Edumacation's Yellow Brick Road

At the end of the Yellow Brick Road, we all know the ending.



Massachusetts Gaming Commission learns some lessons from other states with casinos
Published: Thursday, May 03, 2012,
By Dan Ring, The Republican


BOSTON - Hoping to avoid the mistakes and scandals that have marred other states with casinos, the new gaming commissioners in Massachusetts held a special public session with their counterparts in Pennsylvania and New Jersey on Thursday.

The five members of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission held "an educational forum on casino gaming" as a way to jumpstart their mandate to license and regulate casinos under the state's six-month-old expanded gambling law.

During the day-long event in Boston, Frank J. Fahrenkopf, president and CEO of the American Gaming Association in Washington, welcomed Massachusetts as the 40th state to legalize casinos and then panelists of mostly former or current casino regulators fielded questions and provided advice on industry practices.

Stephen P. Crosby, the chairman of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, asked two leaders of the gaming panel in Pennsylvania about possible lessons learned from an investigation of that state's casinos, which now total 11 since being legalized in 2004.


“We've all read the grand jury report,” Crosby told the two panelists from Pennsylvania. “It certainly made me think the public interest was not served.”


A year ago this month, following a two-year investigation, a statewide grand jury criticized the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, charging that it overlooked possible crimes, conducted too much business in closed sessions and blocked background checks of certain applicants for licenses.


The 102-page report said the Pennsylvania commission, mostly between 2004 and 2007, was so focused on being fair to casino companies during licensing that it failed in its duty to adequately protect the public.


Separately, a former resort owner in Pennsylvania was charged in 2008 with several counts of perjury for lying about his connections to a crime family. Those charges were dropped after the owner relinquished control to a family member.


Kevin F. O’Toole, executive director of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board since 2009, advised Crosby to require stringent credit reporting by casinos and to above all be open and careful with taxpayer money. O'Toole said the board's mantra is to try to protect the public in all decisions.


“We’re certainly more open and transparent,” said O’Toole, who was on a panel with Susan A. Yocum, assistant chief counsel for the Pennsylvania board. “We’re trying to be good stewards of the money allocated for our use.”


O’Toole, a former deputy attorney general involved with gaming enforcement in New Jersey, said the board now runs a very robust web site as one way to remain open. The web site contains monthly expense reimbursements of board members, contracts and any freedom of information requests, he said.

The gaming commission -- which also includes former Springfield City Councilor Bruce W. Stebbins, former state judge James F. McHugh, former New Jersey State Police Lt. Col. Gayle Cameron, and Enrique Zuniga, former executive director of the state Water Pollution Abatement Trust -- is a new independent state agency charged with putting into effect the state's casino law.


The law authorizes a slot facility and up to three, minimum $500 million casino resorts including one for anywhere in the four counties of Western Massachusetts. Click here to read the law signed by Gov. Deval Patrick in November.


Several companies are angling for possible casinos including the Mohegan Sun, which is planning a resort on 150 acres of leased land in Palmer, and Ameristar Casinos of Las Vegas, which wants to build at the old Westinghouse site on Page Boulevard in Springfield.


At least a couple of times, it appeared that Crosby may not have received good or comprehensive answers to his questions.


During a discussion on compulsive gambling, Crosby asked panelists to estimate the percent of casino revenues that come from problem gamblers.


The two panelists who directly responded – Steven P. Perski, former chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission and state legislator in New Jersey, and Catherine Walker, president and CEO of the Seneca Gaming Corp. in Niagara Falls, NY – couldn't answer the question.


“I don't know of any studies,” said Walker.

There have been studies. They just haven't been conducted by the vested interests of the Gambling Industry. Why would a Predatory Industry want to accept responsibility when Problem Gamblers provide most of their revenues?

 

[As an aside, check out the unfulfilled promises of the Seneca in Niagara.  We have encountered tourists from this area who have traveled to Massachusetts and complain about the crime and gambling addiction. Don't you ever ask tourists questions - like what have you seen? why are you visiting? where are you from? what's it like? Several people expressed that since the Seneca's opened their Slot Barn, the area has become a Hell Hole.]


Taking another question from a moderator, Perski was blunt in saying that a casino resort can hurt the business of nearby small merchants such as delis and night clubs.


"Don't have any illusions about that," he said. "That is the law of commerce."


Perski said that licensees in Massachusetts will build "a terrific facility" but will also be dominating.


"They are going to put something up that from an economic point of view, is a monster," Perski said.


In the final session on police and compliance issues, Crosby asked about possible increases in crime caused by casinos in abutting and host communities.


Gerald E. Stoll, director of compliance for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, did suggest that authorities have seen increases in traffic and “person to person” crimes in communities with casinos.


Stoll said there basically have been no increases in crime in the casinos themselves over seven years in Pennsylvania because of intense security. PAY ATTENTION TO THEIR WORDS - HE SAID INSIDE THE CASINOS.


Fahrenkopf, the president of the trade group for commercial casinos, encouraged Crosby and other commissioners to "trust but verify" when overseeing casinos.


“We want tough regulation,” he said. “ It provides integrity This is an industry that needs regulation and wants regulation.”


He said Massachusetts is unique because it can start fresh and craft regulations that incorporate most of the improvements put into place by other states over the years.


“It’s a tough job but you are in a wonderful position,” he said.