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Should Safe Casinos Regulatory Boards Hold Outside Jobs?Some Pennsylvania safe casinos advocates have voiced concern over what they said might be a state Gaming Control Board laden with conflicts of interest. They wonder whether the fact that the members of the regulatory agency are permitted to work in outside jobs might influence their ability to perform their mandate to create safe casinos. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board members made $145,000, and the safe casino agency's chairman Tad Decker makes an additional $5,000. This salary, a great deal higher than the state's average salary by far, is intended to allow board members to be employed only by the state. Two of the seven board members, however, remain in outside jobs- a fact which some say throws doubt on how committed they to providing Pennsylvania with safe casinos. It is important, say some Pennsylvania residents, for those safe casinos regulators who desire to earn more money than the Gaming Control Board salary to be able to do so in a lawful manner. It's fair to say that they learned from the experience of a neighboring state: when the New Jersey Casino Control Commission was started in the late 1970s, the committee included one full-time member and four part- time employees. This board, however, was disbanded when the vice chairman was indicted on extortion charges in Abscam, when he accepted a bride from FBI agents who were posing as Arab sheiks. At that point, the New Jersey legislature rewrote the statute to make to board full time, raising members' salaries- in order to protect them from the influence of bribes. The New Jersey Commission members responsible for the state's safe casinos, however, still make less money than their counterparts in Pennsylvania. The rules also prevent the commissioner from accepting outside employment, which the Pennsylvania rules do not do. Nevertheless, Pennsylvania officials have assured the public that the safe casinos regulators will be thoroughly examined, and their interests pored over, before the state issues its 14 gaming licenses. Moreover, the records will be fine-tooth combed by lawyers, entrepreneurs, and developers in whose interest it is to have an impartial gaming board- or, better said, a gaming board that is not partial to their competitors. The idea of allowing a safe casinos regulator to hold an additional job or jobs is not unprecedented. Nevada and Michigan, for example, allow safe casinos regulators to do so. Nelson Westrin, the former director of the Michigan Gaming Control Board, insisted that many different types of safe casinos gaming boards can be effective. "You just have to have ethics rules that prevent relationships that could create conflicts and have a careful background investigation and vetting before the appointment to make sure the potential board members don't come in with conflicts or the likelihood of conflicts developing," Westrin said. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania residents hope that their particular structure will not be a barrier to creating safe casinos in their state.
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