BOSTON, Mass. /Massachusetts Newswire/ — Governor Deval Patrick, Attorney General Martha Coakley and Treasurer Steven Grossman on Wednesday announced an open and transparent process to help identify their joint appointments to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, which will begin with the retaining of an independent search firm. Under the recently signed gaming legislation, the three constitutional officers share responsibility for selecting two members of the five-member Commission.
“The Massachusetts Gaming Commission will help provide a transparent and fair process for implementing expanded gaming in the Commonwealth,” said Governor Patrick. “An independent search firm will help us select highly-qualified candidates, ready for this challenge.”
“Hiring qualified individuals with independence, experience and integrity will be critical to the success of the new gaming commission,” said Attorney General Coakley. “This process will ensure that we actively seek out and thoroughly vet the best possible candidates to regulate the new gaming industry in the Commonwealth.”
“Securing top-caliber appointments for the Gaming Commission is essential and an independent search firm has the tools and expertise necessary to achieve that goal,” said Treasurer Grossman. “A thorough third-party vetting process will ensure that the best people are in place to protect the integrity of the Commission and the interests of the Commonwealth and its citizens.”
A Request for Responses is being issued to identify the search firm that will review all applications for the two joint Gaming Commission appointments. The Request for Responses is available at http://www.comm-pass.com/. It is expected that the firm will be selected within 30 days.
The three offices will work in close conjunction with the private firm as the search process unfolds. Among the key criteria the search firm will be directed to use in its screening process are legal and policy experience related to gaming and professional experience in gaming regulatory administration, as listed in the newly enacted law. A high emphasis will be placed on ethics and no candidate will be chosen who has any conflicts of interest that could impact their ability to make the best and most independent decisions on behalf of the Commonwealth. Finalists identified by the search firm will be referred to the three offices for further review and final determination on the two appointments.
The five-member independent Gaming Commission will be responsible for implementing and overseeing the gaming licensing process and regulation of the industry. In addition to the two joint appointments, the chair of the Commission will be appointed by the Governor. The Attorney General and Treasurer each appoint one member independently through their own processes.
The Commission must be bipartisan, with no more than three members representing the same party and members must be appointed within 120 days of November 22, 2011, the day Governor Patrick signed the bill into law.
