RCI President's Contract Under Review

• Email
• Print
• Tweet

The board of directors of the Association of Racing Commissioners International will meet in September to discuss a proposed revision of president Tony Chamblin’s contract, which apparently has become a bone of contention among the membership once again.

During a contentious RCI board meeting in Boston, Mass., in 1997, Chamblin agreed not to accept $50,000 of his 1997 salary of $219,000 if the RCI showed a deficit. In an agreement hammered out at the meeting, he was to be paid back $1 for every $2 in revenue over the budgeted amount. Other benefits weren’t included in the deal.

It was during that convention that disgruntled jurisdictions left the RCI to form the North American Pari-Mutuel Regulators Association. Since that time, some jurisdictions have returned to the fold.

Chamblin’s three-year contract was renewed beginning Jan. 1, 2000, but it didn’t address the issue of the abatement. Chamblin declined to comment Aug. 21 on the nature of the latest controversy, which came up for discussion among some board members in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in mid-August.

“To prevent confusion, we want all the board members to meet to see what changes, if any, we can make to the contract,” said RCI chairman Dennis Lee, who heads the Nebraska State Racing Commission. “There are board members on both sides of the fence, and some are distressed about the issue.”

Lee said the date, time, and place for the meeting haven’t been set. He said the board will decide to amend the contract or keep it intact.
By Tom LaMarra

• Email
• Print
• Tweet