Missouri gambling regulator demands investigation into panel chairman

Daniel Finney has demanded a separate investigation into Mike Leara, the chairman of the Missouri Gaming Commission, after calling for an audit of the agency he oversees.

On Friday, Daniel Finney accused former state Rep. Mike Leara of withholding information about personnel issues at the agency.

“I take this as a direct personal attack,” Finney said.

Finney also alleged the commission illegally withheld public information by not releasing the results of a vote taken in a recent closed session.

A public records request by the Post-Dispatch for actions taken during the past three closed meetings of the board yielded no results last week.

Leara said later Friday that information about the proceedings in the closed meeting was not made public because it didn’t represent “final action” by the commission.

“There was not a final action taken,” Leara said.

Upheaval in the office that regulates Missouri’s multimillion-dollar gambling industry comes as the coronavirus has shuttered the state’s 13 casinos. The facilities tentatively are set to reopen May 4, when Gov. Mike Parson’s stay-at-home order is lifted.

Leara, a Republican who represented a St. Louis County district in the Missouri House, was appointed to chair the commission by Parson last year.

Finney, a Democrat, was appointed by former Gov. Eric Greitens in 2017. He is the longest-tenured member of the commission and is serving on an expired term.

The focal point of the infighting among top brass appears to be disagreements over how the commission is managed and who is in charge of managing it.

Earlier this month, Executive Director David Grothaus announced he would retire May 1, saying his attempts to cut spending at the “bloated” agency faced fierce resistance.

Grothaus said some members of the Missouri Highway Patrol assigned to work at the state’s 13 casinos engaged in “guerrilla warfare” in an attempt to block his plans to replace them with lower-paid civilian employees.

In his resignation letter, Grothaus said “it has become obvious that the direction of the commission under my leadership is incompatible with the vision of certain commissioners.”

On April 8, Finney asked state Auditor Nicole Galloway to audit the commission. Galloway’s office is reviewing that request.

In the statement read before the commission went into a closed session Friday, Finney said he would abstain from voting until an investigation is conducted of Leara.

Finney said Leara also has demanded the resignation of the agency’s deputy director, which would leave the commission without an interim chief once Grothaus leaves May 1.

Leara called Finney’s statement surprising but said he would not discuss personnel matters at the commission.

“Things that were touched upon were just not things that are ready for public consumption,” Leara said. “It was an uncomfortable moment, but I’m not going to get into a back and forth.

“As far as an investigation into me, that is not a problem,” Leara added.