Commonwealth Media Services
Members of Pennsylvania’s Gaming Control Board, whose responsibilities include meeting once or twice a month three times in busier months have among the highest-paid positions in state government, with annual salaries topping $145,000.
It’s one of the best jobs in town if you can get it. That is because former state legislators are frequently on the shortlist when there’s an opening.
Last week, Frank Dermody, the top House Democrat who lost reelection in 2020 after 30 years in the legislature, was appointed to a two-year term on the seven-member board.
Dermody, a onetime prosecutor and magisterial district judge from Allegheny County, is the fourth former House Democrat to snag a coveted spot since the board, which regulates casino gambling and sports betting in the state, was established in 2004.
So, Frank Dermody loses the election, retires on a taxpayer-funded retirement of $110,000 a year and is handed a cushy job on the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (“Frank Dermody lost state House election but lands $145,000/year gambling board job,” Jan. 29, TribLIVE). According to the article, Dermody was responsible for
Mohegan Sun Pocono vice president of marketing David Parfrey expects there will be a significant amount of action when it comes to betting on the big game Sunday.
Mask angels, NYC oases, sugar tax: News from around our 50 states From USA TODAY Network and wire reports, USA TODAY
Alabama
Clanton: The city has lost a second elected official to the coronavirus pandemic six months after the longtime mayor died of COVID-19. City Council member Sammy Wilson died Thursday while in a hospital where he was being treated for the illness caused by the new virus, WBRC-TV reports. A statement by Mayor Jeff Mims said the town of 8,800 people was thankful for Wilson’s service to the community. Council member Mary Mell Smith called Wilson’s death “a big loss.” “He had that big smile on his face every time you saw him,” she said. Wilson died about six months after Billy Joe Driver, who had served as mayor for 36 years before he died of COVID-19 in July. Mims was elected to replace Driver.
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Leaving an elected office is not the end of the world. Plenty of people go on to live rich, full lives after they depart the world of public service.
They might retire to concentrate on things they never got to do before, like President George W. Bush, who has embraced painting on his ranch. They might run for other offices. State and federal positions are filled by people who have swung from one rung of the electoral jungle gym to the next.