For the third time in three months Bermuda Tourism minister Jamahi Simmons has made an effort to force out Alan Dunch as chairman of the Bermuda Casino Gaming Commission.
This third call for Dunch’s resignation came after Dunch scornfully attacked MM&I Holdings bid for a large government contract to provide a cashless gaming network: specifically, its claim it intends to give away most of its casino profits to charity.
Last week the Royal Gazette revealed that it had obtained three instances where Simmons sent out letters and emails demanding that Dunch be dismissed.
After Simmons’s latest remarks about MM&I the tourism minister said that Dunch was “in breach of international standards” and his comments were “not in the best interests of the government.” He wrote that if Dunch didn’t resign he could be removed as chairman.
Dunch has a contract with the government that expires in May 2019. He has said, in effect, that Simmons doesn’t have the authority to fire him before that date.
The first email that the newspaper discovered was sent in August 8 by Simmons to Dunch: “After careful consideration, I write to formally invite you to give consideration to tendering your resignation as chairman of the Bermuda Casino Gaming Commission.”
Dunch wrote back August 11 that he was surprised Simmons’s demand and said it came “out of the blue.” Dunch pointed out that it wasn’t that long ago that Simmons had expressed, “unequivocal confidence, support and enthusiasm” for the job he was doing.
“I am both surprised and disappointed that you should, out of the blue, now invite me to consider resigning my position as chairman of the BCGC,” he wrote.
On September 27, Simmons wrote: “After much consideration and the passing of the public form on September 22, I have decided that your term will conclude effective September 29, 2017.”
Dunch wrote back, “As you will no doubt have been advised, my appointment is a statutory one and (as I recall in the absence of having my appointment letter with me) it does not expire until May 2019. I do not believe there is any current statutory basis upon which I can be removed.”
Last week Dunch told the Gazette that he had no plans to leave and that the gaming commission was supposed to be free of political meddling.
“Like my fellow commissioners, I have a statutory appointment and my term of office does not run out until May 2019. There is no provision in our act that provides for the minister to seek my resignation nor to remove me from office,” he said. “That is intentional, in that the commission was set up to be independent and free from political influence or interference. Accordingly, I have no current intention of resigning as chairman.”
The Gazette recently ran an article about how much MM&I stands to profit if it wins the contract to provide a cashless gaming network management system to any casinos on Bermuda.
This prompted a representative of the British territory, Mark Pettingill, the former Attorney General of the country, and current legal counsel for MM&I, to issue a statement that, although it would be paid tens of millions of dollars for the contract, it would only keep a very small profit margin” and that 95 percent would go to “churches, community clubs, vulnerable citizens’ programs, etc.”
Dunch responded, expressing “interest, intrigue and a degree of incredulity” and he later told the Gazette: “Until we read it in the paper yesterday, at no time was the commission ever made aware of the purported philanthropic objectives of MM&I and certainly no representations of the sort made in their response will be found in any of the written or verbal communications that the commission has had with the principals of MM&I—nor are they in any of the documents to which the commission has been made privy.”
That led Simmons to write to Dunch: “Please be advised that this invitation is made as an alternative to revoking your chairmanship as a result of your conduct which has been considered to be in breach of international standards, as they relate to members of a gaming commission. Further, it is our view that your recent public statements are not in the best interests of the Government.”
Dunch and Simmons met in September and Simmons reportedly told Dunch that he needed to go because the new government had been mandated to make changes at all levels.
“He was unable to articulate to me and my deputy as to why such a change would be in the best interests of Bermuda now or in the future and nor has he since,” Dunch commented.
Dunch and his commission have warned against the government contract, citing cases where persons connected with MM&I’s partner firm Banyan Gaming, have surrendered gaming licenses in the U.S.
The commission also prevented an agreement between the government and MM&I in 2016 after it was discovered that persons connected to the company also had been serving in the cabinet.
Simmons won’t tell the newspaper or the gaming commission whether the government is negotiating a contract with MM&I or Banyan.
Dunch says that because the commission’s executive director, Richard Schuetz, will be leaving in December that it would be “counterproductive” to disrupt the commission’s work by leaving himself.
Then this week the outgoing executive director joined the fray, declaring that it wasn’t the job of the commission to mollify politicians. Schuetz commented, “There are a great many countries in the world where questioning the government can get you in jail, so I am unclear of what international standard is being discussed.”
He added, “In California, I would take on a license applicant that may have been a great friend or financial supporter of the governor, and that did not bother me one bit. I was also critical of the government in many instances in California. This ability to serve the law is of critical importance, and it was much more important to serve the law than to worry about keeping some politician happy.”
He also questioned the “international standards” that Simmons had claimed Dunch violated. “’International standards’ is a reasonably vague term in that the world is a very big place with some democratic nations and some authoritarian regimes, and all kinds of things in between. I suppose one could shop around the world for the answer they wanted.”
Schuetz added, “What is important to understand is that our act addresses the issues that can result in disqualification of a member, and it has nothing to do with being in breach of international standards.”
The Casino Gaming Act of 2014 lays out what can be used to disqualify a commissioner. They include being unable to manager their affairs, declaring bankruptcy or being convicted of a “dishonesty offense.”
He added that in California, as in most U.S. states, it is illegal for the government to interfere with the workings of a gaming commission.
