Gaming commissioner won’t return to panel

Nevada Gaming Commissioner Radha Chanderraj did not seek reappointment to the five-member, part-time regulatory panel, and Gov. Jim Gibbons will select a successor when her four-year term expires at the end of the month.

Chanderraj, a Las Vegas attorney and certified public accountant, is the longest-serving member of the Gaming Commission. She was appointed to the panel by Gov. Kenny Guinn in August 1999 to fill out an unexpired term. She was reappointed to four-year terms by Guinn in 2002 and Gibbons in 2006.

The position pays $40,000 a year.

Gibbons' Deputy Chief of Staff Stacy Woodbury said Monday the office is in the process of identifying candidates for the position. The Gaming Commission sets state gaming policy and makes the final decisions on licensing and regulatory matters based on recommendations of the full-time Gaming Control Board.

Chanderraj, who was born in India, did not return phone messages. Her last meeting as a member of the commission is scheduled for Thursday.

In addition to Chanderraj, the current make-up of the panel is four attorneys and a physician, all from Las Vegas. Gibbons' most recent appointments to the panel were Las Vegas attorneys John Moran Jr. and Joe Brown last year.

Following the appointments of Moran and Brown, several state gaming observers questioned the panelists' backgrounds, saying the members weighed too heavily toward legal experience. Other analysts questioned not having a person from Northern Nevada on the panel.

The upcoming appointment means the commission's members all have been chosen by Gibbons. In 2007, he reappointed Chairman Peter Bernhard, a Las Vegas attorney who has headed the panel since 2001, to a four-year term. Gibbons named Dr. Tony Alamo Jr. to the panel in 2008.

Woodbury said the governor believes members of state regulatory panels should only serve two terms.

"He believes it's important for someone else to have a chance," Woodbury said.

Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871.