Oregon’s Lottery Director Jack Roberts was fired last week by Governor Kate Brown, part of a continuing spring-cleaning undertaken by the governor, who took office in 2015.
Roberts, a former labor commissioner, had directed the Lottery for slightly more than two years. He took the reins of the agency after a scandal in which an investigation by the Oregonian alleged that the Lottery relied on problem gamblers to fund it.
The Lottery continued to struggle to reconcile two different missions, dependency on problem gamblers and the need to generate more money for education.
His replacement is Barry Pack, a longtime aide of the governor, and the state’s deputy chief operating officer.
The governor announced, “I am grateful for Jack’s years of service to the Oregon Lottery, but it is time for a leadership change,” adding, “As we embark on the search for a successor, Barry will bring the skills and experience necessary to step easily into this role.”
A spokesman for the governor mentioned “management problems,” but declined to specify exactly what they were.
Last summer an audit criticized the Lottery for failing to identify possible illegal casinos operating as Lottery outlets, and dubbed “delis.” More than 200 such “deli” retailers were identified.
Interviewed by the Oregonian, Roberts declared, “The whole take is we’re ignoring our rules. We’re not. Maybe policy makers ought to talk about what the rules need to be.”
More recently the Lottery generated some unwelcome criticism from the Coquille tribe, which complained that a lottery TV campaign featuring a fictional Lewis and Clark expedition discovering Lottery video terminals in the trees.
Coquille tribal chairman Brenda Meade felt this was “offensive and insensitive,” especially in light of the governor’s opposition to the tribe’s proposed casino in Medford. The governor criticized the “proliferation” of tribal casinos in the state. Meade said this was “hypocritical.”
The ad campaign was pulled almost immediately.
Meade added, “What’s the difference between Indian gaming and the Oregon Lotto,” Meade asks, “and why is proliferation of gaming being talked about when there are only nine tribes in this whole state of Oregon?”
