After just under 2 years in the position, Sandra Douglass Morgan has revealed she will be leaving her role as chairwoman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB). She will step down on November 6.
Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak, who appointed her to the role, made the announcement on October 29. He noted she will be “greatly missed, but her leadership and ability to put together a talented team has left the state in a great position to fill the role with another accomplished individual.”
Morgan issued her own statement, noting that the past 22 months as NGCB chair was “honor of a lifetime.” A talented and accomplished attorney, Morgan noted that she was moving on to a new “professional opportunity.”
Before stepping up to be Sisolak’s first appointed NGCB chair in January 2019, Morgan was the first black city attorney in the state. She was worked previously for AT&T Services and MGM Resorts International. She took over for former NGCB chair Becky Harris, who’s tenure was notable for having to handle all of Steve Wynn’s sexual harassment problems.
Morgan, who has recently spoken with our very own Becky Liggero Fontana, had the much different and perhaps greater problem of being NGCB chair during the Covid-19 pandemic. In our interview with her, she noted that the regulator was focused on being flexible to operators needs, noting that “unprecedented times definitely require unprecedented measures.”
Nevada may have changed a lot in the past two years, specially during the pandemic, but a few things didn’t. As Morgan told us, online gambling isn’t really a priority with casino gambling being so pervasive in the state. Digital currency options didn’t get very far either, but winds of change are stirring their as cashless options increase in demand thanks to pandemic safety precautions.
Governor Sisolak has yet to announce who will replace Morgan, but is expected to do so soon. Whoever fills the role will have a tricky job in front of them, as revenues continue to look shaky thanks to a lack of tourism and enforced safety precautions.
