 Commissioners are on. I'll do a roll call and then we'll get started officially. Commissioner Cameron. Good morning, everyone. I'm here. Commissioner Brian. I'm here. Hopefully I don't have the issues I had yesterday. Well, your voice is nice and clear right now. Commissioner Zunica. Good morning. Thank you. Commissioner Stevens. Good morning, everybody. I'm here. Great. And so I think we're all set. As we have repeatedly informed that it's an important notice, we do conduct these meetings virtually as a public meeting pursuant to relieve that governor Baker issued in an executive order that allows us to proceed under the open meeting law. And so we've been able to do that through virtual collaborative technology, which we've been able to do rather successfully. If for any reason, something does go. Arrive today, please go to the gaming commissions. Website at last gaming.com. Thank you. And today. Call to order today is public meeting of the gaming commission commission. And it's Thursday, July 16th. And we are convening now at 10. Thank you. Patricia stepings. Do you want to get started with the minutes, please? Sure. Thank you, madam chair. In your packet, you have meetings from minutes from two different meetings. The first is the June 16th. 2020 meeting. Obviously both of these meetings were. Lengthy and involved a lot of discussion and back and forth discussion. So we're going to start with the meeting. And then we'll start with the approval of the June 16th meeting minutes subject. Corrections for now material errors or typographical errors. Did everyone have a chance to review those minutes? Great. Any edits, clarifications that you'd like to make at this time. Discussion. Okay. Do I have a second? Second. Commissioner Cameron. I. Commissioner Brian. I. Commissioner Zunica. I. And commissioner Stephens. I. I vote yes. Thank you. I have zero. Also in your packet, madam chair, you have, uh, we have the minutes from the June 17th, 2020 meeting again. I will also express my thanks to our for helping the police together. Thank you. Thank you. But I would move for their approval again, subject to any corrections for typographical errors or any other non-material matters. Any questions or edits or comments? Okay. Second. Second. Thank you. Commissioner Cameron. Hi. Mr. O'Brien. Hi. Mr. Zunica. Hi. Mr. Stephens. Hi. I vote yes. Thank you. I'm zero again. Those are extensive notes. We appreciate all that you do. Thank you so much. Mr. Stephens. Thank you too. Okay. So moving on to our administrative update and from executive director, Karen Wells, item number three on our agenda. Good morning chair and members of the commission. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So the first item on the agenda for my administrative update, just want to give you a report on the licensees reopening and racing reopening. So all three licenses did open their doors to the public and our MGC staff has been monitoring. Not only the normal integrity of operations, but also compliance with the pre open or reopening requirements that we have. So I'm going to have Bruce and Burke review the reopening property by property. Generally at a high level, we're getting good reports on no, not only the licensees efforts to comply with their commission's requirements, but also how patrons are responding to the more restrictive environments. We are particularly watching for cleanliness, social distancing, and also mass compliance, compliance. So I'm going to go through a couple of things that I'm going to talk about. I'm going to talk about spacing while in line at the elevator at one of the properties. We're going to be following up on that and checking the garages. Interestingly, I just found out a couple minutes ago, the senior agent at that property had already fronted that with the licensee at the time. So that gives me a little confidence that the agents are watching that and looking for that. And as things happen, we'll be looking towards any remedial measures that might happen. So we'll have opened the racing season and after Bruce and Berk review, the PPC opening will jump to Alex and she'll give you an update date on that racing opening. And then we'll go back to MGM and on court for those property updates. So with that, I will turn it over to Bruce and, and if we're wants to chime in as well, just to start with PPC and the reopening of that property. First, you're muted. Good morning, commissioners, madam chair. Manager Burke came today. PPC opened up with 701 gaming positions. They had all the required plexiglass shields installed to separate machines properly. Patrons came in. They were all wearing masks. They were only serving beverages to people seated at the dining table. They were not serving food. They were not serving games or at the restaurants being served food. All in all, the operations ran very smoothly with no problems. You have things to add to work. Well, to add a little color, I think to the process of PPC. I understand that there was a six foot two by four roaming around on the casino floor prior to opening that had written on that. So they were trying to maximize their floor space with all the machines that they could. And I think a clever little thing that's going on at PPC. And I don't want to paraphrase it wrong is enjoy your drink at your seat, not on your feet. So that was a clever thing that they had working. I understand that all three properties is a team effort. It's not just security roaming around telling people about the rules, but it's everybody in any department from slots to food and beverage security and table games out of PPC. But reminding people of the rules to make sure everything is safe and sound. Burke, I think you might want to add the hatch tag, which was in this together. Saying this together. Yes. Yes. Which I think reflects the team spirit that you've noted. Right. Yeah. I think it's a good question. Questions commissioners for Bruce and Burke at this time. I'll just ask one. I know it's early because this only happened last week, but have you been able to observe, let's say. Periods of. Higher visitation. We can night. That, you know, that you could describe if there's any differences. I think it's been, been pretty stable with visitation right at this point, but there, you know, haven't really been any special events or anything like this, this juncture that bring more crowds in. Wouldn't you agree, Burke? They have a nice setup at PPC. They're funneling everybody in through the ballet entrance. They have from what I saw on the casino floor, two guards receiving. Two security officers receiving the guests and asking them to come in. And if need be their ID in the folks, but I think this line moves pretty steadily to get them in. We haven't had, I guess just the one weekend to look at. So I think going forward, we will continue to monitor at all three properties, how the ebb and flow of the patron numbers go. Thank you. And I forget if you, one of you updated me as some recently as something that they had done, but please remind me if they installed some machines in the, in the second floor, or they plan to install some machines in the second floor, the area that was once the, the simulcasting operation. No, not at this point. No, they haven't. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Other other questions for Burke and Bruce. Yeah. Commissioner O'Brien. And not at this time. No. I'm fortunate enough to be in the working group. So I've seen the T-shirt with the hashtag and the, and the other information. So I've been pleased with what I've heard so far. Yeah. Both commissioner, Brian and I are fortunate that we've been being brief regularly and we appreciate the efforts as. That on that restart working group. That indicates that your emphasis on a solid communication plan seems to be working. There hasn't been really any confusion about the standards and guidelines that we've imposed. Bruce. No, yeah, I don't, don't believe so. The other Bruce that's. That was to Bruce being in. Yeah. Or is it the one that went to George Washington University? Oh wait. Yeah. No, I think as evidence from, thank you madam chair, I think evidence from the, the clips that we get every day. There's been. Very thoughtful and thorough news coverage, which I'm sure our, our licensees have been pushing that. Really made sure patrons understood that the guidelines would be going forward. I think to executive director Wells point earlier about. You know, some spacing in the, in the garage. We might want to just make sure our property of all of our licenses are following up on is, is people wait to access an elevator in that. Good sense. Thank you. So I'd also like to now turn it over to Alex to give you an update on the racing opening. You muted Alex. I'm planning to have their first day of live racing on Monday and it went very well. They had 12 races, which is a good number of races. The, everybody was wearing their masks and that was very good compliance. Did have to remind some people to make sure it stays over their nose. So we're going to continue to make that. Well known to everybody with the social distancing. We had noticed during qualifiers that people, the horseman kind of gathered along the rail to watch their race. So I'm talking to Steve old school. He took one of the fences out partially so they could spread out some more. So that worked pretty well on Monday. And I'm talking to Steve and the horseman yesterday. I think we're going to go ahead and mark the six feet out along the outside of that rail so that to give people the sense of the distance they should be keeping. So a few little tweaks like that. We did some tweaks with a judge's stand, but overall it's going very well. Just to update you very quickly. Rain and simulcasting opened last week. And I did go down on their opening day and Mr. Carney showed me around and very well spread out. And lots of the patrons as we walked through, we're telling Mr. Carney how happy they were to be back at the races. Suffolk is opening their simulcasting today, which is also the first day of Saratoga. So the timing is very well and spoke with chip this morning. And he feels that everything is in place. Or a smooth opening there as well. I won't be out there today, but hopefully they're tomorrow or Saturday. I'll make it out to Suffolk to see how that's going. Any questions. Commissioner Cameron. Yes. Dr. Leipel, there was some discussion and we've discussed this about possibly rearranging the, instead of lining up via race, it would be the trainer. Any more discussion about whether or not you think that would be viable or something that makes sense. We executive director Wells and I had a conversation with the harness horseman yesterday and they're going to kind of flush out their plan and we'll review it. So the way it's working right now seems to be working well. We have an empty stall between every horse. So there's plenty of social distancing that way for both the horses and for the people. And when they're by race, it's easier for our folks to find people for instance, on the blood gas testing, we do that by race and we just go, you know, right, right down the line on that. So there's different pros and cons and we'll be further focusing that with the horseman and with Steve. Great. So it's a good level of, it sounds like communication and listening to one another and figuring out best practices. Yes. And I want to mention too, with using the whole backside as the paddock area, there had to be some adjustments made to the stalls. And the horsemen were generous and some of them donated the gates for the stalls and the eye hooks and the rails that, that plain ridge needed so that they could get it done quickly and didn't have to wait for those materials to come in. So there has been a good degree of cooperation among everyone. Excellent. Thanks. Thank you. Other questions for Dr. like them. Just to pick up on the, on, you know, this, your description of the barn area and the paddock. How much, you know, how is it working in general in terms of the number of people that come and go? You said everybody's shippings, right? No one is going to be stalled there. Is it fair to say that there's a good degree of just crossing over and people still respecting the social distancing? I mean, a horse has a natural, you know, six feet apart, especially given the fact that you're not supposed to go behind it. But how are your operations, if any, impacted or have to modify? That's a good question. You know, we have modified certain things in the test barn where we would come into contact with the trainer, such as signing documents. I had gone over that issue with our legal team and they felt it was still the best practice to get the actual signature. So, you know, we'll put the card down on a bench, step away from it and then the trainer or their representative will step forward and sign it and then they step back. So that's an instance where normally the people were coming closer contact with the taking of the samples for the horses. Like you said, there's an automatic, you know, self distancing with putting the trainer on the other side of the horse from the veterinarian and everybody's very comfortable doing that. So that's worked out well. Commissioner Cameron remembers the device to collect some of the samples that has a natural distancing as well. Commissioner Cameron. It should have a natural distance. You're right about that. I just had a question. Are they remembering Dr. Lightbaum to bring their own pens? Yes. That's a learning process. And so what I did was I bought a bunch of cheap pens and if somebody comes in without one, I just, we hand them one and they're told to take it with them and use that. It sounds like kind of maybe a silly request, but when you add up the numbers with 12 races, there's 24 blood samples taken pre-race and there's 24 taken after. And then that's in addition to maybe 50 horses that race on Lasix. So you're easily getting up to 100 pens a day. And if our staff was responsible for disinfecting that and all it adds up, we're already disinfecting our clipboards. We disinfect the tie chains in the test barn, buckets and other things. So we're working with HHA and E to continue to get this, this product done. Right. And get them to remember to bring their own, right? Yeah. Great. Well, good. It was good of you. You sound like a school teacher, frankly, you're just going to go out and get the right supplies if you need them. So thank you for that. Thank you. Dr. Leipan, I just want to note that we've had the benefit of having the Department of Agriculture has gone down to and done their part to, to review the premises and overall have given some, some additional insights and felt pleased with the overall compliance. Are you at this point, I know that you had your two qualifying races as well last week. This point, do you feel that you have all the supplies? I know other than pens, but in terms of getting all the hand sanitizer, the sanitation from PPC that you need a signage that you need, are you feeling that there's good support on that head? Yes. Excellent. They put up a bunch of new signs. Some requests were for, for larger signs. So they've done that. They're working with HHA and the on getting hand sanitizer that everybody is comfortable with. So yeah. And then the only other thing I wanted to mention is Dr. Leipan shared with me that, you know, the good news that this is a, this is a small community, but it's a committed community and over a hundred. Reemployed folks came to the qualifying races last week. And so they're working with them every day. And so jobs are restored. And that's a great thing. And also just their, their passion is restored. So we're happy to see that the races have begun in terms of spectators, live spectators, besides those that were immediately attached to the owners, where there are other folks who are outside of the simulcast indoor area enjoying the, the races. I didn't get over there on Monday to see that, but I'm sure there were, when I went over to the simulcast area the week before, when they reopened, there were about 30 to 40 people in there. And I'm sure that number will increase, you know, probably starting today and over the weekend with Saratoga. And then today and tomorrow with the live racing, obviously, we'll have more of the owners will come out and be, you know, spectators along the outside. I'm expecting there'll be continued compliance on the social distancing. It seems as though everybody's very well spaced out. And, you know, there's they will be taking, keeping track of the number of people that can come in as well. Excellent. Excellent. We wish them well. It's nice to hear that people are complying readily complying on both the casino side, the patrons, as well as all of the folks involved in racing. Because, you know, you read from other states and that's frankly, not the case that the compliance is a more difficult process. So it's really nice to hear that, you know, between communication plans and reminders and, you know, I think leadership from the top at state government here in Massachusetts, folks have got the message and are complying. So that's really nice to hear from staff that that's happening. It really is. It's good to hear one, one just out of curiosity. Alex, do you know if Saratoga it's going to be a shorter meet? It would have been started by now. I'm not sure if it's going to be shorter. I think they're doing it without spectators to begin with, but I'd have to double check. I don't want to embarrass or the good Dr. Leipo, but it was nice to read that you have been, you elevated to chairing the standard bread committee for RCI. That is certainly, it's our good fortune that we have somebody who's qualified and well respected in the industry that you are now a chair of a, of a committee when I started getting involved with racing eight years ago, there were very few women in leadership positions. So Dr. Leipo, congratulations for that. Oh, thank you very much. Great. Congratulations. Thank you. Make us proud, Alex. Oh, thank you. All right, so questions on racing. Okay. Karen go right ahead. Yeah. So I'll just turn it over to Bruce and Berg now to talk about racing. Excellent. Thank you. All right. MGM, they opened up with 909 gaming positions. That's 819 slots, 90 tables. They, not only had plastic on the tape, plus your glass on the tables as separators, but also on some of their slots. They didn't put as many on slot machines. So that accounts for the limited number of slots that they add on the floor. They also had plastic dividers inside the cage and count rooms for their employees. And every other cage window open. They had a good opening as well with compliance with masks and stuff, very, very few problems. So, you know, the employees all jumped in with correcting any patrons that were non-compliant and then made sure that they pulled the mask up correctly and you know, the problems that would be expected with something that would be new. You have other comments. I think at the two. Table game casinos and GM and I'm poor. We've been reviewing that closely. The rules of the game surveillance coverage, things like that aren't affected. I thought personally that maybe communication could have been a part of that. And we don't seem to be getting any issues with that. Bruce mentioned the cashiers cage. Also noted is that when the chips are redeemed at the cashiers cage, they're being brought to the back to be sanitized before they're brought back out on the floor as they were discussing pre-opening. So that's working well at both properties. At MGM, as we know about the open floor plan, they had a little bit of a challenge to get everybody in and off the floor in a functional manner. They set up a really, really nice setup where they really funnel people to the front near the ballet entrance. You have to set up some security officers reviewing the people coming in and that's worked out very well. And I think Madam Chair and Commissioner O'Brien were mentioning the working group before all of this opening went down. There was a lot of work that went in with the casinos, the slot departments, security surveillance, food and beverage cashiers cage. Everybody was asking so many questions. We were able to get a lot of answers pre-opening, but there was a lot of work done by a lot of people on the casino side. And at tip of the cap to our three senior supervisors on property, how well they handled listening to all the concerns that casinos had and the gaming agents for their work to make sure a lot of this process was in place that has made it so far a very good first week. So we'll continue to monitor the requirements of the commission to set forth. But right now I would agree with Bruce that we've had a good successful opening. We're in uncharted waters, of course, and casino gaming. You don't know what could happen tomorrow, but fingers crossed that we keep going and everything works out well. Anybody have any questions on MGM? I had a question about how about that hand washing station? Is that being used? I haven't heard anything pro or minus about them. They're unusual the first time I've seen them. You heard anything Burke on those? They set up a very nice two station hand washer. It might have been another one I didn't notice, but yeah, it's a very nice setup so people can freely walk up, wash your hands, and there's, you know, details to take care of everything. Good. Yep. Did they convert what had been the serve yourself? So does our soft beverages. For those who didn't see that, that's where these very nice hand washing stations are set up and look lovely. And if you're out and about shifting to your slot machine, you can use the hand washing and it's very thoughtful. Yes. Unique. And that's after a lot of years of seeing casinos. Yeah, I have never seen that in a casino ever. I was just going to say, if everybody remembers back to the nickels days and coins, your hands would get quite dirty. Coin dust was dirty. So that would have been a nice thing to have back in the 80s and 90s. Right. I remember one casino that had a high roller section and they thought it would be nice to get the high rollers gloves and somebody in marketing didn't really think this through. They got white leather gloves. And within an hour, they're all black leather gloves from the coins. Interesting. That casino ago unnamed. We'll move to on core now. Yeah, just, just to make sure everyone's all set with. And they, they are maintaining a counter on occupancy. Yes. Yes. All three properties are on core opened up with 2449 gaming positions. That's a thousand eight hundred and 82 slots. Five hundred and sixty seven table games on core opened up with a lot more plastic dividers between slot machines and MGM did. They also take the temperature of everyone coming in. It's actually a device that you walk by and it takes the patrons temperature command. They do that for the employees as well. It seems to be going well. They have the plastic dividers in the cage and in the counter rooms as well as MGM did on the tables as a whole. It seems to be going very well. They haven't had numerous problems or anything. They've been keeping social distance back at the house as well. I think it's been going pretty well over there as well. You have the additions work. No, I think you pretty much covered it at on court specifically. This is security department games department slots. They did a really good job of max about my zine that casino floor surveillance was in on making sure everything was. Properly able to be viewed without getting into details and there's a job well done at on core. Also, I think we need to continue to get a bigger sample. Once again, another weekend is coming up. And we are monitoring the occupancy rules. We're monitoring some of the requirements that the commission set forth once again for the COVID requirements also. Yes. As a whole, I think all the employees are full in too with, you know, reminding people of requirements that we put forth. To them as far as wearing masks, not walking around with beverages and those type of issues. Yes, numerous, numerous feedback from the gaming agent staff to us that. Once again, all departments are trying to help. To ensure that these rules are being followed. They're talking to the patrons. Any questions. I had a quick question with regard to taking the temperature of patrons as well as employees. To your knowledge, is there anyone that has had an issue with an elevated temperature and has been asked to leave yet or. Not that I'm aware of. Have you heard anything, Bert? That's a good question. I, it hasn't been brought to me yet. I think we can find that we could find that out for you. And there is no pushback from patrons about having their temperature. It's so noninvasive that people are complying easily. Is that what you're saying? That I have not heard of anybody arguing with it or, or, you know, refusing to go through the line or, or anything at this point. No. Great. Thank you. And remind us both hotels are remain closed. And it's only restaurants as well. Mostly all the restaurants. They have a few restaurants, you know, open as well in there. I think some of the smaller venues that, that. It's harder to six foot distance inside the restaurant. They have not opened. Oh, sure. Like that. Like the oyster bar, for example, I can imagine that's, that's difficult. Yes. Yeah. I mean, you know, if you six foot distance, you wouldn't have very many patrons inside it to make it worthwhile. Right. Thank you. You're welcome. I just wanted to follow up on the comments that Bruce and Burke had made too about occupancy in terms of the working group. We, the last date, the last time we had the public meetings before the governor's guidelines came out. On July 2nd, we have looked at those for the other venues that are opening in phase three. Do we want to see what's been on grounds opening? We have looked at what the other larger venues that are opening in phase three look like in terms of do we want to overlay a percentage occupants at as Burke said, as more things open, maybe as the hotels open, the restaurants open, we are, we do not see a need to revisit what we have done at this point. It seems to be working very well. But to the point that. Burke made as more things open, we are going to keep an eye on that and we are going to keep looking, looking at some of the metrics that the governor has used in other areas to see if any are useful for us or for any poverty in particular. And so that is part of we are meeting regularly to continue to look at that. We don't have a request today to revisit anything, but I did want to bring that up just to get everybody on the commission to know that we are still looking at that quite a bit. And then to follow up also on the messaging part of this, I know that commissioner Stevens made a point of emphasizing that. And one of the things that we did do also is put some of the highlights on our website so that people came to us. To sort of get a sense of what was required. They would have the highlights that I just wanted to give a shout out in particular to Austin. Because he put a really great concise. Graphic on our website and he turned it around incredibly quickly. So I just. I also want to give a shout out to him because anytime we've asked him to jump in and help on that, he's been tremendously helpful. Yes. And coordination with Sarah magazine who's a newcomer to our community. And of course it also went out to LinkedIn. So we, it's a really good point that commissioner. We are supporting. The casinos in their communication again informed. Much by commissioner Stevens. Reminder to all of us how important communications are here. So thank you. Yeah. Austin turned that around. Very quickly. Yeah. So if there are any comments on that, on the relicency of the licensing reopening. Okay. So the next item on the administrative update is. Which is the gaming commission status on return to workplace compliance and guidelines. So this is our internal. Guidelines and efficacy for making sure our own employees are safe. We have been monitoring that reopening of the casinos from our employees perspective. We have implemented as discussed, the enhanced safety and hygiene procedures. That includes providing masks, face shields, hand sanitizer, soap and cleaning supplies. So many thanks to the finance division, HR division and all the work on that. We also have regarding use of equipment, cleaning procedures for the work stations. So people know when they come before they leave, clean the, clean the work station, the certain, certain shared devices. And also when you come in to also clean that. And there is cleaning supplies for employees to use. We also have rules on interacting with others, including masks being worn, masks being worn and social distancing being observed. We've also got training. We've got not only our state training through the MGC, but onsite training offered by licensees is also being offered to the employees from the MGC that are going to be on site. So that's been effective in cross training on both the licensees perspective and the MGC's perspective on these procedures. And also our, you know, regarding HR and management, we have been working with employees to ensure their safety and also making them feel safe, addressing their concerns, making ourselves available if they have questions and, and continuing to have an open dialogue with employees, because that's really important as well. So that continues to happen. I also have our HR manager, Tripti Banda on, on the meeting today at Tripti. Do you have any further comments or any other insight for the commissioners on her internal opening procedures? No, I think that you covered most of the highlights that we have. We have a lot of drill down details into providing the support on the high level overview that Karen has provided. And we're making ourselves available for any concerns employees have to ensure their safety and providing accommodations where necessary. Okay. Required. Any commissioners have any questions regarding that area? Yeah, thank you. I can see that you're in the office, Karen. Yes. I'm, I'm not sure if you're aware of that, but I'm curious, you know, if you get a sense of how many people are going to the office or the exception rather than. Right. I needed to get a couple of things from the office. So that's why I'm here today. We have a state police presence here. I haven't seen anyone else at the office, which is pursuant to our protocol. It's really as needed basis to come into the office. And those who are going into the office for very specific reasons are required to, you know, complete a training that we have for safety measures. They have all the necessary PPE equipment at the facilities, at the offices, and it's very limited. Thank you. Now I know, you know, one of the big principles of the governor's guidelines is that those who can continue to work remotely. And this is the prime example. So I'm going to go back to that. And I'm going to go back to that. And I'm going to go back to that. And if you were, as I know, you were describing there, there are some exceptions and some particulars that. Right. Narrated. Right. That everybody is hearing to the protocols. Okay. Okay. All right. Any, any other questions on that? Okay. My, my only comment being that I'd like to thank commissioners, Cameron and Stevens for their support. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And I suspect that that will be continuing just like the restart group. To monitor that, especially as. As things shift. Hopefully. In the near future. I hope. All right. So the next item on the agenda item three C is the, an update on the MGC internal controls. So just wanted to highlight a few things for you that have been going on. We did complete the FY 2021 internal control plan for the agency. And that plan ties in with the work of our internal audit and compliance group, which has been identifying risks and mitigation efforts for the agency on an ongoing basis for several years now. So I want to give thanks to the tremendous effort of that group in particular. CFO Lenin commissioners, Amiga and chair Judd Stein on completing that plan. It's very impressive. I know that I was impressed by the amount of work that went into it and the level of detail. The team utilized guidelines from the comptroller's office to formulate the plan and contribute to the efficiency and integrity of the office, including addressing efforts to prevent waste fraud and abuse. So it's an extensive document. It was certainly helpful to me in understanding our controls and why we have them in place. And that was distributed to everyone in the office to read and understand it and get a further understanding of the importance of internal controls. And what the approach is from the commission. So I'll leave it to see if anyone has any questions on that. And then I have some other questions. On internal controls update. I don't know. Commissioner Ziga to need your chair Stein, Judd Stein as any comments or questions on the internal control plan before I move on. Yeah. Let me just, just mentioned that. This is, this is very important in terms of our own compliance. With the comptroller's guidelines. It's something that we do. Every year there's been a good renewed focus on these thanks to the efforts of chair Judd Stein. And what's important to also remember is not just the completion of, of the document or the enhancement, but the notion of coming to it regularly. Annually, really. And in other words, the exercise of the internal control plan. And I think it's important. And it's very important. To be able to do it regularly. Annually, really. And in other words, the exercise of doing this review is also important. It facilitates, it mitigates. Risk. It, it is a good reminder that. That we need to focus on it. And I think. It's, it's, it's working, it's working well. So I encourage everybody. I know. I encourage everybody to, to read it. And, you know, and continue to provide feedback as we continue with this ongoing process, continue to improve the document and our own procedures. Yes. Yeah, I want to thank Derek for all his work, but I think Derek, if I'm, I don't see his tower in front of today. That's right. I know that he would chime in as we know, it's his habit to give credit to others. But I think that the, as commissioner Zuniga suggests, the one thing about these types of internal control plans and risk assessment, it really does take the entire enterprise to be able to work together and Derek has had that support throughout on, on devising this particular plan to get the input from all of the director. So it really does take the entire agency. So thank you. And thank you to Derek and his team. And of course behind Derek, it's the magic work of Jacqueline. So this particular shout out to Jacqueline for, for really finalizing the document. Absolutely. I will say I did get after sending it out, I did get a very detailed question on the internal control plan from stroke carpenter. Oh, no, not surprisingly, clearly read the entire document. So just it was impressed by that level of detail. So the other thing, we also submitted the annually required internal control questionnaire to the, or ICQ to the comptroller's office, which helps provide an indication of effectiveness and not over our controls, but helps that office assess the controls by state agencies across the Commonwealth. For the comptroller's office, internal controls are critical in creating an environment that is accountable to the public. And will demonstrates proper stewardship of public resources while still being responsive to the needs and direction of senior management. So completing that questionnaire along the lines of what commissioners Anita was saying was also helpful in assessing our controls and making sure all state requirements and best practices are in place when you go through that exercise and you do it question by question by question, it makes you think about what's going on at the agency and make sure you're doing things properly. So I found that to be a very helpful exercise as well. And that was submitted on time by the end of the fiscal year. In addition, we also submitted our bi-annually required security review submission to the comptroller's office, which includes a review of our agency systems user access. Overall, that ensures the proper people have access to systems in HR, IT and finance. And it also identifies authorized signatory delegation. In some the way I understand it, it documents that the right people have the right access to sensitive systems at the commission. Make sure is that make sure that that's all in place properly. And also if someone leaves, we make sure that that access is now no longer granted. So that all went very well. And that was also submitted at the end of the fiscal year in accordance with the guidelines. So just wanted to let the commissioners know that, but the ICQ and the security review submission, I don't know if anyone has any comments or questions on that. Okay. So that concludes my administrative updates. So I think the next item on the agenda goes to the legal division, Madam chair. Before we, before we move on, can I, can I just mention something for consideration for a later meeting? As we have done in the past, the role of in this effort, there is a role that's identified as the risk officer, usually by the comptroller's office, as somebody who overseas and shepherds, a lot of these efforts in the past, organically, it, it, it failed to CFL Lenin. But there's, there's a good reason to think about or rethink about whether that role should, should play, should be with somebody who is also part of the operations that are going to be examined and assessed. So I just want to put a placeholder as in, as we continue these, these examining these internal controls, we should think about the role of the risk officer in conjunction with the group that Eileen and I, commissioner Brian and I are, are part of, which we have named the risk assessment and internal audit group. It's been a group that was formed to precisely talk collectively with directors, with key directors about these issues among, among others. And again, the role of risk officer will have to be one that we come back and update the commission with a recommendation. Yeah. And commissioners and again, you've raised that with me and I do think I've raised with, internal executive director Wells, the issue around compliance and what should really perhaps be, you know, more operational basis and understanding of the operational basis versus kind of the larger policy work that might come out of the compliance committee or the risk assessment committee that you and commissioner Brian are on. So I think that it really is important for us, for us to have a discussion with all five commissioners. So let's, for next week, the gender study meeting, think about that when there can be some good preparation and the issues can be sorted out and we can start to take initial steps to give direction on, on how to manage those important areas. Sounds good. It makes sense. It's a way to start off the fall. All right. Kick out with compliance, right? Right. Excellent. Excellent. And then, you know, it will be also figuring out the best resources to, to use because it's, it's extensive work that's actually done on a regular daily basis by every member of the gaming commission. Every team member really is responsible for some degree of compliance. So takes a, takes a village. Thank you. So I'll just mention that to Mary and to, to just note for next week's agenda setting. Going on then to item number four as Karen indicated. Mr. Grossman interim general counsel. If you want to get started on your matters, please. Sure. Thank you, madam chair. Good morning commissioners and all. We have two regulations before you for a final approval. If you're so inclined, you'll recall the first one has to do with obligations for payment of unclaimed winnings and cash and prizes. By statute, you'll remember the patrons have one year to claim cash winnings and prizes. That's under section 53 of chapter 23 K. This provision has also been codified in the regulations at 138.68, which is where the amendments will reside. And with the temporary suspension of the operations of the commissioners, this amendment goes a regulation clarification that that one year period doesn't include the period of time that the gaming establishment isn't in operation. Was put in place. These amendments went into effect by emergency on April 24th. Public hearing was subsequently held on July 2nd was presided over address that portion. I don't think there was too much activity at that public session. Yeah. I know we didn't have anybody. We did have some participants listen into the hearing, but nobody offered any comments. So with that, if you are so inclined, the regulation has moved through the formal promulgation process and is ready for final adoption. There is an amended small business impact statement as required by law that is in your packet and would require a company review. Has everybody had a chance to look at that motion? And we're quite familiar with the regulation having just visited it. Are there any questions for Todd now? All right. I have a motion. Madam chair. I move that the commission approved the amended small business impact statement. Or 205 CMR. 138.68. That is the expiration of gaming related obligations. Oh, to patrons. Payment to gaming revenue fund. As included in the commissioners packet. Okay. Okay. Second. Any further questions? Okay. We'll call. Commissioner Cameron. Aye. Mr. Brian. Aye. Mr. Zuniga. Aye. Mr. Stubbins. Aye. I vote yes. Thank you. Shara. Related. Motion is needed. I believe. The commission adopted the version of 205 CMR 138.68. That is the expiration of gaming related obligations. Oh, to patrons. Payment to the gaming revenue fund. As included in the commissioners packet. And authorizes staff to take all steps necessary to finalize the regulation from the Asian process. Any further questions? Okay. Okay. We'll call the commission. Cameron. Aye. Mr. Brian. Aye. Commissioner Zuniga. Aye. Mr. Stubbins. Aye. Yes. Five zero. Thank you. Tom. Thank you. The second. Second. This is the commission, which is a very. A. A set of amendments pertain to section 109 of the commission's regulations, and you'll recall that these pertain to the commissions and clarify the commissions authority to act in the event of an emergency. These two were placed into effect. By emergency in may, May. of that same July 2nd public hearing that was presided over by Commissioner Stebbins. I don't believe there was any comment on those either, and they too are ready for formal adoption. Are there any questions for Todd? Again, this was one that we dealt with recently. We received no comments. I know not at the hearing, but no comments in the interim either, Todd. There was nothing in the interim. You may recall early on, before we even began the process, we did share the draft with the licensees so they're aware of the content and certain modifications were made before it even started moving its way through the process. Thank you. Other questions? Do I have a motion? Madam Chair, I move that the commission approve the amended Small Business Impact Statement for 205-CMR 109, authority of the Commission to act in an emergency situation as included in the commissioners' document. Second. Thank you. Any further questions or edits? Okay, very none. Commissioner Cameron. Aye. Commissioner Bryan. Aye. Commissioner Zinnega. Aye. Commissioner Stebbins. Aye. I vote yes. Five-zero. Sure. Thank you. In the related motion. Madam Chair, I'd further move that the commission adopt the version of 205-CMR 109, authority of the Commission to act in an emergency situation as included in the commissioners packet and authorize the staff to take all steps necessary to finalize the regulation promulgation process. Second. Okay. Any questions or edits? Commissioner Cameron. Aye. Commissioner Bryan. Aye. Mr. Zinnega. Aye. Mr. Stebbins. Aye. I vote yes. Five-zero. Again, I want to thank Commissioner Bryan for really working extensively on that important regulation. So come to full fruition and of course the entire legal team. Thank you. I know you work really closely with the commissioner. Thank you. Now we're moving on to item number five and I apologize. I do have some background noise today. Neighbors' Yard. Commissioner Zinnega on the executive director, search update. And I just want to note that it's 11 o'clock. So we only have a couple more items left on our agenda. And I feel that's a little bit of a gift in light of the long days that you have done over the last several weeks, really months. So thank you. With that, though, I don't mean to in any way shorten your part, but I just thought it was an interesting landmark for one of our meetings. Thank you. Commissioner Zinnega. Sure, thank you, Madam Chair. And these should not take a long time unless of course my colleagues have questions. You might remember what seemed like a very long time ago prior to the pandemic. We started a process of engaging an executive search firm for the role of our executive director. You delegated to me, if you recall, the management of the procurement that we started actually prior to the closure of casinos. And the scope included an internal consultation with the staff to identify priorities for the executive director, an update of a job description, et cetera. Then the pandemic manifested itself in the middle of March with the closure of the casinos. And you might also recall that I came in and gave an update that we were at that time, I believe this was late March or early the middle of April. We were suspending the procurement for all the reasons that were, of course, manifesting themselves. I should go back a little bit and say that there was at least an assumption that we would conduct a process with the help of a search firm and that would include a consultation of some kind with the staff and that would inform a search, perhaps not unlike, perhaps very much like, searches that we have done in the past. We had a couple of options. We have always had a couple of options at our disposal, delegating to a commissioner or designating a search committee, et cetera. Again, we didn't get to any of that because we suspended the procurement of the search firm around April. So a number of things have happened since that I already touched on the closure, the remote work, the opening. We have, of course, had a good opportunity to see Karen perform in her role of interim executive director that is now well into its fifth month or perhaps more if I'm not, if I'm not mistaken. So another point of highlight here is our hiring policy. The policy that we have for all of the positions is based on best practices and one that includes enough flexibility to give the hiring manager the discretion to not advertise the position and consider an internal candidate at any time in the process. So when it comes to the executive director, it is clear that the hiring manager is the full commission. And as such, I think we should discuss whether we want to advertise the position and continue with some kind of version of the process that we have done in the past or set out to do initially or whether we should recognize that the job, the good job that Karen has been doing is significant and presume that she should be offered the job of the permanent executive director. I say presume because the answer to that question that I'm posing, we would steal and should steal due a process, not unlike what we envisioned, but would include important elements of consultation with the staff doing a survey, for example, to identify priorities as we move forward, et cetera. I could just further describe with internal resources, very inexpensive, survey monkey type, we could design a survey that could be distributed broadly to the staff, targeted to directors, for example, that could be a second survey. We could do that anonymously, voluntarily. And that process again, which was initially envisioned to be done with the help of a search firm could really inform the discussion as we, now the discussion of commissioners as we now continue to set priorities for Karen in a permanent capacity. I could stop there. This is a question that I bring as a necessary update, it's been now well over five months, if I'm not mistaken. Let me mention this one more thing. When we first set the salary of Karen in her entering role, we did so with the expectation that that would be for a short period of time. That, I remember even making this comment publicly that we could come and should come back and revisit if that period of time extended more than two or three months. This is another reason that we should talk about it as we determine how to move forward. So the question is that I pose to all of you, my colleagues, is to whether we want to exercise the discretion that we have had from the beginning, but of course now informed by months of seeing Karen and presume her as the finalist for a permanent position. And if that's a yes, undergo a process for identifying those priorities, consulting with the staff and eventually all of that could inform a performance evaluation of some kind of her in an interim role by the commissioners like we have done in the past as a way to jumpstart or begin a permanent position. So I think today you're not, we don't have, this doesn't require a vote, but rather a consensus on how to move forward. As I think Christina Zimiga points out, it asked him to leave this effort. And if I want to think, I'm looking for all of his thoughtful work and the idea would be that we would bypass the formal posting, but not bypass process altogether, seek additional agency-wide input on the role of the executive director and then perhaps input a more like an assessment tool from those who have been reporting to Karen during this time. And I think I would say it's more than, I would say, gosh, she started in January, so we're already in July, so six and a half months. I think I'm right on that timing. So it really would be a half year assessment of sorts, allowing us to have some objective information moving on to a perhaps a formal hire. And your timing, you would think about that perhaps would be, you'd like so that the interim status, if this were to proceed for Karen, then it would be earlier than the fall. Ideally correct, Commissioner? Is that what you were thinking? Yeah, it's all up to us. And that's the reason mainly to, mostly of course to try to figure out, we will do it in a pace that everybody's comfortable with. Let me mention something that I meant to, relative to the process of consulting, which is a point here. I believe, I have no first hand, but I believe that some of the priorities that could be identified are well known by Karen, or at least some of them. I have my own ideas about what I would identify as a priority. And that a subset of that may have not, may have those priorities, may have been put on hold for the simple reason that she's operating in an interim capacity. And that anybody in a permanent capacity would feel a lot more empowered, I believe, to address some of those priorities. And I have, again, this is something that the process itself would identify, I would hope. But, and therefore, it's not only necessary, but appropriate to continue to conduct. Commissioners, feedback for Commissioner Zinnega. Commissioner Cameron? Yes, I'm just trying to understand the process. So I think you're asking us, Commissioner Zinnega, to consider not posting the position, not hiring a search firm, but to use assessment tools. And that really is to make sure that are, what we think are priorities and the staff thinks are important attributes that will inform our decision as to, and I would suspect inform the interim executive, this director's decision on whether or not this is exactly what she may have thought it was. Is that what I'm hearing? I think it's two part, right, Commissioners Zinnega? Yes, it's two part. Let me, let's just assume that if we all agree that we don't post the position and we presume her to be the finalist. What we would do if that's a yes, what we would do is still conduct, again, a process of consultation to identify priorities, much like we were thinking about doing for anybody. We just would be calling what I think is a fair presumption to say in her capacity, having performed the way she has in the past few months, let's do away with inviting other candidates if we believe that she's likely to be in a good position to be successful. That's not to say that we would just do that and do nothing else. We would still perform, again, a consultation with the staff if we are also inclined as we initially set out to do. And we could as well inform that process could inform each one of us commissioners in which we would do a performance evaluation of sorts. And I say of sorts only because it's not a full year, it's not in a full, in a permanent capacity, but we could also then identify in the aggregate like we have done in the past for, we did in the past for at the erosion. The goals and priorities for the following year which would be also very helpful for her as she moved into a permanent capacity. If I could just add Commissioner Cameron here, I think the first tool as I see it for the purposes of our next, let's say we do decide to bypass the posting for our next step would be whether or not we actually engage the internment second director as the permanent executive director. So the two tools would be the first one would be getting input agency wide on what is perceived to be the important priorities of the agency. Then we would be able to assess if we agree with, let's say there's 15 goals and 10 of which we also see as a group, yeah, those are priorities would caring be well suited to move the agency in that direction. So that goal searching piece is important at this juncture as we assess that step of hiring her as permanent. The second part is I understand the tool that Commissioner Zuniga might use would be more of a traditional survey from those reports who have been working with Karen the last six, seven months that assess her strengths and also suggest, get other general input from them in terms of how Karen is as a leader manager, problem solve that kind of thing. And so, presumably we would get input and if there were flags that might inform our decision or it might counter our decision, but also may be something that would give good guidance as you make a hire. So those are the two tools. Is that fair to say on the day that you're imagining? Yeah, yeah, that's very fair. The one thing I would add, actually I would reiterate which I think you mentioned before is we could, I don't think this is a likely scenario, but we could arrive at a point in which we have a set of priorities and Karen could very well say, well, I don't know that I'm up for it. I doubt that this would be such a scenario again, but this would be part of the process to ensure that the expectations that we collectively have, the priorities that have been collectively identified are simply communicated and to set the person, set Karen on a good point if you don't go forward. Okay, thank you for that explanation. So the question I have, my question is how Karen would receive the information and this may be a discussion that you've already thought through, et cetera, what the actual workings of it are, but to your point, she may say I'm not interested, I want to go back to Director of IEB, thank you for the experience, but I'd prefer to stay. Part of that may be determined by what the survey results are. So how is it that would be conveyed or is it something that's going to be purely factual or is this something that would then be analyzed by us and we come up with priorities that are then forwarded to her to make that decision? Well, we have a few options, needless to say, we could get the help of HR in terms of aggregating any kind of feedback that uses best practices in these kinds of surveys. For example, we have certain attributes that have ratings and just like they do in the Olympics, they could eliminate the smallest and the least favorable and the most favorable and have an aggregate. It's a best practice because it eliminates somebody who just puts in 10s or 0s or 1s and it gets to a better outcome in the aggregate. They could, we also could have, and I was envisioning, Sharon and I were talking about just brainstorming a little bit, just open-ended questions that again could be aggregated and shared with Karen, much like 360 type of review that we have talked about in the past and we did in a different capacity with an outside person or first executive director. Now, or not, again, this is something that we could decide. We could, if we didn't, that part of the survey could simply go to commissioners to inform performance of evaluation, something that we have done in the past in a similar capacity. We have statements, open-ended type of questions or about certain attributes and those could also be aggregated and shared with Karen like we did the last time with director Betrosian as part of the process. One of the reasons for aggregating is, and I don't think anybody's gonna be, you know, I'm not thoughtful, is to minimize the possibility of identifying who said what at what instance, because what's important is to try to be specific because that's what's most helpful, but not in a way that gets somebody just identifying somebody in particular. That's especially important in my view for a survey that gets done with staff. But the numbers, the power of numbers, I think, would be really helpful in that regard. Commissioner Stevens, do you wanna chime in at this point? I don't need to put you on the spot. Yeah, no, no, whoops. Sorry, that's my guy. No, I appreciate the comments. You know, I certainly value the, I know we've talked about this and this has been a long-standing goal. As we looked ahead to an executive director search, obviously we were talking about this pre-pandemic pre-crisis and certainly find ourselves in a different position. But I think, you know, the idea of surveying staff is still a helpful process. I think it would inform our interim executive director. It would certainly inform any other candidate who might come forward at some point of best where we find ourselves as to what the expectations are of the staff. I think it's appropriate as Commissioner Zuniga pointed out as being the hiring manager to perhaps have those one-on-one conversations with the senior leadership of the team to eventually find ourselves almost in creating a document that's part job description part kind of goal setting is a basis for an evaluation going forward as well. You know, I'm reminded, you know, our first two executive director searches and this is unique to this position is that, you know, the final hiring decision is made in public. And we always knew that some candidates chose not to have that public interview process. And that's unique. This is the only position within the commission that it's required. So I like the consideration of these kind of first two steps. If I've heard them correctly, the survey of staff, let's get their input, the hiring manager talking to senior staff in the creation of some type of expectation for job responsibilities and the type of person we want to have service or executive director get to those steps first. And I think that would put us in a good position then for commissioner Zuniga as the hiring manager to have, you know, the respective conversations that he would want to have with our interim executive director. And the question, sir. Thank you, commissioner Sterenzaiwa. Just a very small note of clarification. I did not presume that I would be that hiring manager, but thank you. I think you have, you're essentially agreeing on the process that I'm trying to articulate. This is a good get you off the hook. I think commissioner Zuniga clarified that the five of us are in fact the hiring manager with this particular position under the policy, but he is managing our process for us. So it doesn't get any of us off the hook, but right now, I think that what we're just looking for in today with understanding that commissioner Zuniga would continue to inform us on the process and share any survey document in advance through the proper channels and appliance with open meeting law. We would continue on the process and keep you informed. I think that, you know, I think we have a sense of that it would be a good thing to keep this moving that we don't, we have a good process coupled by really a seven months on the job review and to perhaps move on this. It will also, you know, if there's a decision to move in a different direction, it's fair to, most fair to interim executive director Wells at this juncture. You know, when we started, I thought that there was a great benefit in getting the expertise of an outside firm because it's neutral and allows for the process to be very anonymous at this juncture. I no longer think that's practical. We made that decision early on that under these conditions with the revenues that would be required, the payment of that firm, it just didn't make sense. And I've become very comfortable with the idea of this kind of process at this stage. With that said, you know, it is different from the process we initially envisioned, which would be more traditional with the posting and the more universal outreach. So I guess the question is, do we have a consensus to have commissioners like a move in this direction or should we pause and go ahead with the posting at this point? Can I chime in here? Two things, I certainly agree with the desire to move this along and that considerable amount of time has gone by, which does allow us to have a body of work that we would not have had. So I do think that's an important piece here and I am in agreement that it's apparent to me that this was thoughtfully considered before coming to us with this recommendation. And I'm in agreement that this is a good way to move forward. Yeah, I'm also in agreement. I think this is, I think the initial steps are a great tool both to benefit our interim executive director as well as the rest of us as we move forward in kind of the new normal for gaming operations. So I agree that the steps are well worth it and I think we'll create an informative tool for our next permanent executive director to use. But I agree with commissioner Cameron's comments about the good body of work we've seen from our interim executive director during this crisis. Commissioner O'Brien, do you wanna chime in at this point? I think it makes sense given, as you said, where we thought we were gonna be in this process seeking outside firms that are as not practical at this point, we do have the body of work. I'm sure you've thought about it too, but if for some reason she does decline that would put us in a position of doing a posting but not with potentially an outside firm going forward and seeing what's out there. Obviously this process I think can be executed quickly which I think is also a benefit to everyone involved here to move on with making the position of who the executive director is permanently. I've been pleased and confident with her thus far and I would look forward to seeing what the survey results are, but the organization as a whole. Thank you commissioners, I did too. I should mention that, you know, Trupty, Natasha in HR, you know, I've already done some thinking as to what and help us think what those questions might be. There's a really good tool in, you know, that they know how to use, I don't, but with their help that is very quickly to deploy. And my guess is that coming from where it's coming, the staff is going to be thoughtful and take their time, you know, to give a good feedback. And, you know, that's the first necessary step and important one, but one that could be executed in rather short order. I think you have a consensus commissioners Zuniga to move forward. And I want to thank you for your thoughtfulness on this but I also thank the commissioners Zuniga for all the work again that he's done during the last several months on both the budget, the internal controls and of course the work that he does with work on the trust fund. His head is probably, and I know a vacation is coming due shortly. It's coming soon, it's, I can't complain. I think everybody is doing, you know, the best they can in their areas of expertise and domain. I'm glad, for example, that others have taken on the task of the working group for reopening. And I can get the benefit of, you know, of the updates that clearly show a lot of great thoughtful work behind it. Excellent. All right. So you have, you have some good marketing orders. Thank you. And again, thanks to Dukti and Natasha and Derek too for on his leadership there. So thank you so much. Okay. So item number six, that is my piece. I just wanted to note formally that I have convened a working group on equity and inclusion workplace at the gaming commission with the goal of reviewing our practices to ensure that implicit bias does not result in any disproportionate impact or effect on people or communities of color. The practices of the MGC, we all know have a broad reach. They not only affect our internal team, but they also extend to the greater community. For instance, we license, investigate and conduct background studies of prospective casino employees. And we're responsible for an extensive research agenda that explores the impact of expanding gaming on particular communities, people of color who are responsible for the provision of onsite responsible gaming intervention services at the gaming facilities. Further, the MGC supports each casino and the engagement of diverse contractors and vendors. The current discourse on race we know stretching across the country does progress for immediate reflection. This is a very thoughtful commission and a thoughtful team. We've known that sustained work and commitment against racial inequity and implicit bias result the most competent of dynamics and produces a happier, more inclusive, productive and purposeful team. So the work of this group will be ongoing and involve all of us at the gaming commission ultimately. Initially this group will create a straightforward action plan that will inform the work across the gaming commission. We know that first step will implement training on implicit bias for our entire team. And we're fortunate there are excellent virtual options as we continue to work remotely. And we'll report regularly to the commission to be held accountable and ensure the sustainability of our efforts. A recent article published by Jenny Annis of the New York Times provided helpful insights on how to begin this important work at this juncture in our nation's history. She reminded us to just start, get to work. So I wanna thank the working group for helping me in this effort. I've invited and they've all agreed to be part of this. Commissioner Zuniga, Karen Wells, Jill Griffin, Trupade Banda, Tanya Perez and Paul Eldridge. We'll be meeting for the third time formally at the beginning of next week. And we'll continue to inform us, all of you on our work in your next steps. So thank you again and thank the entire team for always being thoughtful on these matters. Any questions on that? No questions, Madam Chair. Other than I do believe it's a really good idea and it sounds terrific. And I really, I think it's always worth the work undertaking to understand better and make changes where necessary. So thank you all for that. Thank you. Commissioner. Thank you. I was just gonna say that I'm thankful for being included. Thank you to Kathy for thinking about this. I think it's timely, but it's also a good practice to do these kinds of things regularly. There's, we don't training like this, like what we're envisioning in the past, but it's always important to continue to do that. And where this, all of the context and environment around us, I think provides an opportunity and I think an obligation for everybody, for themselves included in our narrow view of how what we do affects people. To continue to look at where there may be barriers or there are outcomes that are not necessarily being yielding the intended outcomes. And again, come back and evaluate and modify if necessary. So I look forward to the work. Yeah. And I have to thank Commissioner Simigad. This is, you know, his voice is so critical on these efforts and his insights. And I know that when we actually end up sharing the action plan, all five of us will be involved, but I really thank him for his leadership and his efforts. Thank you. Okay. Item number seven, Commissioner Updates, any other updates? I just have one Madam Chair and that is their racing committee met yesterday for a lengthy meeting. And I actually wanted to thank the commission for authorizing the committee to go ahead and separate our decisions into purses, breeding and health and welfare, which was very helpful and did result in a change of split for each of the three categories and thoughtful discussions around all of that work went into this in particular because of this decision to be able to assess separately. It required an awful lot of work for our team. Our racing director, Dr. Leipam, our interim general counsel, Todd Grossman, and certainly, Sharra Medard also, were very instrumental in pulling together documents for the committee that were really helpful in making decisions for this change in the split and decisions were made yesterday. It needs to be memorialized to then to the legislature for 30 days and then it will come to the full commission. But I just wanted to thank everybody on the team and in particular our staff as well as the commission because it was really helpful to be able to consider these categories separately. And we did make some decisions differently than we had in the council. That's good news. And thank you for your role on all of that, Commissioner Cameron. It's been instrumental and productive. This has been a nice new step. So thank you. Yeah, thank you. And it's probably fair to say without necessarily asking for the exact splits. It's probably fair to say that perhaps health and welfare is now prioritized more across the board in terms of... Well, I think it was a public meeting so I can talk about the recommended splits that the committee made. And so with regard to purses and breeding which were at 65, 35, the committee recommends moving it up 5%, the numbers, all of the criterion that we looked at. So it would be 70, 30 in both of those categories. But where there was a change was health and welfare and lots of letters that came in, emails to the committee about how important that money is to some of those folks in particular on the thoroughbred side who have not had an easy time making a living. So the group decided to the committee to change those. And so 60% of that money next year will be recommended that that money go over to the thoroughbred health and welfare side because of the information they put forth in the committee valuing the work that was done on that end. And even the standard bread representative on the committee agreed with this and voted in the affirmative. Sounds like it was, I didn't get to hear the meeting yesterday and get to attend and I wish I had been able to, but it sounds as though it was really tough on it works. I think it's, I believe Commissioner Stevens was on board listening in. So as someone who's not on the committee, you may want to chime in about that, Commissioner Stevens. It was long, thank you Commissioner Cameron for your role. But it was nice to see the give and take and polite and collegial debate, if I can say between the two horsemen's groups. But at the end, everybody understands kind of the challenges and opportunities that had for both horsemen's groups. And I think the results as Commissioner Cameron said were well thought out and everybody at the end of the day had a chance to make their say and leave the room in agreement. So. Excellent. A little innovation went a long way there. And thanks to, I know Todd and Cheryl were really instrumental and of course Dr. Lightbound. So thank you, but it really showed that just looking at it a little bit differently. Excellent. Any further questions for Gail on that matter? And any further updates? There we are, Interim Executive Director Wells, do you have anything further that you want to add? I just wanted to confer, I wanted to confer, are we scheduled for another meeting next Thursday, the 23rd? No, I think we have a agenda setting on the 22nd. Okay, so given that, I'm realizing I just, I really want to just publicly thank Bill Curtis for all the work that he has done for our agency. He does have another opportunity and he will be leaving us. And Bill has been with the agency since the beginning. He's one of the first employees brought over. He had some work in racing and is continually promoted throughout the agency, has done a tremendous job. He's one of these people that just is really committed to doing good work. And everyone that he comes in contact with says the same thing and commends, not only his work ethic, but the productivity that he has and also the relationships that he built. He has built relationships with not only the folks at the casinos and within his team itself and with all the vendors and employees that work through the licensing process. So Bill has been a tremendous, tremendous asset to our agency. And Bill, I just want to thank you personally and publicly for all the work that you have done. We're going to miss you tremendously. And I just didn't want a public meeting to go by without acknowledging that and publicly saying thank you. So I know your team's going to miss you so much. They love you. They're very loyal to you. Hissy Mary Ann Bratton, she's given a thumbs up. Her faces are appearing, Bill. Yes, I love it. For all of you on, if you want to join us visually. I really, and for anyone on the licensing team that would like to say something to Bill in this public forum, I just want to give you that opportunity because Bill is really well loved and has done a tremendous job. I can't even begin to explain the amount of extra hours that that man has worked over the years. And he really built just a tremendous team, did a wonderful job. I know that everyone is going to miss him. And I hope he stays in touch. He will be working in a sort of a similar role in a different entity, but I wanted to give Bill the shout out in a public meeting because he deserves it and just give him a big thank you and I'm going to miss you. Thanks, Karen. I appreciate the kind words. And I miss work with everybody, especially Lisa, Mary Ann, Mary, Connor, Tara, there's too many people to thank, but we're only so successful as the team were. I mean, without Mary Ann, Lisa, Mary Ann, Connor, and Tara, I don't think we would have got what we got, but I'll miss everybody, but I appreciate the kind words. And our paths will cross again, you know that. Oh, you know it. Can I just say, Mr. Curtis has been a pleasure to work with and I will certainly miss his Yankee gear in our office. Let me tell you, no, in all sincerity, Bill, any question about licensing? You're always there. You brought great expertise. You brought great leadership and we will miss you. I see you're still sporting your pandemic beer. But now good luck with a new endeavor and we will miss you. Thank you, Commissioner. I appreciate it. I'll miss you too. I don't want to interrupt any commissioners, but I would like to offer my thanks for Bill for the development. He took somebody who started out as a receptionist with no experience in the licensing field and turned me into a really great specialist and guided me and helped me through my path and has turned us into a really high functioning team. And so I'm really grateful for the direction and for all the hard work that he's put in. And when we were discussing with Karen and Derek the other day, the situation that he was going to be moving on to a new opportunity, the first thing that came out of all of our mouths when we said what we're looking for in a new person was a working manager and that's what you said. So thank you. Thanks, Marianne. It's been a pleasure working with you. You're the best. Before we go to the other commissioners, other team members who want to chime in, this is really a nice treat for all of us. I'm not going to say my words yet, anybody want to chime in? I'm looking to see if I can expand my view to see more of you. I'll say something. There you are, Lisa. How do I see you? It's nice to see your face, Lisa and Mary. Same here. It's been a pleasure to work with Phil over the last two and a half years that I've been with the commission. I come from the private sector and he took me under his wing and showed me all the tricks of the trade and it's really been fun and I'm really going to miss partnering with him and working together with him. But I know that our paths will continue to cross, will continue to be friends and I wish you all the best. And as I said before, as you've taught me, it's a marathon, not a sprint. Thanks, Lisa. Appreciate it. So I see that our friend Burke, I don't know why you're just not chiming right in, Burke. Do you want to say it out loud? It was from one VC to another VC. Brian Connors, Billy Curtis, and I often say hello, BC and they go, hey, BC. It's just our little circle of friendship there. And good luck, Bill. It's a great pleasure working with you. When I came up here from down south, New Jersey there, I wasn't really sure what a Boston accent was. And I was able to find out quickly how to understand a little bit of Bostonese. Thank you. Thanks, Burke. Good luck. It's been great working with you. I think he acted as our interpreter initially, didn't he, Burke? Yeah. Yes, that's right. Other team members want to chime in for Marianne. I wish I could hand you a tissue. This is Loretta. I'd like to jump in and just recognize the many hours of problem solving that Bill and I spent together. And it was a productive and creative collaboration in some challenging, tricky puzzles that we were able to reach positive results with. And in addition to just a personal repertoire that I really enjoyed with you, I do want to thank you for those times that we worked to good conclusions on some challenging situations. Thanks, Loretta. We did. Good luck, Bill. You always made me think a little bit more out of the box than what I was used to. So I appreciate what you did with me in that way. But I'll miss you. I'll miss having our little discussions of trying to figure out things and trying to help vendors as well as licensees, as well as employees. So thank you. Captain Connors, were you trying to chime in? Absolutely. Wouldn't miss the opportunity. I wonder. Thank you. Well, I think I speak for the 60 plus members of our unit of the DU who have probably caused a lot of those gray hairs on the beard of Bill over the years, peppering him with constant requests and questions and some of which may have been right in front of them. But Bill was always a gentleman and professional in walking us through it. And you always knew that you were gonna get a solid answer, a right answer and a quick answer. Bill was always very responsive and really took great patience to walk us through learning the systems throughout the years and really getting this LMS system where it is today. And that's a testament to Bill and the work that he's done to get the commission's LMS system, which is critical to where it is. So, although he has a near fatal flaw of being a Yankee fan, we're gonna miss him. But really on behalf of everybody here from the GEU, you've been fantastic to work with, we appreciate the work that you've done with us and for us, but also for your friendship over the years, Bill, wish you the best of luck. Thanks, Brian. I appreciate it. It's a great work with you guys. You know, it's always great to work with law enforcement and what you guys do, it's difficult and I respect you every day for what you do and just the way you and all your men carry themselves. Anytime I had a question, they were always there to help me out. Somebody that we need to be fingerprinted, you know, your guys would be like, yeah, okay, when do you want me to do it? They never said no, they always said yes. So I'll miss that, I'll miss that. And I'll miss ribbing you a little bit about, yeah, your last place Red Sox, so. Yeah. Bill, you said, you said men, what do you mean, all men and women? A lot of women as well. Yep, that was a slip. And Mr. Curtis, Bill, you know, this season is Hope Springs Eternal. Are you kidding? I have great faith in our Red Sox. So we will be keeping in touch to see how that plays out. Exactly, exactly. If I could chime in. Oh, go ahead. Go ahead, please. I'm so sorry. No, no, no, I'll go next. Go ahead, Jill. Sure. I think we all should wish to attain the Bill Curtis level of customer service at the MGC. He truly cares about the people that he works with, whether it's a employee or a potential employee and a vendor. And I just have to say, Bill, you will be missed. I really enjoyed working with you and really admire the caring that you bring to your job. You truly care about those you work with. So thank you. Thanks, Joe. Gonna miss working with you. We have a lot of fun. Todd? Yeah, thank you. I too, I couldn't miss an opportunity to say goodbye for now to our great friend, Bill Curtis. He and I personally go back a long way. He is one of the all time greats, a real thoughtful, conscientious guy, a real smart guy, done an amazing job for this commission. We all owe him a debt of gratitude and you should always know that you've got a friend in me and I hope to talk to you soon. Thanks, T.G. I just really wish you made it into that movie though. I really do. Yeah. Fellow commissioners. I'll go now and part of the problem of going last is that all these thoughtful people have made some of the points that I wanted to make. I'll just summarize by echoing some of what Karen was saying. You're there from the beginning through trying times in the development of that LMS with pressure to get something done that was new to many of us, yourself included, but learned what needed to happen in terms of the gaming nuances and the development of systems. And highlight what I think are three key attributes that served us really well that you brought and that served you really well as you move on. And that is your methodical approach to things. Your patience and collaboration and work with others. And as Jill mentioned, your sense of public service, something that has been really manifested itself in all the work that you do. And that's a really good testament to and reflection of the commission for which we are really grateful. Thanks, Enrique. I appreciate it. Mr. Stevens? Sure, I just want to weigh in and wish my colleague and my very good friend, Bill Curtis, the best of luck. He has been with us from the start from those early days over on State Street where we were, I think, taking applications by chiseled tablet. And we certainly have made a lot of progress since then, but I'll certainly miss Bill, but he has built an incredible team. I was out in Springfield one day having lunch with a friend. I came around a corner of a restaurant and there was Bill and the whole licensing team having lunch out in Springfield. I'm sure Bill picked up the bill, but it was great to see everybody. He's built an incredible team. He's just been an incredible member of our team. Jill talked about his customer service. You know, an incredible baseball player sent him a bat thanking him for all his help. Unfortunately, we had to return it because we can't accept gifts. But I think that bat was a true testament to just the great work Bill has done. And I'll miss him and I will ask our Interim Executive Director to make sure that Bill has access to the building to remove all of his Yankee paraphernalia before he goes. I don't need to see that floating Yankee helmet hanging out in the office. But I'll miss you, my friend. Good luck and we'll always have that picture of you and a Red Sox hat with your thumbs up. And so it's a reminder of your long career. But thanks, I'll miss you. Thanks, Bruce. I'll miss you too. We'll stay in touch. We'll have to have still have that little Red Sox Yankee discussion all the time. Mr. William? Sure, as Enrique said, it's, you know, I think what, echoing what everybody has already said, it didn't get to work with Bill as long as everybody else on the meeting today. But I have to say, if you're someone new to this industry and you're new to this process, you were not only incredibly patient, but also had an ability to succinctly get into speed on everything. It made me feel like I wasn't crazy if I had questions about something and needed graphics or anything like that. You were very, very helpful with all that. I think much as I hate to lose you, I also think it speaks to not only the skills you've gotten at the NGC, but also what I saw as skills you had when you came in the door, your knowledge about, you know, your time at the city and everything that was also helpful, helping me think outside the box in a few times we had to work together on something. I really appreciated it. I wish you luck in your new endeavors as everyone said, I'm sure we're gonna be crossing paths again, given where you're going. But I wish you well. I didn't know about the Yankees thing. I'm kind of glad I didn't know until now. I will keep it in mind, but I look forward to seeing you again and good luck. Okay, thank you, Commissioner O'Brien. I appreciate our time and you always had some great questions. You always made me think. Thanks, Bill. Any other team member? We can't, we don't have cake to send you off. No, it's so sad. Who needs cake, right, Bill? Chair, I do have the picture of Bill in the Red Sox pot, which is gonna stay at the commission. Do you wanna share that? That's going up on the wall. Do you wanna share it right now? So I do wanna personally wish Bill the best of luck. I can candidly say that Bill was unique in welcoming me a year and a half ago to the gaming commission. Bill stood out as a warm teammate to me and like Commissioner O'Brien, when I asked that umpteenth question, you exhibited great professionalism, kindness, thoroughness, patience. And then all of a sudden you clicked and I got things because of that. You took the time to sit down with me. The PowerPoint was in place and not that all that process is expected. It was, but you did produce it because you are a methodical and you're careful and you know your stuff. You are competent. And all of that was very apparent to me. And then I had the pleasure of being able to sit down with you and your remarkable team. And I know that they're gonna really miss you. I also know that we have a strength in our organization that we will support your team and they will be successful because of everything that you did. And I know that's what you wish for them and for us, but you have uniquely changed my experience at the gaming commission. And I know personally that I am going to miss you terribly. I can only say thank you. It meant the world to me to know that you were there. And so thank you so much. I also want to comment that you are a remarkable family man. You are a great dog owner. Thank you. Regardless of your taste in baseball teams. And apparently you don't have to worry about removing any of that Yankee stuff because Captain Connors has taken care of it for you as he should have. Look like he said it's done. But you are, have been a remarkable contributor to public service and Jill Griffin hit on the nose. I know our licensees will miss you terribly. You have been great at your external affairs. It is a gift and it's not surprising to me that somebody else scooted you up. And so for that, I wish them well, they are very lucky to have you. And I do know our paths will inevitably cross. And I'm hoping it crosses in person though and that you and I can meet for an after work year. Best of luck. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. I appreciate you letting me get to know you and able to explain licensing and you're able to meet the team and just know how great they are. They'll do awesome. They'll just keep carrying on work. I mean, they understand that licensing is pretty much, I know that the commissioners are their front face, but the first people that anybody meets when they come in the door, whether it, excuse me, the door or they have a telephone call or an email, it's licensing. So they see us first and they see us at the end and everybody realizes that on the team. And they just wanna just give a great feeling that everybody has when they finish dealing with the MGC. I can't even talk anymore, so I'm sorry about that. I'm gonna miss everybody, but our paths will definitely cross. And anytime you wanna get together, just let me know. And for people that don't know why I'm a Yankee fan, it's not just because I grew up in my park, but my dad was drafted by them in 1948 out of High Park High. My dad was also in the New England Sports Museum. That's in the TD Goddard's Park. So that's why the family, half the family of Yankee fans, the other half are Red Sox fans. My wife's a Red Sox fan. My three dogs are Red Sox fans. But my son and my soon to be grandson will be, they're both, they'll be Yankee. He'll be Yankee fan too. My son's a Yankee fan and my soon to be grandson will be Yankee fans as well, so we'll make sure. I mean, mine is one of that baby's doom. He's due November 13th. I'm trying to get them to push it off to the 23rd. So he'll be born on my birthday too. So my wife and I are pretty excited. So we already got him a, we got him a, Steph got him a knitted Bruins hat. So I just have to find the Yankee one now. So, you know. Good to know. Well, I hope that you keep us up to date on that grandson. And we wish. Thank you. We wish everybody well there. And we wish you well, your wife well. And again, speaking for the entire team, but speaking personally, I'm going to miss you terribly. So. I'll miss you too. Thank you so much. And I guess we can do the virtual applause. Thanks everybody. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. And we will definitely cross paths. You know that just a matter of time before that happens. Yeah. Well, again, I think it was, I mean, who, who referenced, you know, you've got an awful lot of great skills. And it's something that we're happy that we contributed to. You came in, you know, as we've heard and you're leaving to go to a new challenge. And I know that they're going to be very lucky to have you. Thank you. All right. Well, if I could have you do it, I'd have you make the motion, but I think it requires me to have one of my fellow commissioners do that. Motion to adjourn. Second. All right. Is there any objection other than the objection being that we have to say goodbye to Bill this way? Right. Duly noted. Commissioner Cameron. Hi. Commissioner Brian. Commissioner Zuniga. Aye. Thank you, everybody. Thank you, Bill. Mr. Snuffins. Thank you, everybody. Thanks, Bill. Aye. And I vote yes. Thank you. Five zero. Thank you so much, everyone. Bye bye, Bill.