“This should not be surprising, nor is it impermissible in any way,” Shelly said. Parx Casino spokesperson Pete Shelly acknowledged the casino’s lobbyists sought a meeting with the board to discuss the ongoing court case, because “this is what advocates do.” And that pertains to the matter of unregulated skill games.” “From our standpoint, we always look at ways to protect the public in all things gaming. “There is nothing wrong with the having discussions or taking some action with the industry when the matter is in both of our best interest,” he said. He also said the meeting with Parx’s lobbyists did not influence the board’s stance on skill games, and that it was instead fueled by a number of factors, including a judge’s remarks in the fall of 2019 in one of the myriad court rulings involving skill games. In an interview, gaming board spokesperson Doug Harbach said the board’s position is that the meeting with Parx’s lobbyists didn’t qualify as a discussion that had to be disclosed under the agency’s ethics code. In fact, the logs haven’t been updated in years. 17, 2020, meeting was not included in those logs. It also requires disclosure on public logs when top members of the agency have contact with those outsiders.
