Still too many gaming secrets

By The Sentinel, September 4, 2007

Last updated: Tuesday, September 4, 2007 9:31 AM EDT

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has a golden opportunity to build trust and credibility with the public, but it is apparently going to shun it.

After an open records request from the Associated Press to see who has acted as references for gaming license applications, the agency declared that information confidential.

For people already wary of an industry with a storied history of corruption in other states, this can't sit well.

Consider why the issue cropped up in the first place: Word somehow leaked out that a sitting U.S. attorney's name was used as a reference for an license applicant - a man who just happens to be under investigation concerning whether he has ties to a reputed Scranton mobster.

The issue has been hanging out there for more than a year, yet the gaming board awarded a license to Louis DeNaples. It's difficult to avoid speculating how much influence was brought to bear simply through the use of U.S. Attorney Thomas Marino's name.

The gaming board maintains that the names of applicants' references and the letters they write should be kept secret so that people can speak freely with the board. That's one of the oddest pieces of reasoning we've heard for keeping affairs that should be the public's business behind close doors.

One would expect that a reference would be giving positive information about an applicant, after all. And the references shouldn't be embarrassed to have their support known. Unless, that is, there is something else at play.

Marino has refused to discuss the situation. The two men are said to be friends of long standing, but there are, or should be, times when professional roles supersede personal ties.

Holders of public office, of course, should have better sense than to lend their names to supporting anyone seeking to benefit from the public trough, whether the object is contracts, licenses or other items of value in the public purview. As in the case of Marino and DeNaples, merely having their name associated with an individual or business can bring heavy weight to bear on the decision-makers, whether that is the primary intention or not.

But law enforcement officials, usually even more aware of the damage even the appearance of impropriety can cause, should be even more fastidious. There is always the chance that the person recommended today could be the target of a prosecution down the road.

The state Senate lawyer who drafted the law the gaming board is now invoking did leave the door open to the possibility that, while reference letters would remain confidential, the names of references and the applications they are attached to could be made public.

This is not such a radical idea, since the state is far more open about the awarding of horse racing licenses, to the point of making the actual letters of recommendation part of the public record.

We suggest the gaming board take that advice to heart. It should be far more concerned about showing the public that slot licenses are being awarded fairly - and with all due caution - than in playing its cards close to the vest.