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Mass. Casino Panel Holds First Meeting

BOSTON (AP) — The state's new Gaming Commission, meeting for the first time, has voted to begin negotiations with two New Jersey-based private consultants to help lay the foundation for casino gambling in Massachusetts.

The five-member panel voted Tuesday to reach out to Spectrum Gaming Corp., and the law firm of Michael & Carroll. Representatives of both firms made presentations to the commission during the initial meeting at UMass-Boston, citing their experience with regulating casinos and gambling-related law enforcement investigations in New Jersey and elsewhere.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Bernice Corpuz reports

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The commission also voted to retain the Cambridge-based law firm of Anderson & Krieger to assist in developing ethics guidelines and other legal matters.

The panel's very first act was to adopt a mission statement promising to pursue the greatest possible economic development benefits for Massachusetts while avoiding "potentially negative or unintended consequences" of casino gambling.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

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