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Casino Bosses, Nevada Governor Criticized

LAS VEGAS, Nevada –- Several top tourism industry figures are privately criticizing what they say is a leadership vacuum that has plagued the casino industry and state government in the weeks since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

They argue that Strip casino bosses have failed to adequately explain to employees and the public their rationale for laying off an estimated 15,000 local workers since the attacks.

They complain that Gov. Kenny Guinn, never one to seek much publicity, has been a virtual nonentity since Sept. 11 when it comes to publicly addressing the impact of the layoffs.

Within the void created by those failings has evolved an atmosphere of misunderstanding and misinformation, which has filtered throughout the state's business and political climates, the industry figures say.

"Every day the mayor of the city of New York gets on TV and leads," said one casino industry executive who requested anonymity. "Unfortunately, our ... governor looks like he doesn't want to take it on."

Sixteen days after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Guinn delivered a live televised speech that was designed to reassure nervous Nevadans and outline a plan to help carry the state through the economic crisis.

Yet, the critics charge that Guinn has made too few of the high-profile appearances delivered by the governors of other states, who have traveled via commercial jetliner to major U.S. cities to show that air travel is safe, while publicizing the role of tourism in their states' economies.

"I wonder where the governor has been to do that," said one Las Vegas marketing executive. "I'm frustrated and wonder why the governor isn't flying with (chefs and entertainers) to publicize the city throughout the country."

Guinn was unavailable for comment Monday. But a top state official said the governor has met repeatedly with top casino executives and asked them to delay many of the layoffs to ease the burden on state agencies.

He has also met with airport and tourism officials in Las Vegas and Reno to discuss strategies to bring people back to the state, the official said, noting that Guinn has been actively working behind the scenes to add about 40 caseworkers to handle record numbers of new unemployment claims, while pushing to temporarily extend unemployment benefits to welfare recipients.

"He's been dealing with the needs of Nevada. He's making sure Nevada workers are being taken care of," said Guinn's chief of staff, Marybel Batjer.

But a casino industry executive said the governor has failed to create a reassuring public persona at a time when such reassurance is needed.

"Politics isn't done in a press conference or a speech. He has to be out in the community every day," the executive said. "At times like this the symbolism ... has a very real impact on people's lives."

Meantime, word of the growing number of casino industry layoffs has filtered out piecemeal, as job cuts were ordered from the executive suites but often carried out at the mid-management level.

Few if any casino executives have held companywide meetings with their workers to explain what's happening, the critics say.

That has prompted some workers to question the loyalty of their bosses in a town where companies like to refer to their employees by such egalitarian terms as "associates" and "cast members."

Top executives have also declined to give news interviews to discuss the job cuts and instead left that task to their public relations departments.

MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman, whose company has laid off 6,000 of its 38,000 local workforce, said the volatile economic picture has made it difficult for casino bosses to explain to their workers what's happening.

"You don't feel that you know what's coming," Feldman said. "Looking forward we are seeing a pattern establish itself where weekends are full and midweek occupancy is substantially down from where it should be.

"That (stability) makes it easier for us to communicate with employees about what we're seeing."

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