Nope! No Conflict Here!

Massachusetts gaming commissioner reveals he gave casino officials tour of Springfield

Published: Friday, May 18, 2012, 8:09 PM Updated: Friday, May 18, 2012, 8:10 PM

By Dan Ring, The RepublicanThe Republican

BOSTON — A member of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission from Springfield on Friday disclosed that he gave two employees of a Pennsylvania casino company a tour of Springfield last year when he worked for the city, including driving them by an old manufacturing site now owned by a separate casino company.

Bruce Stebbins

Gaming commissioner Bruce W. Stebbins said the state Ethics Commission has advised him that he can have no contact with city of Springfield officials about the old Westinghouse site on Page Boulevard until a year has passed since he left his job as the city's business development manager.
Stebbins said he showed the former Westinghouse property to the two employees from Penn National Gaming in September of last year, a couple of months before Ameristar Casinos announced it intended to buy the property for a possible casino resort.

Stebbins said he mentioned the tour with the Pennsylvania casino company when he was interviewed for his five-year appointment to the Gaming Commission, a new state agency created to license and oversee casinos. Stebbins said he also told the Ethics Commission about his contact with Penn National.

"That's the only contact I ever had," with a casino company while working for Springfield, Stebbins said.

Stebbins said the tour should not affect his ability to vote on the Western Massachusetts license for a casino, even if Penn National applies for a license.

The state's casino law, signed in November by Gov. Deval L. Patrick, authorizes the commission to approve up to three casino resorts in different areas of the state including one for Western Massachusetts.

Stebbins said he went on "a quick windshield tour of Springfield" with Brian M. Connors, deputy director of economic development for Springfield, and two Penn National officials who had asked for the tour. They saw the riverfront, the downtown and the 41-acre Westinghouse site on Page Boulevard purchased by Ameristar for $16 million in January.

Stebbins and Troy Stremming, a senior vice president for Ameristar, both said that Stebbins has never met with officials of Las Vegas-based Ameristar.

"No one from our company has met with him," Stremming said Friday. "I want to assure you it was not Ameristar."

Penn National has talked about a possible casino resort for Western Massachusetts, but so far has unveiled no plans for a casino in the region.

In the only other casino proposal announced for Western Massachusetts, the Mohegan Sun is planning a resort on about 150 acres in Palmer off Exit 8 on the Massachusetts Turnpike.
Stebbins was among the final two members of the commission who were selected jointly by Patrick, Attorney General Martha M. Coakley and Treasurer Steven Grossman.

Stebbins said he has been cleared to vote on a Western Massachusetts casino license by the Ethics Commission, as long as he discloses his intent to vote on a Springfield issue such as awarding a license in Western Massachusetts.

Stebbins on Tuesday said he requested an opinion from the state Ethics Commission, partly because he had been working as a business development manager for the city and would need to make decisions on the commission that could impact his former employer.

Stebbins, a former two-term member of the Springfield City Council and city employee, has faced some criticism that he might be biased in favor of a casino for Springfield in a possible competition for the single casino license that could be available in Western Massachusetts.

Stebbins has said he will be impartial and diligent if he votes on a casino license for Western Massachusetts.

But Stebbins said he does not know at this point about whether he would be allowed to vote on the Western Massachusetts casino license. Under the state's gaming law, the commission must establish a code of ethics that is tougher than key chapters in the state's conflict of interest laws and that ethics code could exclude him from participating in the Western Massachusetts vote.

Before being appointed to the commission in March, Stebbins had worked as a development manager for the City of Springfield since September of 2010 and had previously served on the city council.
Stephen P. Crosby, the chairman of the commission, receives $150,000 a year for the full-time job. Stebbins and the other three commissioners — Gayle Cameron, James F. McHugh and Enrique A. Zuniga — receive $112,500 and also work full time.


http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/05/massachusetts_gaming_commissio_8.html