Gaming control chairman quits, says Blanco wants him replaced

Hillary Crain, Louisiana's top gambling regulator, resigned Monday, saying Gov. Kathleen Blanco is intent on replacing him.

Crain, a retired judge who angered video poker interests but was praised by others for being tough on connections between politicians and gambling, walked out of his last meeting of the state Gaming Control Board after running through highlights of his eight-year tenure as chairman, including a policy of keeping lobbyists at arms-length.

Afterwards, Crain told reporters he had not received any official word from Blanco, but had simply "learned that they wanted someone else in the job."

advertisement
Party Poker
The biggest online poker room with thousands of players.
Choose one of the following games:
Texas Holdem Poker, Omaha Poker, Omaha Hi,
Seven Card Stud, Stud 8 or Better.
Receive a 20% bonus of your first deposit up to a $100!!!
Party Poker

Blanco later confirmed that she will replace Crain. "We are putting our own appointees at various boards," the governor said, noting that she had never met him. Crain is to be replaced by another ex-judge, the governor said: H. Charles Gaudin, former chief judge of the state's Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Gaudin was one of seven state judges who unsuccessfully sued the state five years ago for more retirement money.

The governor described Gaudin as a "very responsible person" and said she has "known him off and on through the years." She said Gaudin had expressed an interest in the job. "I don't have anything against Judge Crain," she said. "I just assume we have the right and responsibility to name our own appointees."

Crain, appointed by former Gov. Mike Foster, and chairman since the board's inception in May 1996, said he had "no idea what the motivations are" for his replacement. But he noted that "there are video poker interests out there who do not want me in this job."

Operators in the booming video poker industry have complained that Crain delayed license applications, and that his interpretation of video poker laws tended to hurt the business.

After Crain resigned, a top gambling lobbyist, Wade Duty of the Casino Association of Louisiana, said he looked forward to a new regulatory regime that would "have a little more contact with the industry. I'd like to see this board get a little more motivated with the industry."

While praising the policy of a previous regulatory agency that held its meetings on riverboat casinos, instead of in state office buildings in the capital, Duty nonetheless commended Crain.

"Let's face it. He inherited a mess. He held the line."

Crain presided over the regulatory body in the aftermath of the extortion scandal involving former Gov. Edwin Edwards and the casino industry; Edwards was convicted during Crain's tenure.

He ferreted out details of gambling company payments to the politically well-connected, including why the Casino Magic establishment in Bossier City paid Gov. Edwards' son Stephen nearly $1.5 million over five years.

No scandal touched the stern ex-judge, who made a point of highlighting his strict ethics policy in his final remarks Monday.

Commenting on proposed legislation that would require disclosure of lobbying in the executive branch of government - his board is part of it - Crain said: "That doesn't even touch the way this board operates. We have not allowed individuals to lobby at all. No lobbyists have ever even purchased a cup of coffee for me."

Source: The Associated Press