Divided panel calls for halt to gambling expansion

WASHINGTON -- The staff of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission has come under fire, as the nine-member panel struggles to meet a June 19 deadline to complete its report.

And in a vote that shows a deep split still remains among the commissioners, the panel gave the go-ahead today to include language in the report that asks policymakers on all levels of government to consider a moratorium on the expansion of gambling and look further into its social and economic effects.

Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association, said afterward that the 5-4 vote is a sign the commission's report may not be based on a consensus of its nine members, who are divided on the merits of gambling.

The three commissioners with ties to the casino industry -- Terry Lanni and Bill Bible of Nevada and John Wilhelm of Washington -- all voted against the moratorium.

Chairwoman Kay James, who voted for the moratorium, said the purpose of the recommendation is to urge communities to take a "pause" or a "timeout" and consider the ramifications of gambling, which has spread rapidly across the country in recent years.

The chief executive of the world's largest gaming company downplayed the potential impact of the panel's recommendation today.

"I haven't seen the report yet, but I think it's a states-rights issue and don't believe it has any legal force," said Arthur Goldberg of Park Place Entertainment Inc. of Las Vegas.

"Besides, if the economics don't support building a casino, it won't be built."

Park Place owns the Hilton and Bally's casino brands and is buying the Caesars casinos.

In the past two days, meanwhile, criticism of the commission's staff has intensified in public and behind closed doors, as commissioners have vented their anger over the lack of progress in writing the report.

"It looks to me like we're a symphony without a conductor," Bible told the Sun today. "There's universal frustration among the commissioners that we're far behind our timetable to produce a meaningful report to the president, Congress, the governors and the American people."

Bible said he's concerned the rush now to complete the report will result in a finished product that's not "sound, balanced and accurate."

Much of the heat on the panel's staff has been directed at Deputy Director John Shosky, who is responsible for writing the report on the state of legalized gambling in America.

Drafts of the report put together by Shosky, who declined comment, have been described privately by commissioners as "shoddy," even juvenile. That has led observers to conclude that the commission appears disorganized and unsure of its objectives heading into the most crucial period of its two-year-existence.

Commissioners publicly have voiced concern that numerous recommendations the panel intends to make in chapters on pathological gambling and regulating the gambling industry have not appeared in the latest draft of the report, which has been dramatically scaled back and rewritten over the past two weeks.

Wilhelm said he's overwhelmed by the barrage of recommendations being floated out at the last minute by his colleagues and isn't sure the commission can deal with them properly under the time constraints its facing.

"I don't know how we can get from here to anywhere," he said.

Several commissioners have been forced to do the work of the staff and write key chapters.

Commissioner Richard Leone of New Jersey revamped the entire format of the report to make it more readable and wrote the overview to give the staff direction, as the deadline approaches.

And Commissioner James Dobson of Colorado, a gambling critic, has taken over the writing of the chapter on problem gambling, a development that has made casino executives following the hearing very nervous.

Bible, Nevada's former Gaming Control Board chairman, also has agreed to stay a couple of extra days here to rewrite the chapters on regulation and the new technology of gambling.

In another move to help the staff, Executive Director Timothy Kelly has hired CSR Inc., a well-known consulting firm here, to edit, rework and publicize the report.

Kelly would not say how much the commission planned to pay the firm, but sources said it may be as high as $100,000 over the next two months

Both Kelly and James defended the staff and said it was normal to bring in such a firm to put the finishing touches on a report.

But some commissioners said they were surprised to learn of CSR's hiring.

Sources close to the panel said the staff has failed to come through under the pressure of the deadline. . "It's obvious from what we've seen that the staff needs assistance to get the report ready," one source said.

The commission's work, the source added, has been slowed by "ineptness" on the part of the staff and "indecisiveness" by the commissioners.

"They're avoiding settling the tough issues," another source said. "It's going to take a Herculean effort to get this report done in time."

Sun reporter Gary Thompson contributed to this story.

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