After Biloxi casino site drama, will MS Gaming Commission chairman secure a 3rd term?
With the Legislative session expected to close next week, the tussle continues over whether Gulfport attorney Alben Hopkins Sr. should serve a third term as chairman of the Mississippi Gaming Commission.
A confirmation hearing held March 24 in Jackson ended without a vote by members of the Senate Gaming Committee.
“I have no plans at this time to call another meeting,” Blount said Friday, which means no vote would be taken.
If Hopkins isn’t confirmed by the end of the session, his position would cease since his term was to run from Oct. 1, 2021 to Sept. 30, 2025.
Gov. Tate Reeves would appoint another person, who would have to be confirmed when the Legislative reconvenes in January. Or the confirmation could be brought up if a special session is called before then.
At issue is whether Hopkins would again try to change the rule adopted after Hurricane Katrina and expand eligible casino sites in South Mississippi.
Changing that rule would remove the requirement that casinos have control of the site to the water’s edge.
That provision was given as the reason RW Development was turned down three times by the Gaming Commission for a casino at U.S. 90 and Veterans Avenue in Biloxi.
Biloxi attorney Michael Cavanaugh represents RW Development and its owner Ray Wooldridge. Blount said Paul Van White, a registered lobbyist for Cavanaugh, was at the confirmation hearing in Jackson.
When no vote was taken, Blount said White was unhappy with the outcome.
“He came up to me after the hearing and expressed his displeasure on behalf of his client,” Blount said.
Asking questions
Blount repeatedly asked Hopkins during the confirmation hearing whether, as chairman of the Gaming Commission, he would support changing the rules established after Hurricane Katrina to determine the location of legal casino sites in South Mississippi.
Hopkins repeatedly did not give a direct answer, Blount said.
Since then, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves has criticized Bloung, the Democratic chairman, on social media for not confirming Hopkins.
“Just so I am clear,” Reeves said in a tweet Friday, “a retired Maj. Gen. in the MS National Guard (that served 7 years in the position and twice unanimously confirmed) should not be again because … he’s not qualified? Because he won’t swear to Democrat Blount’s policies? GOP Senators telling me they want to vote.”
Hopkins is former assistant adjutant general of the Mississippi National Guard and retired with the rank of major general, according to the gaming commission website. He served 13 years as chief judge of the Court of Military Appeals. He founded his own law firm in 1977, which operates today as Hopkins, Barvié & Hopkins, P.L.L.C. Gulfport.
Blount has countered the lob of tweets by posting comments from nine casino operators in South Mississippi who said they don’t support Hopkins or don’t want to see the rules change.
“My only goal is to maintain the current rule — in place since Katrina — regarding where casinos may be located on the Gulf Coast. I am happy to support Mr. Hopkins if he will make that commitment,” Blount said.
The Gaming Commission initially denied the RW site in 2008.
In 2016, Hopkins proposed changing the site rule, which he said would bring casino regulations in line with the law, but that failed to pass.
Site approval was denied in March 2017 and again when a third application was filed in June 2017.
In 2020, the Supreme Court upheld the rulings that the RW Development doesn’t meet the site requirements.
Mississippi Coast response
Biloxi Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich sent the gaming committee a letter in support of Hopkins’ confirmation, as did the Biloxi Business Men’s Club. Both have supported the RW Development casino in the past.
“We need a regulator who looks out for the people and the community and not to the people they regulate,” the Business Men’s Club letter said.
Hopkins listed Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes as a reference for his confirmation.
In a response to the Mississippi PEER Committee on that reference, Hewes said Hopkins’ service to the community and state “are exemplary and his abilities are beyond question. However, his views pertaining to the expansion of the footprint of gaming beyond its settled boundaries is an area that I sincerely hope will be explored fully before Mr. Hopkins is reappointed to the Mississippi Gaming Commission.”
