Chairman named, director leaving regulatory board

Thursday, Oct. 18, 2001 | 9:52 a.m.

GULFPORT, Miss. -- Gulfport lawyer Leonard Blackwell II was named chairman of the state Gaming Commission, the three-member panel that regulates the state's non-Indian casinos and charity bingo halls.

Blackwell, who was appointed chairman by Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, succeeds Bill Gresham Jr. of Indianola, whose second four-year term on the panel expired Oct. 1.

A former president of the Mississippi Bar Association, Blackwell represented casino and real-estate tycoon Donald Trump in a failed effort to locate a casino on the Coast in 1993.

Among the first tasks for Blackwell, 58, will be to restaff the agency's executive ranks.

Chuck Patton announced this week that he will retire as executive director at the end of the year and Mick Lura, the commission's chief of staff, is resigning effective Nov. 15. The agency also recently lost its director of compliance and director of public relations.

In his confirmation hearing before a state Senate committee, Blackwell said he would deal cautiously with any casino development that might affect military flight paths at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi.

He said Wednesday that he hoped legislators would not cut the agency's $10 million budget, recognizing that firm regulation has given the state a respected industry.