Mass. paying search firm $56,000 to pick 2 gambling commission members

Mass. paying search firm $56,000 to help pick two gambling commission members
By Noah Bierman

The state plans to pay the search firm Isaacson, Miller $56,000 to help select two members of the five-person Massachusetts Gam[bl]ing Commission.

The powerful panel will regulate the state’s new multibillion-dollar casino gaming industry and choose winners and losers for up to three casino licenses and one slot machine parlor.

It was established under an expanded gambling law signed by Governor Deval Patrick on Nov. 22.

Patrick chose the commission chairman last month: Steve Crosby, a political veteran and the founding dean of the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Treasurer Steve Grossman and Attorney General Martha Coakley are each required under the law to appoint one member each to the commission. The fourth and fifth commissioners must be appointed jointly by Patrick, Grossman, and Coakley.

The trio previously announced they would hire a search firm to identify candidates for their joint picks.

Isaacson, Miller, based in Boston, specializes in assisting job searches for non-profit organizations, according to its website. It was chosen after a public bidding process.

Patrick’s office says its fee will eventually be paid with proceeds from casino and slot licenses.