| Sign up | Log in | Forgot Password |
The Gaming Out-of-Control Board
By Diane Berlin
Thursday, 04/27/06
(1146172918787)
CasinoFreePA today called for an immediate investigation of the hiring and administrative practices of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
CasinoFreePA coordinator Dianne Berlin reiterated her organization's request in the wake of the fourth arrest of a Gaming Control Board employee in less than a year (Read Board Chairman Tad Decker's statement on the arrest). News reports indicated that a $64,000-a-year Gaming Control Board investigations staffer was arrested after a State Police investigation found that he had lied in his job application.
"This should be called the Gaming Out-of-Control Board, the way it is abusing the public trust," Berlin said. "The Board continues to believe it can hire high-level employees prior to completing background checks, even though it has now hired at least four admitted or alleged criminals. How can we trust this Board to regulate the industry more associated with crime and corruption than any other industry in America?"
Berlin said that the General Assembly and Governor Rendell should disband the existing Gaming Control Board and start over.
"We, the citizens of Pennsylvania, are paying these board members $145,000 a year for what most of them consider part-time jobs," Berlin noted, "and this is the best performance we can get? If such serious mistakes were made repeatedly at a private business, it would be 'four strikes and you're out' for the management by now."
Previous arrests of Gaming Control Board staff included two high-level staff who committed crimes while intoxicated and one arrested for homicide earlier this year.
Contact Berlin at casinofreepa@aol.com
Webmaster's note: the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is not subject to civil service hiring regulations.