Opinion: Stop this game playing
OPINION
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
The relatively new Gaming Control Board is all too prone to the same old Harrisburg business-as-usual practices that make Pennsylvania the "State of Corruption."
The board violated the state's Sunshine Act 19 times while approving 23 professional services contracts, worth $7 million-plus, without public votes from 2006-09, according to a new state audit. And just three of those contracts were competitively bid.
Here's how the seven-member board, caught with its hand in the jar, brushes the cookie crumbs from its fingers: It maintains it didn't violate the law, wasn't hiding anything and need not approve contracts publicly -- yet will vote publicly from now on.
Says Auditor General Jack Wagner: "Issuing contacts behind closed doors only undermines" the board's most important mission -- ensuring gaming-industry professionalism and integrity. A court could fine the board $100 for each Sunshine Act violation -- and the audit could trigger troubling questions from companies shut out of bidding.
The Attorney General's Office, which Gov.-elect Tom Corbett is leaving, will review the audit of past practices. His upcoming administration must ensure that the Gaming Control Board conducts its business openly -- and contracts competitively -- in the future.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
The relatively new Gaming Control Board is all too prone to the same old Harrisburg business-as-usual practices that make Pennsylvania the "State of Corruption."
The board violated the state's Sunshine Act 19 times while approving 23 professional services contracts, worth $7 million-plus, without public votes from 2006-09, according to a new state audit. And just three of those contracts were competitively bid.
Here's how the seven-member board, caught with its hand in the jar, brushes the cookie crumbs from its fingers: It maintains it didn't violate the law, wasn't hiding anything and need not approve contracts publicly -- yet will vote publicly from now on.
Says Auditor General Jack Wagner: "Issuing contacts behind closed doors only undermines" the board's most important mission -- ensuring gaming-industry professionalism and integrity. A court could fine the board $100 for each Sunshine Act violation -- and the audit could trigger troubling questions from companies shut out of bidding.
The Attorney General's Office, which Gov.-elect Tom Corbett is leaving, will review the audit of past practices. His upcoming administration must ensure that the Gaming Control Board conducts its business openly -- and contracts competitively -- in the future.
