BOSTON--Governor Deval Patrick, Attorney General Martha Coakley and Treasurer Steve Grossman have announced the final two appointments to the newly formed Massachusetts Gaming Commission.
The final two appointees are James F. McHugh, (pictured, top) a retired associate justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court and Bruce Stebbins, (pictured, second from top) business development administrator for the City of Springfield, state officials said in a statement issued Tuesday, March 20.
Both appointees will serve as full time commissioners. Each of the five commissioners on the new gambling board will be paid $125,000 per year.
Licenses must be competitively bid and awarded following local approval, under the rules of the Expanded Gaming Act signed by Governor Patrick on November 22, 2011.
Separate from the commission, the Patrick administration has hired a specialized law firm and financial advisor which are currently assisting in negotiating a Native American gaming compact for a casino on tribal lands in Southeastern Massachusetts.
Gov. Patrick appointed Steve Crosby as chair of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission on December 13, 2011. In February, Attorney General Coakley selected former New Jersey Lt. Col. Gayle Cameron as her law enforcement appointee to the Commission.
Last week, Treasurer Grossman selected Enrique Zuniga as the Treasurer’s corporate finance and securities appointee.
Officials said in order to ensure the strongest possible commission, Justice McHugh will now serve as the Attorney General’s law enforcement appointee, and Lt. Col. Cameron will now serve as the joint appointee with legal experience related to gaming.
Stebbins will serve as the final joint appointee.
Officials said all costs of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission will be borne by the gaming industry itself and will not be paid for by Massachusetts taxpayers.
Justice McHugh, of Boston, served on the Massachusetts Superior Court from 1985 until 2001, when he was appointed to the Massachusetts Appeals Court.
He served on the Appeals Court until February 2012, when he retired from the bench.
He is a former adjunct faculty member at Boston College Law School and Northeastern University School of Law.
He received a B.A. from Brown University and graduated magna cum laude from Boston University School of Law.
He is a former active duty member of the United States Navy.
During the course of his career, McHugh has presided over more than 600 trials in both civil and criminal matters and authored more than 400 opinions as associate justice.
The scope of these cases has ranged from murder trials to liability lawsuits.
McHugh served for 10 years as chair of the Committee on Judicial Ethics.
Most recently, he drafted 5 reports for a task force created to reform the hiring and promotions process throughout the Massachusetts court system.
McHugh also led an effort to improve the judiciary’s technology which resulted in MassCourts, a more efficient and highly praised case management system.
Stebbins has worked for the City of Springfield since 2010 and served for 2 terms on the Springfield City Council.
He has previously worked at the National Association of Manufacturers and the Massachusetts Office of Business Development.
Stebbins also served in the administration of Governor Bill Weld, and earlier as associate director of political affairs in the White House under President George H.W. Bush.
He received a B.A. from George Washington University and has completed a management program at the Kennedy School of Government.
He lives in Springfield.
(McHugh photo courtesy Mass.gov. Stebbins photo courtesy Facebook)
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