Page 59 - City of San Jose - DD of Gaming - AMB 05 23 19

Jimmy Tuthil things that apply to things other than slots I take to the Director. They interchange based on the relevant topic.

Tuesday, May 7, 2019
1:51 PM Please describe the ways in which you determine whether your organization is operating efficiently and effectively. How
do you implement changes to planning and formulation of departmental policy?

CSJPD
I ask the people who are doing the job whether or not it's working. It's the reason for my weekly conference calls, and
Deputy Director of Gaming the reason that I'm on the road as much as I do. I get an opportunity to speak directly to the inspectors and the senior
Screening Interview Questions inspectors. Hopefully they're filtering up to the supervisors on-site and they are passing them onto me. Typically we do
a lot of talking on the Friday calls in terms of problem solving and working through issues. Fortunately we have some
fairly talented people. Just by having the conversations we are able to come to likeminded conclusions on things that
are homogenous to the group. If certain things are working you take their feedback. If I need input - the Deputy Director
and Director are very kind - they let me go. We'll meet in the morning. I'll meet with them to see if they have certain

General Questions thoughts on certain things and see if they have feedback.
Why are you interested in the Deputy Director of Gaming opportunity with the City of San Jose? Tell me a bit about what
you know about the City. Why are you looking? Please describe a complex situation in which you have received pushback from a party that you were attempting to regu-
late or audit and how you handled it.

Right now - where I am in New York there is limited opportunity. There is a Director and a Deputy Director. In terms of
growth and income potential this is an attractive opportunity to me. Most of what I have done has been in Casino Opera- There is always pushback from the operators. Generally I know what they're going to do before they do it. There have
tions. Some of my superiors have been law enforcement. I really love the work, I really love operations, and the regulatory been a number of the years that they have come back at me with. I guess in general, across the board, all four properties
aspect. This looks like it would be a good step up for me in terms of career. I know that San Jose is the technology capitol, the have talented lawyers that work for them. Many of them have contacts in Albany, the state capitol. It means often times
weather is exemplary. they have access to the governor's office. They will call with their slant on a particular regulation. We will chat awhile and
ultimately discover that the interpretive capacity lies with the State. I think one of the interesting interpretations we have
is that there is an exception we have around licensing for entertainers. They were attempting to extend the interpreta-
Please describe your most recent position and day-to-day responsibilities. tion of entertainer to ticket takers to security personnel in order to avoid them being licensed. In New York, the property
pays for the license of the individual. That was one .

I was hired to come up to New York to open four commercial casinos. The state legislator approved state casinos. There were
race-inos but there were no commercial properties. Las Vegas, Atlantic City, some of the other major jurisdictions. I was We're going through one with sports betting. The general manager and the AGM called us over to take a look at betting
contacted by a friend from the New York State Gaming Commission. They narrowed that down to 10. I made the final 10 and kiosks for sports betting. The regs generally call out to have a distinct sports betting lounge - they were attempting to
interviewed, and went to work after a series of interviews. I accepted all of the submissions, the exhibits, every document outline the entire casino floor as the sports betting lounge. We immediately pushed back and said the regulation will not
that has to be filed pre opening for all of these casinos, reviewed them and issued response and point letters back to them. change. What we did do was we made some suggestions in terms of taking out some banks and slot machines so they
In terms of doing that there were numerous communications back and forth between the properties and all four of them could put the kiosks within the sports betting lounge. There are a lot.
were opened in an 18-month period. I was able to get them to submit the materials on time. I had to be completely conver-
sant and fluent in the regulations for commercial casinos. I had to understand the count room, cage operations, back of the
house casino counting, front of the house, table slots. In terms of getting them up and open and having the back and forth In terms of communication, what is your approach to working with various stakeholders, such as management, staff, and
so that they were adequate, I also did site inspections with most of the properties. I also reviewed surveillance to make sure the people you are regulating.
they met minimum standards. When I came to work in New York, none of the work had been done prior to me getting here. I
had to setup all of the processes. I had to put those in place prior to having conversations with the Casinos. We started inter-
viewing for supervising inspectors, I have a team of 9 inspectors in each of the four casinos that were hired by me. We have
18 process audits that I initiated right about the time of opening in terms of ongoing operations to make sure that the public I am on a first name basis of the president and general manager - they have my private cell phone, home and work num-
is protected and the State of New York is getting the cut of tax revenue that they are supposed to be getting. I meet with the ber and I have theirs. We have the ability to call each other if something comes up. That has only happened twice where
property executives - we discuss things that they would like to do and the compliance with the regulations, in terms of know- I have had to reach out to a General manager. Each time I'm at the property they will accommodate me and we'll sit.
how in getting something across the finish line. While I'm on property I will work from 7 am to Midnight, to make sure I get Sometimes it's a casual conversation, sometimes they need assistance. Once in awhile I'll get a call that says our staff is
to see as many of the New York State Gaming inspectors as I can. I have conference calls with the four supervisors weekly. becoming too intrusive. Generally I'll have to get all sides and make sure I have complete information before responding.
We post for positions, interview candidates, hire them and put them back through training again. My relationship with those folks is on a first name basis. More so because my family is well-known in this business. My
brother was a significant person in Vegas, my father was a significant person in Atlantic City. It's tough to find someone in
the business who hadn't worked with us in one capacity or another. I ask them straightforward questions and expect the
truth from them.
How many employees do you supervise? Who do you report to? What are the areas that you regulate?

I have 9 inspectors that I oversee at each property so 36 in total. The most I've had were 600 employees reporting indirectly
to me.

I report to the Deputy Director of the New York State Gaming Commission. The Deputy Director is a slot expert. A lot of 59