GAMING OUT-OF-CONTROL BOARD?
CHAIRMAN LEAVES FOR LAW FIRM WITH GAMING TIES
OUTGOING Gaming Control Board chairman Tad Decker suggests his new job as CEO of the Cozen O'Connor law firmshould not pose an ethics problem because he won't be participating in any matter with the firm that he worked on as chairman.
But here's what it looks like from the outside: Not pretty. It smells even worse.
For the past two years, the chairman of the Gaming Control Board has been one of the most powerful people in the state. The licenses his board has granted are worth untold millions in earnings for the winners. In Philadelphia, one of those licenses went to SugarHouse casino. SugarHouse is a client of Cozen O'Connor.
His board granted a license to Louis DeNaples, for Mount Airy Resort and Casino, now under grand-jury investigation. DeNaples is another client of Cozen O'Connor.
Cozen O'Connor touts its legal expertise in the gaming industry, and on its Web site brags that
"its former managing partner . . . is currently serving as chairman of the new Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board."
Maybe we should call it "Cozy O'Connor."
That's not even considering the law governing post-employment of gaming-board employees. The law says no member may accept employment with, or represent to the gaming board, any applicant, licensed entity or an affiliate, intermediary, subsidiary or holding company, for two years after termination of office.
Decker may not be on the legal team that represents his firm's gaming clients, including those he granted licenses to, but his CEO paycheck surely will derive in part from that businesss. Doesn't that make him "employed" by those companies?
We wonder how it is that no one - in the governor's office, the attorney general's office, or the Legislature - has raised a red flag about this.
Especially considering the ethical disasters and legal messes that the board has already experienced in its relatively short life on earth.
States that open the gaming floodgates must be scrupulous in regulation and enforcement, and hyper-sensitive to appearances of conflict and cozy dealings. New Jersey, for example, prohibits any direct or indirect interest in, or employment by, any applicant or licensees for four years after termination of employment. By its deafening silence on this disturbing development, Pennsylvania is showing itself to be one state that maybe should have left gaming on the table, and walked away. *