambasted the council for having the audacity to bring a casino into the community when other services are sorely needed in Calexico.

"How can we entertain the idea of having a casino when we don't even have a hospital, enough ambulances or enough police forces? We can't even take care of basic needs. I ask, ‘Hello, is anybody home?'" said Leon.

Councilman John Renison criticized Leon for launching personal character attacks against Mayor Alex Perrone and City Manager Marlene Best. Renison and Perrone asked those gathered at the meeting to keep their comments and behavior professional.

The only Measure N proponent to speak at Tuesday's meeting was Bill Hodges, who said after much consideration he has decided to support the casino because of the jobs it would create.

"I understand the moral stance, but I think the greater good has to be considered for the working people of Calexico," said Hodges.

Hodges was then hissed and booed at by Measure N opponents at the conclusion of his comments.

After the public comments period passed, Heffernan Memorial Hospital District board member Ray Falcon gave a presentation to the council concerning plans to have a hospital running in Calexico by 2010. Falcon said the Heffernan hospital district will have paid off $10 million in debt by January, and added a study is under way to determine the feasibility of constructing a new hospital in Calexico.

Falcon was optimistic of the prospect of having a hospital in place by 2010 and asked the council for its continued support in improving health-care services in Calexico.

Matters on the consent agenda during Tuesday's meeting included the rejection of the sole bid received for the Safe Route to School Project on Blair Avenue near De Anza Junior High School by a 5-0 vote. The project is designed to repair sidewalks on Blair Avenue near the school and to put up more street signage.

Total funding available for the project is $480,000 and the sole bid from Granite Construction was for $1,041,076.

>> Staff Writer Michael A. Salorio can be reached at 357-7336 or msalorio@ivpressonline.com