Gaming panel chairman resigning

Thursday, July 26, 2001 | 11:08 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Brian Sandoval is resigning as chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission and is considering a run for state attorney general next year.

Sandoval, a former two-term assemblyman from Reno, submitted a letter of resignation -- effective Aug. 1 -- to Gov. Kenny Guinn Wednesday. He planned to announce his departure at today's commission meeting in Las Vegas.

Sandoval, 37, has been on the commission for three years and served as its chairman the past two. Guinn has not named anybody to replace him in the $55,000 a year job.

Sandoval is resigning now, he said, so there won't be any hint that future decisions by the commission might be tied to politics. He said he has not talked to anybody in the gaming business about his running for state office, although he has been asked a few times.

Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa has not announced whether she will run for a fourth term. Sources inside her office, who asked not to be identified, speculated that she would not seek re-election.

Del Papa dismissed this speculation as unfounded rumors and said the Sandoval announcement would not affect her plans.

"I'm not ready to make an announcement," she said, adding she is uncertain if she will run for a fourth term.

Sandoval, a Reno lawyer, said he wants to meet with his family and friends first before making a decision to enter the race for the GOP nomination for attorney general. Still, he said he would decide in the next couple of weeks, noting that the primary election was a year away in September 2002.

He said he would not have left the gaming commission if it were struggling. But he said it is in a "strong position" to meet future challenges, such as Internet gambling, casino salons to entice high-end players and a review of the regulations on monopolies in the industry.

"The framework has been set for this," he said.

In his two-years as chairman Sandoval has been one of the leaders in the fight to retain betting on college sports; setting the regulation on theme slot machines so they don't appeal to youngsters; restricting neighborhood casinos and setting a policy to help problem gamblers.

He has been chairman of the Gaming Policy Review Panel that tackled the issues of locating casinos in Spring Valley and North Las Vegas in Clark County.

"It's a job I would like to do," Sandoval said of the attorney general's job. "I have strong qualifications." He said he has been in private law practice for 12 years, handling all types of cases inside and outside the courtroom.

He has practiced before the state Public Utilities Commission, representing shareholders of Sierra Pacific Resources Inc. Besides his knowledge of gaming regulation, Sandoval sat on the criminal sentencing study committee while in the Legislature.

He is currently a member of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency that oversees the development at Lake Tahoe. He said he would resign that position as well. He was appointed two and a half years ago to the agency to replace casino executive Steve Wynn as the Nevada at-large member. The other six Nevada members will select a replacement for Sandoval.