Posted July 6, 2015 9:00 PM ET; Last updated July 7, 2015 7:42 PM ET
[From article]
In its lawsuit against the Gaming Commission, the city issued subpoenas to eight current and former state police, alleging that troopers assigned to an investigation of Charles Lightbody gave former staties now working as private detectives for Wynn information about the
investigation in the “wire-tap room” at the attorney general’s office.
The Walsh administration yesterday stood by the claims in its motions seeking subpoenas. “We dispute the assertions in the letter and we firmly stand
behind the allegations in the amended complaint,” said Laura Oggeri, the mayor’s spokeswoman.
Lightbody, a convicted felon with mob ties, had an interest in the land Wynn Resorts is planning to use for a casino in Everett. The city sued the Gaming Commission seeking host city status, which could force a renewed license process.
Wynn has denied hiring the former troopers. The judge handling the case agreed to delay the subpoenas until after a hearing on a Gaming Commission motion to dismiss the case.
http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2015/07/wynn_to_mayor_walsh_i_ll_sue_you
Wynn to Mayor Walsh: I’ll sue you!
Threatens defamation fight in casino fight
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
By: Jack Encarnacao
Boston Herald
* * *
“Commissioners discuss social matters, organizational structure and morale,” Driscoll said. “The commissioners do not discuss any matter that constitutes public business within the jurisdiction of the commission.”
But former Inspector General Greg Sullivan of the Pioneer Institute said he found that hard to believe.
“You can only talk about Tom Brady and ‘Deflategate’ for so long,” Sullivan told the Herald. “Eventually, the conversation probably drifts around to the subject of Massachusetts gaming.”
At least one commissioners’ lunch even featured a special guest — Frank Fahrenkopf, who had stepped down as president of the American Gaming Association one year before he met for 90 minutes with the MGC on Oct. 22, 2014.
[. . .]
Sullivan told the Herald the Gaming Commission’s structure — where the commissioners all work out of the same office — is a problem.
“It’s vulnerable to violations of the Open Meeting Law because of the design of the agency and the decisions the Legislature made,” said Sullivan. “It’s an inherently problematic situation because of the extremely unusual arrangement whereby the commissioners are full-time employees that work in the same building.”
Some of the datebook information the Herald requested could not be produced.
Stebbins’ calendar from March 2012 through the end of 2013 was “unavailable due to technical issues caused by his BlackBerry,” the MGC told the Herald.
http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2015/07/gaming_commission_racks_up_100_hours_in_secret_meetings
Gaming Commission racks up 100 hours in secret meetings
Panel playing games with open meetings law
Monday, July 6, 2015
By: Chris Cassidy
Boston Herald
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