Casino news source: Press of Atlantic City - http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com
N.J.'s top casino regulator nominated to new term
By DONALD WITTKOWSKI Staff Writer, (609) 272-7258
Published: Saturday, June 9, 2007
ATLANTIC CITY — The head of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission has been nominated by Gov. Jon S. Corzine to a new five-year term overseeing Atlantic City's $5.2 billion gaming industry.
Linda M. Kassekert, who earns $141,000 annually, is the only woman in the commission's 30-year history to serve as chair of its five-member board. She was originally appointed in 2002 by then-Gov. James E. McGreevey.
Corzine wasted no time in renominating Kassekert on Thursday. Her current term doesn't expire until Aug. 4. Her nomination is pending confirmation by the Senate Judiciary Committee and full Senate, but no hearings have been scheduled yet.
In an interview Friday, Kassekert said she wrote to the governor in January seeking reappointment. Corzine signaled he would reappoint her when his office notified her about a month ago that the state would conduct the type of personal background check on Kassekert that is standard for top government positions.
“I would hope that the governor thought that I did a good job,” Kassekert said.
Kassekert, 49, a Democrat from Pennsauken, Camden County, said she plans to reach out to her local senator, Republican Diane Allen, for her support. Allen, who backed Kassekert during her first term, could block the reappointment by exercising senatorial courtesy, a power given to senators for gubernatorial appointees from their district.
One of Kassekert's allies is George E. Norcross III, southern New Jersey's chief Democratic powerbroker. Although Kassekert denied it at the time, her ties to Norcross were thought to be part of a highly publicized power struggle she had in 2005 with former Gov. Richard J. Codey, a Norcross enemy.
Kassekert, who sits on the board of the state Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, opposed Codey's appointment of state Labor Commissioner Thomas D. Carver as the authority's executive director. She insisted she had no personal objections to Carver, but argued that a search committee should have been formed to select the CRDA's chief executive.
Codey responded by ousting Kassekert from the CRDA's board. Kassekert fired back with a lawsuit challenging her removal, but dropped the litigation later on after a cordial discussion with Codey. In a parting gesture on the same day he left the Governor's Office last year, Codey put Kassekert back on the CRDA's board.
“Gov. Codey and I had a very nice discussion at the end of the dispute and he put me back on the CRDA. I didn't see anything that would be problematic,” Kassekert said of any lingering concerns that the controversy would affect her reappointment to the Casino Control Commission.
The commission serves as the chief regulatory body for Atlantic City's 11 casinos. In her first term, the most challenging part of Kassekert's job was overseeing the three-day casino shutdown last July caused by New Jersey's state budget crisis.
In coming months, Kassekert will direct the commission in a crucial hearing for gaming giant MGM Mirage Inc., which is partnering with the eldest daughter of Asian billionaire Stanley Ho for a new casino in the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau.
Critics argue that gaming regulators should block MGM's venture with Pansy Ho because of her father's alleged ties to Asian organized crime. MGM must win Casino Control Commission approval for the Macau partnership because the company holds a New Jersey gaming license.
In another big licensing case likely to be heard this year, the commission will consider the proposed $17.1 billion buyout of Harrah's Entertainment Inc., owner of four Atlantic City casinos, by private equity firms Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group.
To e-mail Donald Wittkowski at The Press:
DWittkowski@pressofac.com |
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