By Paul Tuthill
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Boston, MA – A veteran public official who has worked for both Democratic and Republican office-holders in Massachusetts will lead the state's venture into casino gambling. Stephen Crosby has been tapped as the first chairman of the Massachusetts Gambling Commission. WAMC's Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports.
The 66 year old Crosby has accepted a job that comes with high pressure, stress and intense scrutiny. It will be up to Crosby and the other, as yet un-named, members of the gambling commission to guide the development of a potentially multi-billion dollar industry in Massachusetts and to insure it is not infected by the corruption that has accompanied casino projects in other places.
Colleagues are quoted describing Crosby as analytical and open minded. He has worked in politics, business and most recently academia. In the 1970s, Crosby was campaign manager for a Democratic mayor of Boston. He worked for two Republican governors, budget chief for Governor Paul Cellucci and chief of staff for acting Governor Jane Swift. He was a member of Democratic Governor Deval Patrick's transition team in 2007.
Patrick, in appointing Crosby to head the gambling commission, praised his integrity
Crosby will leave his current post, as dean of a policy center at the University of Massachusetts Boston to become the full time chair of the gambling commission with an annual salary of 150 thousand dollars.
Crosby's views on legalizing casino gambling in Massachusetts have evolved, he concedes. As budget chief for Gov. Cellucci he thought casinos were a bad idea, but a few years later, in a Boston Globe op-ed he wrote that casinos would deliver more money to communities than the state lottery.
The new head of the gambling commission says he is not much of a gambler. Crosby said he buys an occasional scratch ticket and has gone with his step-daughter's family to a casino in Colorado. He said he does not own stock in any casino companies.
He said he's formed no opinions on the casino projects that have been proposed in Massachusetts so far.
The gambling commission will draft regulations for the casino industry in Massachusetts, decide who gets the lucrative casino licenses, enforce the rules, and assure the state and its cities and towns get the share of the proceeds the gaming companies are obligated to deliver.
State Representative Joseph Wagner of Chicopee helped write the new casino law
The other members of the gambling commission will be appointed by Attorney General Martha Coakley and State Treasurer Steven Grossman, who get one appointment each. They're currently accepting applications on line. The final two members will be chosen by a majority vote by the governor, attorney general and treasurer. A search firm is being hired to recommend finalists.
Reporting from WAMC's Pioneer Valley Bureau on the campus of Western New England University, I'm Paul Tuthill