Gurrola set to leave Gaming Commission

Monday, May 24, 2004 | 11:46 a.m.

A longtime Nevada Gaming Commission member will step down as soon as a replacement is found.

Commissioner Augie Gurrola, whose third four-year term on the commission expired April 27, has agreed to stay on the board until a replacement is named by Gov. Kenny Guinn. A spokesman for Guinn said today that no names have been floated for a replacement for Gurrola and that because Gurrola has agreed to stay for now, the matter hasn't been given a high priority.

Guinn spokesman Greg Bortolin said Gurrola chose to step down from the commission after his lengthy tenure.

Gurrola joined the board April 28, 1992, and has had the second-longest tenure of a member of the commission behind Bob Lewis, who completed an unexpired term plus three of his own, from Aug. 20, 1984, to April 27, 1997.

Considered an advocate for the working man, Gurrola a retired engineer from Henderson, is a political independent on the commission. State statutes say the commission can have no more than three members of any political party.

The five-member Gaming Commission is part of a two-tier regulatory system in which members act on licensing and policy recommendations forwarded by the three-member state Gaming Control Board.