Alan Dunch, the chairman of the Bermuda Casino Gaming Commission, last week submitted his resignation in hopes that his departure will end efforts to place the commission under legislative control. Tourism Minister Jamahl Simmons has called for Dunch’s head at least three times in the past month. Once he realized he couldn’t unilaterally fire Dunch, he wrote a law that would put the commission under the control of the legislature.
The proposed bill, the Casino Gaming Amendment Act of 2017, would force the commission to follow the tourism minister’s directives, and allows the minister to take any action he “considers appropriate,” up to an including the sacking of any commissioner who refused to cooperate.
Dunch said he saw the handwriting on the wall.
“I acknowledge the reality that if these amendments are passed, then he will simply fire me,” he told the Royal Gazette. “Given the impetus for these amendments is the desire to have me go, now that I’m going to go after the next commission meeting, I hope he rethinks whether there is any need to make the amendments.
“I truly believe the amendment that compels the commission to follow the minister’s direction on any given subject is going to be very counterproductive in terms of putting Bermuda on the international gaming stage as a credible jurisdiction.”
The bill was tabled in the House of Representatives on November 10, but it became clear that Simmons was simply lining up votes for consideration again next week. Dunch said he hoped his departure puts an end to consideration of the bill.
“It is my sincere hope that in making this decision to resign, you and the government might now consider it unnecessary to move forward with the proposed amendments and, in the best interests of Bermuda, choose instead to withdraw the Amendment Act, which is ill-advised and could do irreversible harm to the reputation of our country,” Dunch wrote in his resignation letter to Simmons.
Simmons accepted Dunch’s resignation and said a successor will be named next. Dunch’s last day at the commission will be December 6, and he will be followed out the door by Executive Director Richard Schuetz, who announced his resignation several months ago, effective at year’s end.
Dunch said he regretted leaving because he wanted to preside over the hearings for a provisional license for the first applicant, the Hamilton Princess. He also wanted to make sure proposed regulations were approved by Parliament, and have a hand in naming Schuetz’s successor.
“It’s obviously disappointing to me that I’m not going to have the opportunity to finish what I started, but that’s life,” he told the newspaper.
Prior to his resignation, Dunch outlined the serious threat that the amendment act represented to the Bermuda gaming industry.
“At face value, it would appear to be a kneejerk reaction arising out of the minister’s great frustration with the refusal of the chairman of the commission to resign, in the absence of reason,” he told the Royal Gazette. “However, it is far more alarming that his proposed amendments would compel the commission to give up its independence and follow any general directions given to it by the minister. This in and of itself should be of great concern to the Bermuda public.
“It will mean the minister has the power to interfere in all of the commission’s dealings and ongoing work.
“It means the minister is asking Parliament to give him an absolute, unchallengeable right to tell the commission what to do and the commission, despite its own convictions and expertise, will be unable to refuse.”
For Bermuda, the nascent gaming industry is now at a crossroads. The showdown between Dunch and Simmons was precipitated by an agreement between the previous government and MM&I/Banyan Gaming which would have forced casinos to use a cashless wagering system hawked by the vendor. Dunch objected to the agreement for several reasons, not the least of which was that the commission didn’t weigh in on the deal.
Simmons said no negotiations are “currently” ongoing with MM&I but didn’t rule out another such deal. MM&I is represented by former Attorney General Mark Pettingill, who was a member of the previous government that made the deal, and is a member of the same party as Simmons.
