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Maryland is getting their ducks in a row as appointing the governing bodies that will oversee the future of slot machines in the state.  Donald C. Fry, head of the Greater Baltimore Committee has been recruited by Governor Martin O’Malley to head up the special commission that will distribute the licenses to operate slot machines in Maryland.

Fry, who is 53 years old, will be in charge of a seven person committee that will be responsible for vetting applications and selecting the winning bids for five slot machine licenses that will be used to construct casino in Allegany County, Worcester County, Anne Arundel County, and the city of Baltimore.  According to the law that brought slot machines back to Maryland, 15,000 slot machines will be peppered across theses location.

Though Fry will head up the committee, more commissioners are to be selected by Governor O’Malley, House Speaker Michael E. Busch, and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller.  The rest of the committee is expected to be appointed in the next few days.

Fry has taken on the job knowing that he has an uphill battle ahead of him.  Slot machines have been a sensitive topic in Maryland for years.  Now that slot machines have been approved, he anticipates the committee he will be heading will be under a lot of scrutiny and suffer a lot of criticism.

Estimates show that the slot machine licenses have the potential to yield a grand total of $450 million each year for the operators of the slot machines.

“I certainly would anticipate that people would follow this [Maryland process] very closely,” said Fry.

“My commitment is to do this with the highest level that we can to abide by the law and to show that this is an open and fair process.”

Fry has his work cut out for him.

 

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