Pennsylvania struggles to fill commission post

Marc Levy

Monday, Sept. 20, 2004 | 9:13 a.m.

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Things he had said in the past came back to complicate his rise to the state's gambling commission.

In the end, he withdrew, saying that it would be a distraction to the governor, who had tapped him. There were plenty of headlines about it: The press was accused of a "lynching" and critics were accused of distorting his positions.

That was in 1994, when Dale T. Taylor, then the mayor of tiny Wenonah, N.J., dropped out of consideration to serve on the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.

This week the appointment of longtime crimefighter Frank Friel to be the first chairman of Pennsylvania's Gaming Control Board died in much the same way.

When he announced his withdrawal on Wednesday, Friel said he had done nothing wrong, but that the criticism of him was taking a toll on his family and would distract the fledgling commission.

With tears welling in his eyes, an angry Gov. Ed Rendell, Friel's sponsor, blamed "search-and-destroy journalism" and said Friel's treatment had been unjust.

But some observers, including a veteran of the New Jersey casino commission, said the ethical bar for serving as a gambling regulator is unusually high because of a history of corruption in the industry.

As such, criticism of Friel would have trailed him throughout his tenure and damaged public confidence in the board, they said.

"The governor's wrong," said Frank J. Dodd, a former casino commissioner and the one-time Democratic president of the state Senate in New Jersey. "Maybe with other appointments (to other agencies), it wouldn't have mattered. But they have to start out with the right mindset if they're going to do this right."

Friel, 62, is a former Philadelphia police officer who supervised the task force that took down "Little Nicky" Scarfo's mob organization and helped prosecute more than 60 organized crime figures. He is currently the director of security at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia.

Rendell pitched Friel as the perfect candidate to keep organized crime out of the state's new gambling industry and assuage the fears of some gambling opponents.

But newspapers published stories about Friel's past after Rendell announced the appointment on Aug. 11, and Republican lawmakers called for Rendell to rethink the appointment or for Friel to step down.

In a 1974 state Crime Commission report, Friel was accused of being among dozens of police officers who took money from a club owner. Friel denied any wrongdoing and was never indicted.

More recently, while working for a private security firm, Friel was paid to help a Philadelphia boxing promoter challenge a ban that prevented him from holding fights in a Connecticut casino.

Friel testified in 2001 and 2002 that the promoter was not involved in organized crime, testimony which put him at odds with some other law-enforcement figures.

Friel also misrepresented his educational background during sworn testimony three years ago by incorrectly stating that he had earned master's and bachelor's degrees. Rendell has contended that Friel simply misspoke and did not intend to mislead anyone.

Anita L. Allen, a law and philosophy professor at the University of Pennsylvania who writes on ethics in society, agreed that it is good policy to allow people to put mistakes behind them.

But, she said, some jobs should remain out of reach for them and the criticisms against Friel should have changed Rendell's mind.

"The governor should have been unwilling to stand behind his appointment," Allen said.