In 2011, I was appointed to the California Gambling Control Commission by Gov. Jerry Brown. I don’t believe he wanted to appoint me to the commission, as that was a significant political chip for him to play, and I had always been a casino guy, not a political player. But Bill Eadington heavily leaned on one of Brown’s aides on my behalf, and someone from Harry Reid’s office (then U.S. Senate majority leader) placed a call to Gov. Brown’s office (I have friends in high and low places in Nevada).
The next thing I knew, I was moving to Sacramento.
Most appointments to the California Commission went to political friends and kin and are based more on a political calculus than on any seemingly relevant fitness-to-serve criteria.
