Bible eyed for gaming group

Friday, Oct. 8, 1999 | 11:51 a.m.

A group of Nevada Resort Association members is working on a deal to hire Nevada Ethics Commission Chairman Bill Bible as the gaming organization's new president.

Bible, who retired as chairman of the Gaming Control Board last September, is expected to resign his post on the Ethics Commission if the deal wins approval from the NRA's executive board, sources close to the NRA said this morning.

If the deal materializes, longtime NRA President Richard Bunker would step down and become a senior adviser and consultant to the association, which serves as the casino industry's political arm in Nevada. Bunker has talked about lessening his role at the NRA for more than a year.

Jim Mulhall, vice president of governmental relations, already has resigned the post he has held for the past year, sources said. He is looking to become involved in politics on a local and national level.

Mulhall, chief of staff to former Gov. Bob Miller, was being groomed to succeed Bunker until NRA members became embroiled in a rift earlier this year over the association's lobbying efforts at the 1999 Legislature.

One member, the Boyd Gaming Group quit the NRA over the dispute.

Last summer NRA Chairman Mike Sloan, a vice president at Mandalay Resort Group, appointed a committee, headed by Station Casinos executive Scott Nielsen, to look into the possibility of restructuring the NRA's daily operations and dues structure.

The planned changes in leadership are expected to bolster the NRA's political presence at a time when gaming has come under much scrutiny in Washington and across the country.

Bible, who was elected Ethics Commission chairman in July, was regarded as one of the state's most adept bureaucrats when he headed the Control Board for a decade, the longest tenure in the board's history.

He also served on the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, a nine-member panel created by Congress to examine the spread of gambling in the United States.

Bible could not be reached for comment today.

Bunker, also a former Control Board chairman, has been associated with the NRA since 1989. He has spearheaded the organization's lobbying effort for most of that time.

The leadership shakeup is not expected to affect the role of current NRA lobbyist, Billy Vassiliadis.

In June Vassiliadis, who is close to Mulhall, threatened to sever his ties with the NRA over the infighting.

But sources said Vassiliadis, a politically connected advertising executive, plans to continue his dealings with the group.