A longtime member of the state Racing and Gaming Commission will not be reappointed to the board that oversees the state’s casinos and race tracks.
Diane Hamilton of Storm Lake says she asked to be reappointed to the commission. Hamilton says "it’s not entirely a surprise" as she says it’s "very unusual" to be reappointed to a fourth term, as she filled out the term of a previous commissioner and then was reappointed for three terms.
The commission is studying the possibility of expanding the number of gambling licenses, and will get the final report on two studies of the issue in June. Hamilton says she would have liked to have seen that through. "That was sort of my motivation for asking to be reappointed for another three years," Hamilton says.
She says it is going to be an issue facing the commission in the next and would be helpful for someone with experience to deal with it. "But, the governor had other ideas so, and you know, that’s fine too," Hamilton says. Hamilton says she will miss the commission.
Hamilton says she feels fortunate to be a member of the commission for 10 years and says most of the work has been enjoyable. She says she has enjoyed the relationships she’s built with the members of the commission, members of the staff and officials at the casinos.
Hamilton says deciding among the applicants for new licenses a few years ago was the hard part of being a commissioner. She says picking out the sites was almost the toughest job she’s ever had to do. Governor Chet Culver has nominated Angela Rivera-Harrison of Des Moines to Hamilton’s spot on the board. Rivera-Harrison has been on the electrical contractors board and has ties to labor.