The changes at the Massachusetts Gaming Commission keep piling up. In addition to the current Executive Director Karen Wells stepping down at the end of this week, Investigation and Enforcement Bureau Director Loretta Lillios is retiring at the end of the summer.
On Monday the MGC commissioners did take steps to fill the gap Wells will leave by interviewing candidates for the Interim Executive Director position. Per state public meeting laws, the commissioners interviewed two candidates in a public meeting, MGC General Counsel Todd Grossman and MGC Director of Racing and Chief Veterinarian Dr. Alexandra Lightbown.
Ultimately, the commissioners voted to appoint Grossman to the post. In addition to serving in the interim role, he will continue his duties as General Counsel.
To help lighten the load, Lightbown will oversee the racing portion of the commission. Grossman will focus on administrative and legal affairs as the state continues to finalize its sports betting regulations.
Wells also served in the interim role for two tenures before permanently accepting the post in 2020.
Grossman has been with the MGC since 2012. Prior to that, he served as a commissioner on the Massachusetts State Athletic Commission and also worked in the Middlesex District Attorney’s office.
The MGC has already started taking steps to permanently fill the Executive Director role. Now they will need to start a search for Lillios’s replacement as well.
Lillios has been with the MGC since 2014 and took over the IEB in September 2020. She served as the Interim Director for IEB from September 2020 to January 2021. Like Wells, she was officially named to the post after serving in the interim role.
