{"id":329764,"date":"2024-09-05T18:27:36","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T23:27:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=329764"},"modified":"2024-09-06T09:32:07","modified_gmt":"2024-09-06T14:32:07","slug":"maine-chief-regulator-facing-no-confidence-revolt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/maine-chief-regulator-facing-no-confidence-revolt\/","title":{"rendered":"Maine Chief Regulator Facing \u2018No Confidence\u2019 Revolt by Casino Inspectors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maine\u2019s chief gambling regulator, Milton Champion, is facing a rebellion from his casino inspectors who accuse him of unilaterally \u201cderegulating casinos \u2026 without input from the voting public\u201d and of creating a \u201cdeeply dysfunctional and toxic workplace environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Milton
Milton Champion, above, is accused of creating a \u201ctoxic workplace environment\u201d in a letter signed by all nine of his casino inspectors. They say they have no confidence in his ability to regulate gambling in Maine. (Image: Maine Public Radio<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All nine inspectors under Champion\u2019s control signed an open letter published Wednesday by the MSEA-SEIU Local 1989 public services union. The letter expresses no confidence in Champion, who has been executive director of the Maine Gambling Control Unit since 2016.<\/p>\n

\n

An accompanying press release by Local 1989 notes that recently enacted changes to working schedules are preventing the inspectors from overseeing the state\u2019s two casinos, the Oxford Casino and the Hollywood Casino Bangor, on Sundays and Mondays.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

“Casino gambling \u2026 was a highly contentious issue in Maine in 2003 when it was passed by voters and legalized,\u201d Mark Brunton, president of Local 1989, said in a statement. \u201cOne of the concerns was to make sure it was well-regulated to protect the citizens of Maine. That\u2019s the important role that our inspectors play. They need to be on the job whenever the casinos are open.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘Undermining the Board\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>The inspectors\u2019 letter claims that Champion \u201cdoes not respect\u201d the oversight of the Maine Gambling Control Board because it has denied his proposals in the past.<\/p>\n

Now, rather than subject himself to the checks and balances of the Board\u2019s oversight function, Milton Champion is circumventing the Board altogether by making unilateral decisions that completely undermine the Board\u2019s ability to oversee gambling matters in Maine.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The inspectors claim that \u201cmany of these decisions make very little sense, are based on false data, and have irreparably harmed the Maine Gambling Control Unit\u2019s ability to regulate casino gambling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional grievances include Champion\u2019s alleged failure to \u201ccorrectly pay\u201d his inspectors for services rendered and refusal to discuss all of the above issues.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“We must make it known that Milton Champion has repeatedly shown a lack of respect for our legal rights and processes spelled out in our union contract, has retaliated against us individually and as a group, and has created a deeply dysfunctional and toxic workplace environment,\u201d the letter states.<\/p>\n

Champion Blunder <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Champion hadn’t responded to a request for comment on the letter from Casino.org<\/em> at the time of publication. However, Steven Silver, chair of the Maine Gambling Control Board, told The Portland Press Herald<\/em> that \u201cfrom a purely operational standpoint, things have been running very smoothly and very profitably under Director Champion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Silver also acknowledged he was aware of complaints about a hostile work environment and had concerns over the decision-making that went into the schedule change.<\/p>\n

\n

This is not the first time Champion has found himself in a sticky situation. In May 2024, he was placed on administrative leave over a tweet that used a sexist pejorative and another that could be perceived as supporting a white nationalist march.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

On May 6 of that year, the regulator replied to a poster\u2019s opinion that referring to a group of women as \u201cladies\u201d was inappropriate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this day and age, I guess \u2018bitches\u2019 is better,\u201d he suggested.<\/p>\n

Then, just over a week later, he reacted to images of a white nationalist march on the US Capitol with: \u201cAt least they are not burning down or looting stores.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maine\u2019s chief gambling regulator, Milton Champion, is facing a rebellion from his casino inspectors who accuse him of unilaterally \u201cderegulating casinos \u2026 without input from the voting public\u201d and of creating a \u201cdeeply dysfunctional and toxic workplace environment.\u201d All nine inspectors under Champion\u2019s control signed an open letter published Wednesday by the MSEA-SEIU Local 1989 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":280532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,13592,84511],"tags":[92243,92244,92242,92241,86446,92245,89493],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMaine Chief Regulator Facing \u2018No Confidence\u2019 Revolt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Milton Champion is accused of creating a deeply dysfunctional and toxic workplace environment by casino inspectors.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/maine-chief-regulator-facing-no-confidence-revolt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Maine Chief Regulator Facing \u2018No Confidence\u2019 Revolt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Milton Champion is accused of creating a deeply dysfunctional and toxic workplace environment by casino inspectors.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/maine-chief-regulator-facing-no-confidence-revolt\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-09-05T23:27:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-09-06T14:32:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Maine-Milton.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"880\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"587\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/maine-chief-regulator-facing-no-confidence-revolt\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/maine-chief-regulator-facing-no-confidence-revolt\/\",\"name\":\"Maine Chief Regulator Facing \u2018No Confidence\u2019 Revolt\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/maine-chief-regulator-facing-no-confidence-revolt\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/maine-chief-regulator-facing-no-confidence-revolt\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Maine-Milton.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-09-05T23:27:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-06T14:32:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Milton Champion is accused of creating a deeply dysfunctional and toxic workplace environment by casino inspectors.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/maine-chief-regulator-facing-no-confidence-revolt\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/maine-chief-regulator-facing-no-confidence-revolt\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/maine-chief-regulator-facing-no-confidence-revolt\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Maine-Milton.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Maine-Milton.jpeg\",\"width\":880,\"height\":587,\"caption\":\"Milton Champion, above, is accused of creating a \u201ctoxic workplace environment\u201d in a letter signed by all nine of his casino inspectors. 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