Tony Alamo Jr., a Las Vegas physician who has served as chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission since 2014, said Tuesday he will not seek reappointment to the part-time panel when his term expires at the end April.
Alamo, who first joined the five-person commission in 2008 as a member, informed Governor Steve Sisolak of his intentions to step aside on April 17, 10 days before his term expires, due primarily to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic that has forced the shutdown of the state’s casino industry.
In the letter, Alamo said his position as the chief medical director for one of the state’s largest clinical delivery organizations needs to be his primary concern.
As you are aware, the peak of the infection is theorized to occur in the next 10-to-14 days,” Alamo wrote. “Therefore, I need to direct all of my energies to the clinical and logistical planning that my primary employment demands.”
Alamo will miss the April meeting of the commission, which is scheduled for April 22 in Carson City. The part-time Gaming Commission makes the final decision on licensing requests and other gaming industry matters based on recommendations from the full-time Nevada Gaming Control Board.
“With the current commissioners, board members and (Control Board) Chairwoman Sandra Douglass Morgan firmly in place, my successor will have a wealth of experience from which to draw,” Alamo wrote.
The commission under Alamo took up several high-profile matters, including accessing a $20 million fine to Wynn Resorts last year over the company’s handling of sexual harassment matters involving company founder Steve Wynn.
Sisolak, who has appointed two of the current commissioners and two of the three board members since taking office in January 2019, will make the replacement.
Alamo was a member of the Nevada Athletic Commission when he was appointed to the Gaming Commission by Governor Jim Gibbons. Governor Brian Sandoval elevated Alamo to the chairmanship in 2012.
He was the first person in Nevada history to chair both the Athletic Commission and the Gaming Commission. Alamo also served as a licensed ringside physician and was the chairman of the Athletic Commission’s Medical Advisory Board in 2000.
Alamo is the son longtime Nevada casino executive Tony Alamo, who had a long career with Circus Circus Enterprises and the Mandalay Resort Group. Alamo would often mention his father during the Gaming Commission hearings.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
