1 1 STATE OF NEW JERSEY 2 CASINO CONTROL COMMISSION 3 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4 5 Petition of Adamar of New Jersey, Inc., (Adamar) 6 for renewal of its casino license matters 7 and other matters 8 (PRN 2140705, 2910706, 2910708) 9 Volume 5 - AM Session 10 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 11 12 Thursday, November 29, 2007 13 Atlantic City Commission Offices 14 Joseph P. Lordi Public Meeting Room - First Floor 15 Tennessee Avenue and Boardwalk 16 Atlantic City, New Jersey 08401 17 10:00 a.m. to 12:55 p.m. 18 19 Certified Court Reporter: Christine Stanco 20 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 21 ATLANTIC CITY COURT REPORTING, LLC 22 CERTIFIED COURT REPORTERS AND VIDEOGRAPHERS 23 1125 ATLANTIC AVENUE, SUITE 416 24 ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY 08401 25 (609) 345-8448 www.accourtreporting.com 2 1 B E F O R E : 2 CASINO CONTROL COMMISSION: LINDA M. KASSEKERT, CHAIR 3 MICHAEL A. FEDORKO, VICE CHAIR MICHAEL C. EPPS, COMMISSIONER 4 RALPH G. FRULIO, COMMISSIONER WILLIAM T. SOMMELING, COMMISSIONER 5 PRESENT FOR THE CASINO CONTROL COMMISSION: 6 DARYL W. NANCE, ADMINISTRATIVE ANALYST DANIEL J. HENEGHAN, PUBLIC INFORMATION 7 OFFICER 8 OFFICE OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL: DIANNA W. FAUNTLEROY, GENERAL COUNSEL/ 9 EXECUTIVE SECRETARY LEONARD J. DIGIACOMO, ASSISTANT GENERAL 10 COUNSEL STEVEN M. INGIS, ASSISTANT GENERAL COUNSEL 11 A P P E A R A N C E S: 12 YVONNE G. MAHER, ACTING DIRECTOR 13 MARYJO FLAHERTY, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR: THE DIVISION OF GAMING ENFORCEMENT 14 COOPER, LEVENSON 15 BY: LLOYD D. LEVENSON, ESQ. FOR: TROPICANA 16 MICHAEL & CARROLL 17 BY: GUY S. MICHAEL, ESQ. 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 I N D E X 2 3 WITNESS DIRECT CROSS REDIRECT 4 5 MARK GIANNTONIO 6 By Mr. Levenson 8 77, 83 7 By Ms. Maher 22 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 4 1 E X H I B I T S 2 DIVISION NO. DESCRIPTION EVD 3 D-66 Complaint letter dated 9/24/07 to Lynne Mazzeo, Collections, Tropicana 4 Hotel from Nelson Fabian, NEHA, Executive Director and CEO X 5 APPLICANT'S NO. 6 A-85 File photographs of graffiti at Tropicana facility consisting of 7 13 pages X A-86 Incident report dated 3/14/07 Re: 8 Vandalism/mischief - South Tower X A-87 Incident report dated 3/20/07 Re: 9 Damaged property - North Tower X A-88 Incident report dated 4/16/07 Re: 10 Damaged property - North Tower X A-89 Incident report dated 6/10/07 Re: 11 Damaged property - North Tower X A-90 Incident report dated 6/18/07 Re: 12 Damaged property - miscellaneous X A-91 E-mail dated 3/14/07 with attached 13 incident file list consisting of four pages X 14 15 16 17 18 (Exhibits retained by the Commission) 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 5 1 (Whereupon, the Commission Meeting 2 commenced at 10:00 a.m.) 3 (Whereupon, the Pledge of Allegiance was 4 executed.) 5 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. Good 6 morning. We're going to recess until 11 o'clock 7 when we will have additional witnesses here to 8 take testimony. 9 So we'll stand in recess then. 10 Anything else we need to do? 11 Very good. We're in recess. 12 (Whereupon, the Commission was in recess 13 from 10:01 a.m. until 11:26 a.m.) 14 CHAIR KASSEKERT: We'll go back on the 15 record. 16 Good morning, everyone. We will 17 continue with the hearing with respect to the 18 Tropicana relicensing. 19 Let me first ask if there's any 20 procedural matters that need to be brought to our 21 attention? 22 MR. LEVENSON: Other than, Madam Chair, 23 that there's certain exhibits that now we have 24 premarked, I've given a copy to the Division, and 25 I gather Mr. Nance is getting ready to give to 6 1 the Commission copies. 2 So other than that, I don't know of any 3 other procedural issues. 4 MS. MAHER: We have nothing. 5 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Okay. 6 MR. LEVENSON: I'm sorry, while you're 7 getting it, one of those documents, A-91, will be 8 subject to a sealing request on portions of it 9 that are not relevant to this hearing. I've 10 already talked -- 11 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Has the Division had an 12 opportunity to review this request or -- 13 MS. FLAHERTY: We just received the 14 document a moment ago. So if we could have time 15 through the next break and then respond. 16 CHAIR KASSEKERT: We'll move them into 17 evidence with that proviso. 18 (Whereupon, Exhibits A-85 through A-91 19 were entered.) 20 MR. NANCE: Can you identify each 21 document for the record, please? 22 MR. LEVENSON: You want me to now? 23 MR. NANCE: Yes. 24 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Yes. 25 MR. LEVENSON: A-85 is a series of 13 7 1 pages of graffiti at the Tropicana Hotel Casino; 2 A-86 is an incident report with regard to an 3 incident of which is described as 4 vandalism/mischief. 5 You want me to go into anymore detail, 6 the date and all the rest of that? 7 MR. NANCE: No, that's fine. 8 MR. LEVENSON: 87, A-87 is an incident 9 report March 20th which is referred to as damaged 10 property; A-88 is an incident report of April 11 16th which is specified as damaged property; A-89 12 is an incident report of June 10th and again, 13 specified on the report as damaged property; and 14 A-90 is an incident report dated June 18th which 15 is specified as damaged property; and A-91 is, 16 top page is an e-mail to various individuals, 17 it's an e-mail dated March 14th, and it includes 18 all security incidents, a synopsis of all 19 security incidents for that day of March 14th, 20 and that's the one that we've requested be 21 partially sealed because other than the one entry 22 which matches the full security report, the rest 23 of it has nothing to do with this hearing 24 whatsoever. Those are the exhibits. 25 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Okay, thank you. 8 1 Are we ready to proceed with witnesses? 2 MR. LEVENSON: Yes. 3 CHAIR KASSEKERT: I believe it's the 4 Division, but is the witness being called today 5 your witness, Mr. Levenson, or Division's? 6 MS. MAHER: It would be Mr. Levenson's. 7 MR. LEVENSON: Mr. Gianntonio. 8 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 9 Mr. Gianntonio, I'm going to swear you 10 in again. 11 MR. NANCE: Raise your right hand, 12 please. 13 (MARK GIANNTONIO, having been first duly 14 sworn, was examined and testified as follows:) 15 MR. NANCE: Please state your full name, 16 for the record. 17 THE WITNESS: Mark Gianntonio. 18 MR. NANCE: Thank you. You may be 19 seated. 20 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 21 You may proceed, Mr. Levenson. 22 MR. LEVENSON: Thank you. 23 24 DIRECT EXAMINATION 25 BY MR. LEVENSON: 9 1 Q. Mr. Gianntonio, you were here 2 yesterday for the entirety of Mr. Buro's 3 testimony? 4 A. Yes. 5 Q. You were here -- did you hear him 6 testify with regard to his lack of knowledge of 7 graffiti, vandalism and sick-outs? 8 A. I did. 9 Q. And to whom, during the time that 10 Mr. Buro was the president/chief operating 11 officer of the hotel, to whom did the security 12 department report? 13 A. To Fred. 14 Q. And when there's an incident of a 15 security nature in the hotel casino, is there a 16 report generated? 17 A. Yes, there is. 18 Q. Is the report generated on every 19 little thing, or is it more limited to more major 20 kinds of things? 21 A. There's a report generated everyday 22 with incidents that are reported, of course, and 23 are substantial and in order for us to know 24 what's going on. 25 Q. And these layoffs with regard to 10 1 what's been called the cleaners -- is that the 2 right terminology? 3 A. Call them public area attendants. 4 Q. -- public area attendants, the 5 layoffs of the public area attendants occurred 6 when? 7 A. In March, I'm going to say maybe the 8 middle of March, or something like that. 9 Q. And before the actual layoffs took 10 place, was there a requirement that the 11 individuals be notified a period of time before 12 the actual layoff? 13 A. Yes, I believe we have to give five 14 days' notice. 15 Q. And so we're talking about mid-March 16 when the public area attendants would have been 17 notified that they were being laid off? 18 A. That's correct. 19 Q. How many people in that category 20 were being laid off? 21 A. I believe it was 58 or 59. 22 Q. Now, let me show you what's been 23 marked A-86. 24 Do you recognize that document as -- 25 it's called incident file. 11 1 A. Yes. 2 Q. Is that like an incident report? 3 A. That's correct. 4 Q. And again, Mr. Buro testified that 5 he had no knowledge of any graffiti; correct? 6 A. That's correct, which is a little 7 peculiar because this document is e-mailed to the 8 executive team, to the president, all the 9 vice-presidents. 10 Q. We'll get to that, okay, but let's 11 stick on A-86 for a minute. All right? 12 Does A-86 refer to the fact that 13 discovered in the casino hotel, that there was 14 graffiti aimed at the Columbia organization? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. And what was the graffiti according 17 to the report? 18 A. Well, it was in the -- in the 19 restroom, public area, front of the house 20 restroom, graffiti read "Trop/Columbia Essex Must 21 Die". 22 Q. Now, that's a March 14th incident; 23 is that correct? 24 A. Correct. 25 Q. Now, if you would look at A-91, A-91 12 1 is an e-mail. The first sheet of it is an e-mail 2 dated March 14th at 11:27 p.m. from Alicia. 3 Who's Alicia? 4 A. She is a supervisor in security. 5 Q. And that e-mail is directed to a 6 whole host of people; correct? 7 A. Correct. 8 Q. And you are one of those 9 individuals; correct? 10 A. Yes. 11 Q. And is Mr. Buro on that list of 12 individuals to whom this e-mail is directed? 13 A. Yes, he is. 14 Q. And would he be the person also to 15 whom these daily reports would be forwarded to? 16 A. Absolutely. 17 Q. Throughout his tenure at the 18 organization? 19 A. Yes. 20 Q. And if you could turn the page of 21 A-91, and it's actually the last page of A-91, is 22 there a summary, so to speak, of the incident 23 report of March 14th? 24 A. Yes, there is. 25 Q. And why don't you read the details 13 1 to the Commission, if you would. 2 A. Okay. "On Wednesday, March 14th, at 3 1057 hours, Sisco reported to Security Shift 4 Manager Hughes that there was graffiti in the 5 men's room located on the first floor of the 6 South Tower in back of the Green Room," which is 7 a convention meeting space. "Upon further 8 investigation, this writer discovered that the 9 graffiti was aimed at the Columbia organization. 10 The graffiti read 'Trop/Columbia Essex Must Die'. 11 There were no witnesses in the area. Photos were 12 taken and public area was notified". 13 Q. So as the person ultimately in 14 charge of the security department, Mr. Buro was 15 notified of that incident; is that correct? 16 A. Yes, he was. 17 Q. Now, let's look at A-87. 18 Before we leave that, just so we have 19 some frame of reference, that's March 14th. Is 20 that at the time that the 50 or so people that 21 you mentioned which were employed in the public 22 area were notified of their layoffs? 23 A. Yes. 24 Q. This is A-87, and that's a March 25 20th, 2007 incident report. 14 1 A. Correct. 2 Q. And does that refer to damaged 3 property? 4 A. It does. 5 Q. And where was that property? 6 A. The third floor restroom in the 7 North Tower men's room. 8 Q. And on A-88, it talks about an April 9 16 incident. 10 A. Yes. This incident was a case where 11 on the third floor, North Tower, employees' 12 bathroom, the long and short of it was, that 13 there were four urinals that were clogged by an 14 unknown substance. 15 Q. Now -- sorry. Are you done? 16 A. Yeah. 17 Q. Now, is this the urinal clog that 18 you testified to earlier that you believed was 19 sand in the urinal? 20 A. Yes. It was one of them, I believe 21 there was a few, but one that we had a secured 22 report on. 23 Q. This is unknown substance. Why did 24 you think it was sand? 25 A. I believe I was told at the time 15 1 that the substance was -- sorry, I don't know the 2 material, but it was a material that they used 3 when there's a spill or something on the floor, 4 someone got sick on the floor, like a sandy 5 material. 6 Q. Now, A-89 talks about incident -- 7 well, it is an incident report of June 10th of 8 2007. What is that reporting? 9 A. This is outside the dealer's lounge. 10 It's where I guess the vending machine was kicked 11 in, Plexiglas was bent or whatever. 12 Q. Now, A-90, that's a June 18th, 2007 13 report. 14 A. Yeah, this was first floor, North 15 Tower, women's restroom, which basically states 16 that, "Upon arrival, public area attendant stated 17 she entered the restroom to clean and noticed two 18 stalls were damaged. Both stalls had the toilet 19 tissue holder's dispenser broken, and the toilets 20 were clogged up. It is undetermined who damaged 21 the restroom or the time of the incident". 22 Q. Now, you have been able to go 23 through the files in the hotel. Was the March 24 14th incident of "Columbia Essex must die" the 25 only event of graffiti that was discovered in the 16 1 hotel casino? 2 A. No, there were other instances. 3 Q. And I'm going to show you a group of 4 13 pieces of paper which is marked A-85. 5 First, can you tell me whether all of 6 these incidents of graffiti that you'll describe 7 took place during the time that Mr. Buro was 8 employed at Tropicana? 9 A. It's hard to say with certainty, but 10 it's -- I'd say it's 99 percent accurate, that 11 statement. 12 Q. Can you look at these? Are these -- 13 do these come from the file of Tropicana? 14 A. Yes, they come from the manager in 15 the housekeeping department, and they found these 16 throughout the tower's guest room floors, and 17 things of that nature. 18 Q. And these, each one of these 19 documents has on the top of it, even though a 20 little cutoff on some of these, but I think you 21 can read them all where the locations were, where 22 these were found. 23 A. Yeah. The first set were South 24 Tower, a lot of these were. 25 Q. Service area, service area, service 17 1 area. What does that mean, service area? 2 A. Well, it's not front of the house. 3 It's where the employees would, you know, work 4 out of, where their supplies are. These are all 5 South Tower service area. 6 Q. Let's move on to player development 7 for just a couple minutes. 8 Now, there's been testimony -- there's 9 been testimony with regard to the layoffs in 10 player development. 11 Obviously, you were here during 12 Mr. Buro's testimony, and you testified somewhat 13 to that. Do you recall that? 14 A. Yes. 15 Q. Did Mr. Buro hire any people into 16 player development? 17 A. He did. When he came on board, I 18 think he brought in three people. 19 Q. Are those people that he had 20 relationships before he came to Tropicana, or 21 were they sort of head hunters or recommendations 22 somewhere, whatever? Was he familiar with those 23 people prior to his coming on board? 24 A. I know one specifically, I know he 25 was, yes. 18 1 Q. And when it came time for him to 2 make those layoffs of player development people, 3 did he layoff any of these people that he hired? 4 A. No, he did not. 5 Q. And can you describe what, without 6 going through any proprietary information or the 7 names of people that were laid off, but can you 8 describe for us the value to the casino hotel of 9 the people who he did layoff as opposed to the 10 people that he had hired and didn't layoff? 11 A. You know, the reality is, when I 12 listened to Fred's testimony, you know, I felt 13 there were a lot of inaccuracies when he was 14 speaking to player development because the 15 analysis is very clear. 16 There was, I believe, seven employees 17 that were key members of our player development 18 force that were laid off I guess right at the 19 beginning of the summer, right before the summer, 20 and the analysis shows that we lost 60 percent of 21 the revenue and have not since gained it back 22 since the layoff. And, you know, I guess where I 23 had a problem with his testimony was that he was 24 saying that or trying to imply that they weren't 25 profitable, or things of that nature. 19 1 However, the one person he brought in 2 was left, and was the most unproductive person of 3 the group, and the fact is, when he was brought 4 in, he had no customer base whatsoever, and it 5 was coated up, he used the term "coated up". 6 Bottom line is, coated up means you're 7 given players to make phone calls. So there was 8 a lot of inaccuracies which certainly bothered me 9 because the reality of it is, when you look at 10 this analysis, and you look at our numbers on a 11 month to month basis, the people that he laid off 12 account for upwards of two and a half million 13 dollars in lost slot revenue, and I think what he 14 was trying to imply when he talked about his 15 performance, marketing was the performance of a 16 property. The cleanliness of a property is what 17 really killed us, and I don't know that anything 18 could be further from the truth. 19 The real number, the real decline in 20 revenue is the fact that there were seven people 21 laid off, and we immediately lost 60 percent of 22 the revenue that they brought in, never to get it 23 back again; so. 24 Q. And there was testimony prior to 25 today that there though has been an attempt to 20 1 re-employ some of those people. In fact, I heard 2 someone say that one of these people has been 3 re-employed, and another one is on the verge 4 hopefully of becoming re-employed. 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. Tell us something about the 7 convention business at Tropicana. 8 A. I think it's not a secret, we have 9 one, if not the most, robust convention business 10 models in Atlantic City. We built towers because 11 of our convention business, and we do upwards of 12 about 80,000 room nights a year; very, very 13 profitable business to us and very important 14 segment, marketing segment to us. 15 Q. And are those conventions continuing 16 to sign up at Tropicana for the future? 17 A. We have about an 85 percent repeat 18 clientele, convention clientele. It's been very 19 successful. 20 Q. And for the most part, have you had 21 feedback from these conventions that they have 22 been generally satisfied with the time that their 23 members have spent at the Tropicana? 24 A. Absolutely. You know, make no 25 mistake, I've always said we have the finest 21 1 convention and catering/banquet staff in Atlantic 2 City. They're very hands-on. 3 And why I say that, if there is a 4 problem, if you're at the Trop, and you're at a 5 function, and there's a problem, our folks know 6 about it, and we fix it. You know, it's very 7 rare that a convention group leaves unhappy, 8 certainly not to say there aren't instances that 9 occur, but we're very -- I think we have a very 10 hands-on staff. 11 Q. And there was a certain convention 12 that occurred in June of this year; is that -- 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. And when that convention was on 15 property, were there any complaints with regard 16 to the Tropicana? 17 A. Not that I'm aware of, or anybody 18 that I've spoken to. 19 Q. And was it only months later, like 20 in September, that that group sent in some letter 21 indicating that they were dissatisfied? 22 A. That's what I believe, yes. 23 Q. And whether it's that group or any 24 other group, did you investigate the alleged 25 dissatisfaction? 22 1 A. Our vice president of food and 2 beverage, Al Mariani, who takes this very 3 serious, as I do, is investigating it and 4 certainly trying to remedy whatever situations. 5 Q. But obviously -- I'm sorry, I 6 interrupted -- but obviously, I would assume it's 7 much easier to remedy something if you get notice 8 of it sort of timely while the people are there 9 or while they're checking out or maybe a day or 10 two later, not months later; correct? 11 A. This was very unusual because, and I 12 don't know if I said this, we don't get complaint 13 letters about convention business whatsoever. So 14 it was very odd to see a letter like that. It's 15 a 14 page letter and strange. 16 MR. LEVENSON: I've no further questions. 17 Thank you. 18 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Cross? 19 20 CROSS-EXAMINATION 21 BY MS. MAHER: 22 Q. Thank you. 23 Good morning. 24 A. Hi. 25 Q. Just a few questions, sir. 23 1 You indicated that the public area 2 attendant layoffs began in mid-March? 3 A. I think the one he specifically was 4 mentioning. 5 Q. Well, did any public employee 6 layoffs begin prior to mid-March? 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. And you knew the numbers laid off in 9 mid-March. Do you know how many public employees 10 were laid off in January and February prior to 11 mid-March? 12 A. I think the total was 22 or -- 13 Q. So the layoffs began prior to 14 mid-March. 15 A. Correct. 16 Q. And continued into mid-March. 17 A. Well, I think they were two separate 18 instances. 19 Q. Were they like one big round in 20 January, February; one big round in mid-March? 21 A. I don't know that I call it big 22 round but -- 23 Q. Okay. 24 A. -- small round and maybe one larger 25 round. 24 1 Q. One round in what, January or 2 February? 3 A. I believe it was -- you know, I 4 don't know. I think in January. 5 Q. And then one round in March. 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. And did you have any graffiti 8 incidents or vandalism incidents in January or 9 February of 2007? 10 A. Not that I can recall. 11 Q. Now, I would assume that you 12 probably throughout the years or throughout the 13 course of any given year have vandalism incidents 14 at the Tropicana; would that be fair to say? 15 A. It's a fair statement, not to the 16 degree that we see. 17 Q. And you've given us copies of five 18 specific incidents; is that correct? 19 A. Yes. 20 Q. And are these all the incidents that 21 you have that you presented here today that you 22 are correlating to the layoffs and to the union 23 presumably? 24 A. Well, they were the instances that 25 were filed in security reports. I can tell you 25 1 that during the time of the -- time of 2 notification of the layoffs through a few weeks 3 prior, you know, I'll call it our very most 4 difficult period, we had -- verbally, I'd gotten 5 incidents of other things that just didn't get to 6 the point of notifying security. 7 So if you walk in and see all of your 8 toilet tissue is missing in a bathroom, you know, 9 becomes peculiar. It's just it was there, but 10 now it's gone. 11 Q. So you're saying there are other 12 things that occurred, but you didn't think that 13 they were significant enough to file an incident 14 report or call security in; is that correct? 15 A. Well, I wasn't at those incidents. 16 You know, I think what probably happened is that 17 the attendant went in and just corrected those 18 incidents, but it was brought to management's 19 attention. 20 Q. And management opted not to have a 21 report filed or an incident report prepared; 22 correct? 23 A. Correct. 24 Q. And how many of those would you say 25 there were? 26 1 A. It's hard to say. I don't even want 2 to guess. 3 Q. All right. But these five incident 4 reports I have here are all of the incident 5 reports that the Tropicana has that you are 6 relating to the layoffs; is that correct? 7 A. That is -- 8 Q. That you have written. 9 A. That are documented. 10 Q. That are documented. 11 A. Along with the photos. 12 Q. Now, I note that regarding the 13 graffiti, one of the incident reports that you've 14 given us, and that would be Exhibit 86, 15 specifically refers to graffiti; is that correct? 16 A. If you say so. 17 Q. Let me show it to you. 18 A. I'll take your word for it. 19 Q. I'll show it to you. 20 A. Yes. 21 Q. Now, that specifically relates to 22 graffiti. That's the only one of the five 23 incident reports that relates to graffiti; 24 correct? 25 A. Correct. 27 1 Q. The others involve clogged toilets. 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. And damage to bathrooms, and things 4 of that nature; is that correct? 5 A. Yes, it is. 6 Q. Now, let me take you through these 7 one at a time actually. 8 For instance, I'm going to show you 88, 9 A-88, what does that relate to? 10 A. It relates to finding in the North 11 Tower, third floor employees' bathroom. 12 Q. And the urinals were clogged; is 13 that correct? 14 A. Yes. 15 Q. And it indicates in there they're 16 clogged with unknown substance; correct? 17 A. Correct. 18 Q. So based on that, we don't know what 19 these urinals are clogged with; correct? 20 A. We don't. 21 Q. How is it that you have decided or 22 attributed this specifically to vandalism and 23 specifically to vandalism tied to the employee 24 layoffs? 25 A. I guess maybe I've been in the 28 1 business for over 20 years. 2 Q. Other than that, what specific, what 3 facts do you have to indicate, number one, that 4 just the bathroom was not working correctly and 5 the toilets were clogged up, and let's say we get 6 past that, that you can tie it into the layoffs 7 of the employees? 8 A. Well, let me just make it clear, you 9 know, we have the finest employees in Atlantic 10 City, but there's no question when there's 11 layoffs, these are kinds of things that are -- 12 Q. Okay. But my question is, my 13 question is this, Mr. Gianntonio. First of all, 14 what about that report indicates that that's 15 vandalism and not just clogged toilets? 16 A. Well, it's clogged urinals. 17 Q. Clogged urinals. 18 A. I don't know what would clog urinal 19 of unknown substance without it being vandalism. 20 Q. Well, maybe the bathroom is not 21 properly being attended to. Could that be a 22 cause? 23 A. Four urinals in a row, it's very 24 highly unlikely. 25 Q. And then let's say we make that 29 1 leap, what makes you think that ties into 2 disgruntled employees or ties into layoffs? 3 A. Well, you know, there's a pattern of 4 things that were occurring. Again, this was, by 5 no means, I don't want to underscore the 6 challenge of the time of the layoffs. You know, 7 there's a pattern of things that occurred. 8 Q. Well, there's five things; two in 9 March, one in April, and two in June. That's a 10 pattern of things that tie that specifically to 11 the employees and the unions and the layoffs. 12 A. Well, it's not only that. I mean, 13 it had to do with other things. You know, the 14 day that -- I believe it was the day that we gave 15 notification of the layoffs, 50 percent of our 16 public area attendants called out sick, out of 17 those two days. 18 Q. How does that show that vandalism is 19 attributed to them? 20 A. Here's the point. Fred said that he 21 never saw issues of graffiti, or things of this 22 nature, and I can assure you that, you know, 23 these are real statements. This isn't made up. 24 Q. I can see. I'm sure you've had 25 clogged urinals -- 30 1 A. Yeah. 2 Q. -- but the fact that you have no 3 security report doesn't indicate that Fred Buro 4 knew about that you had clogged urinals. 5 A. Well, he's responsible for security. 6 He gets the security report. 7 Q. Likewise, let me show you A-89, what 8 does that relate to? 9 A. Someone kicked -- in the dealer's 10 lounge, there's a vending machine, someone kicked 11 it, kicked it in. 12 Q. And again, how do you relate that 13 to -- I can see it's kicked in, it's vandalism. 14 How do you relate that again to the union or the 15 layoffs or the employees? How do you know that 16 that has anything to do with the layoffs? Maybe 17 someone didn't get their candy bar, and they 18 kicked the machine. 19 A. I'm sure it wasn't a customer. And 20 again, you know, you have a couple of disgruntled 21 employees, and things of that. You know, I guess 22 the point is, that, you know, what I said 23 earlier, there was a pattern of things that were 24 occurring at the property, and I just don't want 25 anybody to be naive to think that, you know, 31 1 we're misrepresenting how we clean our property. 2 We know with the amount of staff that we 3 have, we can keep the property clean because 4 we're doing it, and we went through a very tough 5 transition because of items like that that didn't 6 happen. I mean, these things didn't help the 7 fact that if you have four clogged urinals, and 8 then all of a sudden, someone walks in to use a 9 urinal, you can't use that urinal, that could be 10 anybody calling or writing a letter or -- 11 Q. I understand that point. I mean, I 12 have specific questions tied into some of the 13 conclusions that you've reached, and that's what 14 I'm asking you about. 15 Now, these are the only five security 16 reports you have indicating these incidents 17 you've indicated, and one of them involves 18 graffiti. I note that you'd given us Exhibit 19 A-85, which I believe is in front of you there -- 20 A. Yes. 21 Q. -- which I understand contains 13 22 pages -- 23 A. Correct. 24 Q. -- of graffiti that was found on the 25 Tropicana premises; is that correct? 32 1 A. Correct. 2 Q. Are these dated in any way? 3 A. They are not. 4 Q. They're not timed or dated. 5 A. No. 6 Q. So you have -- do you have any 7 memory or any recollection or anything to 8 indicate exactly when this occurred? 9 A. I don't specifically other than, you 10 know. 11 Q. So when you say this would have, 12 these incidents would have taken place during the 13 time Mr. Buro was there, you really don't have 14 anything on these photographs or from to indicate 15 that. 16 A. Well, this was, just we wanted to 17 show this was going on. I'm not even sure this 18 was never part of the security record. So Fred 19 probably would never have seen this. 20 Q. So you have nothing to indicate that 21 Mr. Buro would have been aware of these. 22 A. Well, I'm not -- in this case, I'm 23 just saying that we had -- I'm trying to show 24 everybody involved here that we had graffiti, and 25 things of that nature, on the property -- 33 1 Q. But -- 2 A. -- that tends to slow productivity. 3 You got to have a painter -- 4 Q. My question is -- 5 MR. LEVENSON: I haven't objected, but 6 could you please ask, direct her to let him 7 finish his answer, and then ask the next question 8 because a number of times, she started asking a 9 question. 10 CHAIR KASSEKERT: I'm sure she will. 11 MS. MAHER: Thank you. 12 THE WITNESS: What was the question? 13 14 BY MS. MAHER: 15 Q. You testified on direct that these 16 would have taken place during the time Mr. Buro 17 was there, and that he would have been aware of 18 them. 19 A. Well, you know, with regard to the 20 graffiti, he would have been aware of the one 21 that was in the security pack. 22 Q. But is it your testimony now that 23 you're not sure, you can't state that he would 24 have been aware of all of these? 25 A. I'm not sure he would have been 34 1 aware of these, no. 2 Q. There was a security incident report 3 filed on the March 14th graffiti. Why weren't 4 there incident reports filed on the remainder of 5 the 12 instances of graffiti? 6 A. Again, a lot of times, things are 7 just handled. I can't -- it's hard to answer. 8 It would have involved supervisor, manager, you 9 know, picking up the phone and calling security, 10 and it doesn't seem like that took place in these 11 cases. 12 Q. So do you have any idea why one 13 incident would have risen to the level of a 14 security incident and the 12 others would not 15 have? 16 A. You know, that's a hard question to 17 answer. It just would have meant how busy was 18 the supervisor, did they just take care of it, 19 did they clean it off, have somebody clean it. 20 You know, there's a lot of things to take place 21 on property that are just handled, and, you know, 22 I think the sentiment was that during these 23 trials of the layoff, particularly in public 24 area, I mean, I can tell you that I heard a lot 25 of this stuff. It was kind of vibrant through 35 1 the property that God, we're having this issue 2 and that issue and, you know, certainly not every 3 employee. It might have been couple employees 4 causing all of this. 5 Q. I'm going to hand you what's been 6 marked and identified as Exhibit 91. That's the 7 e-mail that you were referencing; is that 8 correct? Regarding the security reports mailed 9 to -- e-mailed to various members. 10 A. Yes. 11 Q. Does one of these go out each day? 12 A. Yes. 13 Q. So everyday, all the people on that 14 list would have gotten an e-mail of this 15 nature -- 16 A. Right. 17 Q. -- with listing all the security 18 incidents that happened. 19 A. That's correct. 20 Q. So in any given week or month, all 21 the people on this list would be e-mailed dozens 22 of incidents regarding security reports; is that 23 correct? 24 A. In any given week, they would be 25 mailed seven. 36 1 Q. Seven times how many incidents? 2 A. Incidents, correct. 3 Q. And how many incidents are 4 documented in that? 5 A. It's seven. 6 Q. Are you sure? 7 A. I'm sorry, nine. 8 Q. So nine various incidents, and one 9 of those references the graffiti; is that 10 correct? 11 A. Correct. 12 Q. And you have no way of knowing, I 13 would assume, whether Mr. Buro opened this and 14 read it and digested it; correct? 15 A. I have no way of knowing that, 16 that's correct. 17 Q. All you can say is that this 18 incident report had, this security incident was 19 sent to him just like the one would have been 20 done everyday before that and after that as well; 21 correct? 22 A. That's correct. 23 Q. Do you know if Buro would be copied 24 on any of the individual security reports of this 25 nature, and would they just come to him in that 37 1 e-mail like you have there? 2 A. It would be. 3 Well, it's a big file, and you have to 4 scroll down on it. You know, as soon as you open 5 it, this is what you see. 6 Q. You have to read it. 7 A. Everyone, yes. 8 Q. He wouldn't be sent individual 9 copies of the incident reports like you've marked 10 in the exhibits; is that correct? 11 A. No, it was just for that purpose. 12 Q. And you're not aware that he was 13 sent these photographs either. 14 A. Not that I'm aware of. I know I 15 didn't send them to him. 16 Q. Regarding some of the player 17 development issues, would it be correct to say 18 that Mr. Buro was told to make layoffs in player 19 development, he was directed to do that by 20 Mr. Yung? 21 A. From -- based on what I read, 22 whatever the testimony was, I believe there was 23 something in writing. 24 Q. You're aware of that. 25 A. Yes. 38 1 Q. And were you aware of that just from 2 the testimony yesterday, or were you aware of 3 that from being on the property and knowing what 4 was going on? 5 A. I wasn't aware of it back then. 6 Q. When did you become aware of it? 7 A. I guess as we talked about it more 8 recently. 9 Q. When would that be? 10 A. I guess when this document came out, 11 the handwritten note. 12 Q. Well, you weren't aware that the 13 layoffs had been made. 14 A. Oh, I was absolutely aware of the 15 layoffs being made. 16 Q. And it's just recently you learned 17 that they were made at the request of Mr. Yung. 18 A. I believe so. 19 Q. And did you understand, or were you 20 aware that Mr. Buro was told by Mr. Yung to 21 terminate people in player development with 22 higher -- with the higher paid salary? 23 A. I was not aware of that. 24 Q. Are you aware -- you indicated that 25 there was some sort of analysis done indicating 39 1 that you lost 60 percent of the revenue. 2 A. That's correct. 3 Q. And do you have that analysis with 4 you? 5 A. I don't. 6 Q. Was it done in writing? 7 A. It was done in a spread sheet. 8 Q. In a spread sheet. 9 Have you produced, or you don't have 10 that available? 11 A. My staff and myself produced it. 12 Q. Who did you discuss the player 13 development issue with recently regarding the 14 employees that were laid off? 15 A. You know, I guess early on when I 16 first took over as the president, I spoke to 17 Kevin Preston, Bob Little. After I was able to 18 trying to get my arms around the situation at the 19 Trop why's our revenue depressed, and we tried to 20 immediately resolve the situation, but for me, I 21 have to see some analysis to understand things. 22 So it just became very apparent that once the 23 analysis was conducted and completed, it's very 24 apparent to us why we're in the situation we are 25 in with regards to stuck revenue, dealer revenue. 40 1 Q. You talked about convention business 2 being important to the Tropicana; correct? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. And you talked about a specific 5 convention in which there was a complaint; is 6 that correct? 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. And I believe I know what you're 9 referring to, and that would be the National 10 Environmental Health Association? 11 A. That's correct. 12 Q. And are you aware that the Tropicana 13 did receive a letter regarding that particular 14 convention's complaints, what they experienced at 15 Tropicana? 16 A. Yes. 17 MS. MAHER: Could I have this marked, 18 please? 19 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Absolutely. 20 MS. MAHER: This is a 15 page letter 21 dated September 24th, 2007 to the Tropicana Hotel 22 from the National Environmental Health 23 Association, it would be D-66, please. 24 (Whereupon, Exhibit D-66, was entered.) 25 MS. MAHER: Thank you. 41 1 May I proceed, please? 2 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Yes, you may. It was 3 D-66, Mr. Nance? 4 MR. NANCE: D-66. 5 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you. 6 7 BY MS. MAHER: 8 Q. Mr. Gianntonio, I'm handing you 9 what's been marked as Exhibit D-66. Can you tell 10 me what that is, do you recognize it? 11 A. Yes. It's a letter to Lynne Mazzeo, 12 who is our -- the head of our collections 13 department. 14 Q. And what does that regard, please? 15 A. It's basically stating that -- 16 what's the acronym -- the National Environmental 17 Health Association is giving us $75,000, and they 18 wish to have the rest of their bill comped, they 19 didn't want to pay the rest of the bill. 20 Q. I'm sorry? 21 A. They did not wish to pay the rest of 22 their bill. 23 Q. How much was the total bill? 24 A. I don't have it in front of me. I 25 believe it was a $22,000 balance. 42 1 Q. That they did not wish to pay. 2 A. Correct. 3 Q. And are you -- have you seen that 4 letter before today? 5 A. I have. 6 Q. And when did you see that letter? 7 A. I don't recall. It could have been 8 a month ago or so. 9 Q. All right. And how is that letter 10 brought to your attention? 11 A. Through our vice president of food 12 and beverage. 13 Q. And have you read through the 14 letter? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. And why did this association not 17 want to pay the entire balance of their bill for 18 their convention stay at the Tropicana Hotel and 19 Casino in Atlantic City? 20 A. Well, unfortunately, it says here 21 that they were dissatisfied, dissatisfied with 22 aspects of our service. 23 Q. And they didn't just generally say 24 we're dissatisfied with your service; would that 25 be correct? 43 1 A. Well, let's put it this way, it's 2 the thickest complaint letter I've ever received. 3 Q. It was fairly detailed; is that 4 correct? 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. Could you take us through in the 7 letter some of the areas that they indicated -- 8 you don't have to read it verbatim -- some of the 9 areas they indicated there were problems with the 10 convention service, please? 11 MR. LEVENSON: Can I just make -- could I 12 make a request that this complaint letter be 13 sealed. It's an individual convention. It is 14 also a letter that comes literally three plus 15 months after a convention. It comes at a time 16 when the convention group is arguing over the 17 remainder of their bill. 18 There were so many facts that are 19 involved in this that are suspect, in that 20 natural human behavior would be that if you have 21 a group, and you have a convention, that if 22 you're dissatisfied with your service, that 23 you're going to make some complaint certainly 24 immediately around the time of your convention. 25 To now complain several months later because you 44 1 don't want to pay the rest of the bill, obviously 2 the Tropicana, you know, through the media 3 coverage here has been severely negatively 4 impacted based on some unsubstantiated complaints 5 that have gone into evidence earlier that have 6 been refuted by the Tropicana. Those are out 7 there. Those have hurt the casino hotel 8 significantly and to allow this kind of document 9 into evidence and have testimony about each and 10 everyone of the individual complaints which with 11 regard to this particular convention coming three 12 plus months after the convention, I don't think 13 is the type of evidence that people should rely 14 upon in the conduct of their everyday affairs. 15 I know we don't want hearsay objections 16 in the administrative arena, but I think you have 17 the ability to separate or leave in the chaff, I 18 have no problem with the fact that there is a 19 complaint letter. It exists, came in for a 20 convention that occurred in June, came in late 21 September, and it complains about the property 22 and the service, and they don't want to pay the 23 rest of their bill. 24 So to have now each and every one of 25 those allegations in there where we certainly -- 45 1 I mean, talking about elongating the whole 2 situation here to now have to produce testimony 3 from people who work at the Tropicana and were 4 working there at that time to now refute the fact 5 that this particular service was not, you know, 6 bad or underserved would be far and beyond what 7 is necessary for the Commission to render a fair 8 and just decision in this matter. We're getting 9 far and far away from the meaning and essence of 10 why we're here to get into a particular 11 convention's complaints because I have no choice 12 but to produce the staff of Tropicana to refute 13 each and every one of those complaints, and I 14 don't believe -- 15 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Mr. Levenson, you 16 opened the door, you asked him about the 17 convention. I think that Miss Maher is entitled 18 to question him. Let me hear her argument. 19 MS. MAHER: My argument is going to be 20 brief, Your Honor. First of all, I believe that 21 this is important to be part of the record. I 22 don't think that's it's inappropriate. I think 23 there's other complaints that have come into the 24 record, the Commission has ordered those not be 25 sealed. 46 1 As the Chair correctly points out, 2 Mr. Levenson opened the door on this. He opened 3 it. Convention business is part and parcel of 4 the Atlantic City Tropicana's business, and how 5 they operate as a casino. I think it's 6 appropriate for this particular hearing. The 7 document has been marked and produced. Whatever 8 Mr. Levenson wants to introduce to refute is 9 certainly his choice, but that does not indicate 10 that this particular document should be sealed 11 and not be part of public record. 12 CHAIR KASSEKERT: I agree, and I'm going 13 to overrule. 14 MS. MAHER: Thank you. 15 16 BY MS. MAHER: 17 Q. If you would just take us through, 18 Mr. Gianntonio, the areas in which this 19 particular convention had complaints and again, 20 you don't have to read through the entirety, but 21 just the general areas, please. 22 A. I just would like to make a few 23 general statements here. 24 Q. No, I don't think that's 25 appropriate. Mr. Levenson has questions for you, 47 1 he can redirect. You need to answer my questions 2 now, please. 3 A. What's outlined in the letter. 4 Q. Just because the letter is, correct 5 me if I'm wrong, fairly detailed; correct? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. And they have noted the areas in 8 which they expressed dissatisfaction; correct? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. Please just take us through those 11 various areas. 12 A. Internet service; apparently the 13 internet was not working in one of the convention 14 rooms; VIP room service orders, I guess there was 15 an issue where I believe one guest did not get 16 their VIP set-up. This is a group of 2800 room 17 nights; front desk answering phone, I guess there 18 was a -- one of the customers as part of this 19 group called down to the front desk and didn't 20 get an immediate someone to answer the phone. 21 Someone claims there was a maid, one of 22 the housekeepers, they called them a maid, eating 23 in the room, eating a room service order in the 24 guest room; room service trays in the hallways 25 for extended time. 48 1 I mean, like I said, I have -- we have 2 some of the best employees in Atlantic City. I 3 can't imagine our housekeepers or room service 4 would do this. 5 Indifferent and uncaring hotel staff, 6 this is -- this other piece on Page 6 kind of is 7 the same thing on Page 4; food and beverage left 8 a lot to be desired. I guess someone had a 9 complaint about the quality of the food. 10 Again, 2800 rooms worth of convention 11 business. There apparently was a theft at one of 12 the conference meeting rooms. You know, the only 13 comment on any of this, we didn't know any of 14 this when it occurred, which is very, very 15 unusual. I mean, when -- 16 Q. Mr. Gianntonio, please if you would 17 answer the question, Mr. Levenson can ask you 18 questions on redirect. 19 A. Okay. Room set-up, there was an 20 issue with one of the room set-ups. I believe 21 the customer complained that they saw cockroach, 22 and somebody claimed that there was a bed bug in 23 the guest room, which was not substantiated; maid 24 service, the quality of service provided by hotel 25 staff; serving glasses, they're saying some of 49 1 our glasses were not clean. Someone said there 2 was an issue of discrimination; and food, 3 somebody complained about the food at the 4 registration desk. That's the crux of the -- 5 Q. Thank you. 6 How long ago were you made aware of 7 this, please? 8 A. I think it was about a month ago. 9 Q. And what have you done in response 10 to this? 11 A. Our vice president of food and 12 beverage is investigating it and determining, I 13 think we've already determined the outcome of 14 this. 15 Q. Have you reached out to the National 16 Environmental Health Association at all? 17 A. I have not specifically. 18 Q. Has anyone from Tropicana reached 19 out to them? 20 A. I'm not sure if they did yet. I 21 believe we're still investigating. 22 Q. And have you reached out to them, 23 tell them you're investigating? 24 A. I think we have done that. 25 Q. You think? 50 1 A. I'm pretty sure that was done. I 2 mean, I didn't do it specifically. 3 Q. Who did it? 4 A. I believe either Al or PMG Miss 5 Spark, director of hotel sales. 6 Q. And you don't think it might have 7 been important for you as the COO of the company 8 to reach out to this group and say we're looking 9 into this, we're taking this seriously, we want 10 your convention business? 11 A. I mean, yeah, I guess that could 12 have been the case, but I did not do that. 13 MS. MAHER: Thank you. I have no further 14 questions. 15 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Ms. Maher, I just want 16 a point of clarification, we marked this letter 17 D-66. Did you move it into evidence? I thought 18 you had, but I just want to clarify for the 19 record. 20 MS. MAHER: I believe I may not have. 21 I'll move it into evidence at this time. 22 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Mr. Levenson, you would 23 object to that -- 24 MR. LEVENSON: Yes. 25 CHAIR KASSEKERT: -- obviously. 51 1 I'm going to move it into evidence. 2 MS. MAHER: We'll make sure that the 3 appropriate copies are given. 4 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Thank you, I appreciate 5 that. 6 Questions from Commissioners? 7 COMMISSIONER EPPS: I have a few. 8 Mr. Gianntonio, you said that, you know, 9 that the substance was something that cleaners 10 use, that was your testimony, you thought it was 11 something cleaners could use in some other 12 fashion that was shoved in the toilet. 13 THE WITNESS: I believe when it occurred, 14 someone had mentioned to me it was, if somebody 15 gets sick on the floor, there's a substance you 16 throw on that to absorb that substance, and 17 that's what I believe I was told. 18 COMMISSIONER EPPS: My question is, if 19 you know what that substance is, why doesn't the 20 maker of this report indicate that that's what 21 the substance is because the report says "unknown 22 substance", but you clearly know that what the 23 substance was. 24 Why is it you have better knowledge than 25 the maker of the report? 52 1 THE WITNESS: Because I believe, this 2 would be, my guess is, that when there's an 3 issue, security goes down there, and that 4 substance is already in the drain. So when the 5 plumber's trying to get it out, it may not even 6 look like that substance, but I guess your point 7 is how do I know? I just know because that's 8 what I believe someone told me that. 9 COMMISSIONER EPPS: That's what you 10 believe someone told you that. 11 Have you ever had occasion in your 12 career in the gaming industry where disgruntled 13 customers vandalize property? 14 THE WITNESS: Yes. 15 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Somebody lost money, 16 got mad at the property for whatever reason 17 vandalized the property, has that occurred -- 18 THE WITNESS: Sure. 19 COMMISSIONER EPPS: -- in public areas? 20 THE WITNESS: Yes. 21 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Now, you indicated 22 that you've given us the reports that you found 23 that address graffiti. So what your testimony 24 is, an exhaustive search was done in preparation 25 for this, this is all you found in your files. 53 1 THE WITNESS: That were part of our 2 security complaints. There were others that were 3 just remedied and taken care of but -- 4 COMMISSIONER EPPS: But there's no 5 reference to graffiti anywhere else in the 6 security files up till today except for what 7 you've presented. 8 THE WITNESS: Well, from that time point, 9 that's what I provided. I mean, there's always 10 graffiti. You know, they use a product that gets 11 graffiti off the wall, that's just handled 12 immediately though. Security wouldn't. 13 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Let me be clear about 14 my question. For whatever period, you searched 15 up till today -- 16 THE WITNESS: Yes. 17 COMMISSIONER EPPS: -- there are no other 18 security reports that reference graffiti as a 19 security issue report. 20 THE WITNESS: That's correct. 21 COMMISSIONER EPPS: And of the ones here, 22 there's only one that says graffiti; right? 23 THE WITNESS: Yes. 24 COMMISSIONER EPPS: On convention 25 business, the return rate that you refer to, in 54 1 the period that's germane to what we're here to 2 do, do you have that number yet? Like 3 conventions that have been there in this past 4 year, we don't know if they're back yet; right? 5 We don't, we won't know until the end of 6 next year what percentage of those conventions 7 return. We know what their intention is, but we 8 won't know until the end of next year until they 9 actually return; is that fair to say? 10 THE WITNESS: No. You typically do two, 11 three year contracts. We do know, we analyze 12 very closely what's on the books and, you know, 13 what's prospect, tentative and definitely. 14 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Could it be a 15 convention that is booked right now may choose 16 not to return? 17 THE WITNESS: I don't see that because I 18 don't hear complaints about our convention 19 business. 20 COMMISSIONER EPPS: That's not my 21 question. Is it possible a convention here in 22 '07 scheduled for '08 may not come in '08; is 23 that possible? 24 THE WITNESS: Anything is possible, sure. 25 COMMISSIONER EPPS: You won't know until 55 1 after that next date whether or not they come 2 back. 3 THE WITNESS: Well, you know, of course 4 what I'm saying is, 85 percent of our convention 5 business is repeat business. Just like we know, 6 you know, very much with our casino data base, we 7 know the patterns and things. That's our 8 pattern. Our pattern is, we get 85 percent of 9 our convention business back. 10 COMMISSIONER EPPS: And that's fine. 11 What we're talking about is something more 12 specific. We're not going to know year after 13 year repeat business until the end of next year 14 if we compare conventions that were in Trop in 15 '07 to repeat business which would be in '08, we 16 won't know until the end of '08 if, in fact, they 17 repeat their business. 18 THE WITNESS: Only because if a group 19 occurred, like we do a lot of short term 20 corporate groups that give you two or three 21 months notification. So if they were here back 22 in, say, March or February, we may have already 23 had them again in September or whenever. So our 24 pattern is, still we're at 85 percent repeat 25 business. 56 1 I guess what you're saying is, if we 2 look back at the end of '08, if we get 85 percent 3 of the business that we had in '07 back in '08, I 4 mean, it just hasn't occurred yet, but the 5 pattern is that, you know, we're getting, that's 6 our pattern. Up to this very point, our business 7 that we have this month, this past month, it's 8 about 85 percent repeat business. Just like we 9 know in the casino data base side, you know, 10 certain loyal customers come in five times a 11 month. I can only look at a pattern, but I see 12 where you're going, but I'm just saying to the 13 very best knowledge that I have, our business is 14 based on 85 percent return business. 15 COMMISSIONER EPPS: All right. You made 16 reference to the handwritten note that you just 17 became recently aware of. 18 THE WITNESS: Right. 19 COMMISSIONER EPPS: I think there was 20 testimony earlier there was a casino side and 21 hotel side of that note, and Fred, Mr. Buro's, 22 testimony was the casino side was direction to 23 him for what to do. Was the hotel side direction 24 to you for what to do? 25 THE WITNESS: Yeah, I would get the 57 1 direction from. 2 COMMISSIONER EPPS: On that note. 3 THE WITNESS: I don't remember seeing 4 that note prior. 5 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Fred got the note and 6 you didn't? 7 THE WITNESS: Again, I don't remember 8 seeing that note. I would get direction mainly 9 verbally from the people that I reported to 10 directly. 11 COMMISSIONER EPPS: You've seen the note 12 since this hearing, or whatever. 13 THE WITNESS: Correct. 14 COMMISSIONER EPPS: It's your testimony 15 you didn't see the note sometime in early 2007. 16 THE WITNESS: I don't recall ever seeing 17 that note. 18 COMMISSIONER EPPS: You didn't take any 19 action based on that note. 20 THE WITNESS: I did not, not based on 21 that note. 22 COMMISSIONER EPPS: I'm done. 23 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Commissioner Frulio. 24 COMMISSIONER FRULIO: Mark, I just have 25 -- I need a clarification. Earlier in your 58 1 testimony, you mentioned that there were seven 2 player development people laid off before the 3 summer, and that caused quite a loss of revenue; 4 am I wrong? 5 THE WITNESS: That's correct. 6 COMMISSIONER FRULIO: Would you say 7 anybody came up with that idea didn't know 8 anything about the casino business to layoff 9 seven people before summer money making season in 10 Atlantic City to just layoff seven player 11 development people? I can't understand that. I 12 just -- I'm sorry. 13 THE WITNESS: Well, you know, I guess the 14 issue needed to be that before anybody was let 15 go, you look at who you're able to let go, and 16 who you're not able to let go and, you know, I'm 17 not sure that that analysis was ever done. I 18 don't think it was. 19 COMMISSIONER FRULIO: That's worse than 20 clogging up a couple of urinals, I think. 21 THE WITNESS: I would say so. 22 COMMISSIONER FRULIO: Thanks. 23 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Commissioner Fedorko? 24 VICE CHAIR FEDORKO: So was that done 25 essentially to hurt the company; is that what 59 1 you're saying? 2 THE WITNESS: What's that? 3 VICE CHAIR FEDORKO: The layoffs. 4 THE WITNESS: No, I'm not saying that at 5 all. I'm just saying that there were people that 6 were laid off that absolutely killed us. 7 VICE CHAIR FEDORKO: Why would somebody 8 do that? 9 THE WITNESS: It could be that, you know, 10 there's not a handle on what the impact is -- 11 you know, there's a cause and effect. I mean, if 12 you do something here, it's going to effect 13 something here, you know. It's a cause and 14 effect. 15 VICE CHAIR FEDORKO: Who laid the people 16 off? 17 THE WITNESS: I'm sorry? 18 VICE CHAIR FEDORKO: Who laid those 19 people off? 20 THE WITNESS: I would assume Fred did, 21 Fred or the person he work -- that worked with 22 him. 23 COMMISSIONER EPPS: That raises a 24 question, your testimony suggesting that it was 25 not a good idea heading into the summer to layoff 60 1 player development people. Is the issue you 2 shouldn't have laid player development people 3 off, or you picked the wrong ones? Which one are 4 you saying? You seem to say pick the wrong 5 people. 6 THE WITNESS: I think the wrong people 7 could have been selected or were selected because 8 the people that were selected were profitable to 9 our -- in other words, when you take these 10 people out, you're taking not only top line 11 revenue, but profit out of the -- 12 COMMISSIONER EPPS: You're heading into 13 summer. Laying off seven player development 14 people, I think you agree with me, it's a bad 15 idea, you should have done an analysis. 16 THE WITNESS: Without analysis, it could 17 be a suicidal idea. 18 COMMISSIONER EPPS: From what we heard, 19 it wasn't Fred's idea to cut player development 20 people, and you're saying he had to do it, he 21 chose the wrong ones, but I think your testimony 22 is what hurt your business was a choice to let go 23 of player development people. 24 THE WITNESS: Well, Mr. Epps, I think 25 what you're saying, and I'm getting your question 61 1 correctly, if Mr. Yung asked me to layoff seven 2 people in player development right now, I would 3 absolutely return a full-blown analysis to say 4 here's where we're going with this, and that was 5 never done. So, you know, the reality of it is, 6 it did occur, and we're still suffering from it 7 right today. 8 COMMISSIONER EPPS: So I understand from 9 you that there wasn't enough pushback against the 10 recommendation. 11 THE WITNESS: I don't know that there was 12 any pushback on the recommendation or anything. 13 CHAIR KASSEKERT: You can't have it both 14 ways frankly. 15 Okay. Let me ask about what is marked 16 as D-66, there are numerous complaints in here. 17 So it's your testimony that none of these 18 complaints were vocalized before this September 19 24th letter. 20 THE WITNESS: As far as I know, that's 21 correct. 22 CHAIR KASSEKERT: You mean that nobody 23 made a complaint to anybody on staff about the 24 maid eating their room service. 25 THE WITNESS: After, you know, speaking 62 1 to Al about these issues, you know, he was as 2 surprised as anybody, you know. You know, you 3 don't just have a convention group looking to 4 have a rebate of $22,000 and come up with a 15 5 page document without somebody knowing on 6 property that there were issues. 7 CHAIR KASSEKERT: No one made a complaint 8 about the cleanliness of the facility. 9 THE WITNESS: Again, not that I'm -- 10 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Don't you think that's 11 kind of strange? 12 THE WITNESS: It's very strange. It's 13 suspect, a little suspect. 14 CHAIR KASSEKERT: If I was in a facility 15 and the glass was dirty, glasses were dirty, you 16 wouldn't make a complaint about that. 17 THE WITNESS: You know, again, I don't 18 want to come off the wrong way, believe me, I'm 19 sure it may be simple for me to be that way, but, 20 you know, in the convention catering/banquet 21 business, when you do a wedding, if there's 22 something wrong with the wedding a little bit, 23 cake didn't come out just right, people are going 24 to look to get a rebate on their bill. 25 That's just the nature of the business. 63 1 I'm not refuting that we didn't have issues with 2 this convention group because to be honest with 3 you, I haven't put the time and effort to look 4 into it. I just know some of these things, we're 5 unable to substantiate now because it wasn't 6 brought to our attention at the time of the 7 complaint -- or at the time of when it occurred. 8 And so it's difficult for me to sit here 9 and kind of eat this when it's hard for me, we 10 didn't know about it at the time it occurred and, 11 you know, 15 page report, it's just a little much 12 to swallow, that you're not going to hear about 13 some of these complaints, you know, the date that 14 it occurred. 15 I could tell you one thing that if I 16 walked into a hotel room with my wife and the 17 maid was eating part of the room service thing, 18 you better believe that GM would know about it or 19 somebody would know about it. So, I mean, and I 20 don't think it's -- the first thing is, I don't 21 think our maid did it. That's the first thing, 22 and I'm sure Bob McDevitt would say the same 23 thing. 24 CHAIR KASSEKERT: You're saying the 25 person made it up. 64 1 THE WITNESS: I don't know. I'm just 2 saying this kind of got thrown out here, and it's 3 a little suspect looking for $22,000 rebate, 4 which I'm inclined to do something for them, 5 absolutely. It sounds like they -- you know, 6 members of 2800 room convention, part of the 7 membership of that convention were unhappy, but, 8 you know, I could tell you we don't get 9 complaints with convention business. This is -- 10 you know, it just doesn't occur. 11 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Commissioner Sommeling? 12 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Mark, I just 13 want to go back. 14 THE WITNESS: I'm sorry, but of that 15 nature, we don't -- I've never seen a complaint 16 letter written like that; so. 17 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: But you've seen 18 this particular letter at this point, and you're 19 aware of the other complaints that have been put 20 into evidence. 21 I want to ask you a question, when Fred 22 Buro was at the Tropicana, just refresh my 23 memory, what was your title at that time? 24 THE WITNESS: Executive vice president of 25 operations. 65 1 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: And that 2 included the hotel facilities and services. 3 THE WITNESS: Yes. 4 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Who had received 5 the majority of the complaints with regard to 6 facility problems or service problems; would that 7 be you or Fred? 8 THE WITNESS: Yeah, customer could send 9 it to Fred because he would be the president of 10 the property, or they would come to me. Bottom 11 line is, if they were related to my area, I would 12 get them. Whether they went to Fred or went to 13 me or went to even somebody else, I would see 14 them. 15 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: And would you 16 say that you read the majority of the complaints? 17 THE WITNESS: Absolutely, and that goes 18 to the testimony that I said earlier with those 19 others, 93 percent of those customers that had 20 complained stayed with us, primarily because 21 their PD's are still here. They're still with us 22 and, you know, not only did the PD work on the 23 customers, try to make them happy, try to do the 24 right thing by them. When a guest comes to the 25 Tropicana, we have a high success rate of keeping 66 1 people loyal to the Tropicana in light of 2 everything else that goes on there. 3 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Let's talk about 4 that for a minute and go back to the convention 5 business. You said that the convention business 6 generally is planned out for maybe particular 7 groups two, three years running -- 8 THE WITNESS: Yeah. 9 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: -- come back as 10 return conventioneers. 11 THE WITNESS: Sure. 12 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: When that 13 happens, do you get a substantial deposit for 14 each successive year? 15 THE WITNESS: We do, yeah. 16 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: And in the 17 record of your -- in your financial records at 18 this point, you have a considerable number of 19 those that you received already from convention 20 groups that are going to be coming back to 21 Tropicana. 22 THE WITNESS: Yes. 23 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Your testimony just 24 now, your return people, the people that 25 complain, you know, that 93 percent of them 67 1 return because their PD's are still with you. 2 THE WITNESS: Yes. 3 COMMISSIONER EPPS: So that people, 4 everybody that complained was a person that had a 5 player development person associated to them. 6 THE WITNESS: Not everybody, but I'd say 7 that the vast majority of them are still there. 8 COMMISSIONER EPPS: So is it your 9 testimony that the only people that complained 10 are the people in your player development? Isn't 11 it possible to be a guest in your hotel and not 12 be player development? 13 THE WITNESS: It's possible. 14 COMMISSIONER EPPS: How do we know what 15 the return rate of people, just guests at Trop 16 who complained, how do we know what the return 17 rate for those people are because when you tell 18 me 93 percent, but then you say it's based on 19 PD's are still here. 20 THE WITNESS: You're talking about 66 21 letter. 22 COMMISSIONER EPPS: 66 letter all had 23 PD's associated with them. 24 THE WITNESS: Correct. 25 COMMISSIONER EPPS: You didn't get any 68 1 complaints from people who had PD's associated 2 with them. 3 THE WITNESS: I'm just talking to those 4 letters that were put into evidence here, I 5 guess. Those letters that were put into evidence 6 were customers associated with player development 7 executives. 8 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Okay. So -- 9 THE WITNESS: I mean, we're going to have 10 a full occupancy tonight, 2,129 rooms. You know, 11 God willing, everything goes beautiful and 12 customers come in, they're happy as could be but, 13 you know, when you're running 15,000 customers a 14 day through your property, you're going to tend 15 to get an issue here or there. 16 My comment is, that we have a very 17 proficient, professional staff; that when we do 18 get a complaint, we're able to remedy it. We 19 have the tools to get the customer to come back 20 and, you know, either say hey, we're sorry this 21 happened, give us another chance, this is the 22 basic. 23 COMMISSIONER EPPS: And I'm not fighting 24 with you, I'm not trying to be a gotcha. I'm 25 trying to understand the information you give me 69 1 so I can use it effectively. 2 You told me 93 percent of the people who 3 complain are returning, and you know that because 4 their PD's are still there, and they're still 5 coming. 6 THE WITNESS: I was only speaking to 7 those complaint letters that were entered into 8 evidence when I'd testified earlier. 9 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Now, you guys didn't 10 submit those complaint letters, did you? Those 11 were in the file. 12 THE WITNESS: Yes. 13 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Is it just a 14 coincidence that the complaint letters in your 15 file each have a PD associated to it? 16 THE WITNESS: You know, I think that 17 those complaint letters were a file of the head 18 of player development, and she was collecting 19 them. 20 COMMISSIONER EPPS: So the player 21 development group maintains complaints that your 22 player development people file. 23 THE WITNESS: Well, no. In this case, 24 these were, I guess, complaints that Fred asked 25 Carolyn to keep on file. 70 1 COMMISSIONER EPPS: In the PD, in the PD 2 area. 3 THE WITNESS: Correct. 4 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Now, are there 5 complaints from people not in PD somewhere else? 6 THE WITNESS: Yeah, there's complaints, 7 sure. 8 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Now, are they in a 9 file somewhere? 10 THE WITNESS: We have them, sure. 11 COMMISSIONER EPPS: So there's a separate 12 file of complaints somewhere that are not in the 13 PD area that we haven't discussed today at this 14 hearing. 15 THE WITNESS: Correct. 16 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Okay. So we don't 17 know what the return rate of these people are 18 because they're not tracked by player 19 development. 20 THE WITNESS: That's correct. I guess my 21 only comment to that, we don't -- we're very good 22 with our complaints. We get a complaint, we 23 hopefully know about it before they leave the 24 property and, you know, we remedy immediately, 25 but when a letter comes in, we'll do things like 71 1 reinvite them back with a show and dinner and -- 2 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Don't get me wrong, 3 I've never heard bad things about you. You're 4 probably right at what you're saying. You got 93 5 percent, I want to know what the comparison is? 6 These are from your PD people. So you got that 7 because, you know, they're signed by PD, you can 8 track their coming back. There's a separate set 9 of complaints that we don't know the return rate, 10 they're not associated with PD. So we don't know 11 what that return rate is, we haven't entertained 12 what those complaints were because they weren't 13 in a file that we could necessarily have access 14 to. 15 THE WITNESS: Correct. 16 COMMISSIONER EPPS: So we don't know what 17 that number is. 18 THE WITNESS: That's correct. 19 COMMISSIONER EPPS: For example, you said 20 how many rooms tonight? 21 THE WITNESS: I'm saying in theory, we 22 get a hundred percent, 2,129 rooms. 23 COMMISSIONER EPPS: How many of those are 24 PD rooms? 25 THE WITNESS: Today is Thursday, probably 72 1 about seven, 800. 2 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Seven or 800. So 3 there's another 1400 rooms that are not PD rooms. 4 THE WITNESS: Right. There's various 5 marketing. 6 COMMISSIONER EPPS: If those people had 7 complaints, would you be able to track them, too, 8 in a file? 9 THE WITNESS: Yes. 10 COMMISSIONER EPPS: What file is that? 11 THE WITNESS: It comes through human 12 resources. 13 COMMISSIONER EPPS: So HR has a file of 14 all the complaints non-PD. 15 THE WITNESS: You say "all", like there's 16 tons of them. 17 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Whatever there are, 18 all six of them last year. 19 THE WITNESS: Might be 100 at one time, 20 whatever. 21 COMMISSIONER EPPS: They're in another 22 file. 23 THE WITNESS: You have to -- you have to 24 track. We also get very good letters, too; so. 25 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Okay. 73 1 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Let me just -- I know 2 Commissioner Sommeling has another question. Let 3 me ask one more question with respect to the 4 convention business. You testified that with 5 respect to the graffiti, that sometimes staff 6 just cleans up, and there might not be additional 7 reports made; correct? 8 THE WITNESS: Correct. 9 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Couldn't that be the 10 same case with these complaints, perhaps the 11 complaints were made, and your staff members took 12 care of it and never rose up to you? 13 THE WITNESS: You know, anything is 14 possible, Chair. I guess what I'm saying, we 15 have a great convention service, catering staff, 16 and it was just unusual. I talked to Al. 17 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Understood, but if you 18 have a great convention and catering staff -- 19 THE WITNESS: Anything is possible. 20 CHAIR KASSEKERT: -- they should be 21 preempting problems and perhaps taking care of 22 them. 23 THE WITNESS: Yeah. I mean, if you have 24 a housekeeper in a room eating food, and no one 25 ever brings it to anyone's attention, it's just 74 1 very unusual. 2 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Maybe it was brought to 3 someone's attention. 4 THE WITNESS: It's possible. 5 CHAIR KASSEKERT: It hasn't been brought 6 to your attention. 7 THE WITNESS: Well, this is going down 8 layers below me to find out, get a handle on some 9 of this stuff; so. And I'm not -- I'm not saying 10 some of this stuff couldn't have happened. What 11 I'm saying is, it's just unusual that you get 12 this 15 page letter months after, not that it's 13 unusual because sometimes, they're scammers, 14 people don't want to pay their bill. That's the 15 way it is. People slip and fall, and it's fraud. 16 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Understood. 17 Commissioner Sommeling? 18 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Thank you, 19 Chair. 20 Mark, I don't want to sound redundant, 21 I'd like to go back to a few items with respect 22 to the complaints that you received in the 23 Tropicana since your tenure and prior to that 24 when Fred was on board, you always follow-up or 25 had you always followed up on complaints? 75 1 THE WITNESS: Me personally? 2 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Well, either you 3 personally or the committee or group. 4 THE WITNESS: Absolutely. 5 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: I know in 6 Alicia's e-mail, that there were several people 7 notified, including Fred, yourself and during 8 that time, was Mr. Yung apprised of what was 9 going on, what seemed to you and others that 10 there was an inordinate amount of incidents 11 occurring on the property? 12 THE WITNESS: Well, you know, make no 13 mistake about it, I mean, it's easy to say five 14 or six of these things are not, it's not a large 15 number, but it is. You know, there's a feeling 16 there was just correlation, you have layoffs and 17 you have some of this happen. 18 I -- personally, I don't think I said 19 anything to Mr. Yung, but I read these everyday. 20 These are important documents that you have to 21 read as an operator and, you know, that's how you 22 learn about what's happening on property. So I 23 didn't personally tell him about that, but I told 24 the people that I report up to about it. 25 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Well, would that 76 1 be in the form of a management level type of 2 meeting where you and other management level 3 people would talk about what was occurring? 4 THE WITNESS: Absolutely. I mean, within 5 a weekly basis, we go through everything from 6 service to this, to that and how you're always 7 trying to improve things. 8 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Did it become 9 general knowledge among the executives of the 10 property these kinds of incidents were occurring 11 over a period of time? 12 THE WITNESS: Well, certainly at least 13 the people that reported to me. You know, there 14 was -- I believe we didn't dwell on it. We 15 weren't dwelling on it. We were just trying to 16 operate. 17 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: And when you 18 finally talked to Mr. Yung about all this, what 19 would you say his reaction was? Did he think 20 this was ordinary, this was just incidents that 21 were occurring, or this was something that was 22 ongoing and was going on and had something to do 23 with the unions or the employees? 24 THE WITNESS: I mean, to characterize it 25 one way, I mean, he's more of an optimist. I 77 1 think he just thinks things will improve and get 2 better and looking towards the future. 3 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: No more 4 questions. 5 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Commissioner Epps, do 6 you have any questions? 7 COMMISSIONER EPPS: No. 8 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Mr. Levenson, anything 9 on redirect? 10 MR. LEVENSON: Just a little bit more. 11 Let me, just because I think I may have argued my 12 request with regard to D-66 a little bit skewed 13 to the admissibility rather than the sealing, I 14 want to, now that it's admitted into evidence, I 15 would just like to renew my request based on all 16 of the questions that have now been asked by the 17 Commissioners that that letter be sealed and 18 request that you take whatever time is necessary 19 to come to a conclusion on that. Thank you. 20 CHAIR KASSEKERT: You welcome. 21 MR. LEVENSON: I just have a couple 22 questions, I think. 23 24 REDIRECT EXAMINATION 25 BY MR. LEVENSON: 78 1 Q. This A-91, just in case I didn't 2 make it clear, you didn't make it clear early, 3 A-91, the first page, is an e-mail from Alicia to 4 a whole bunch of people including you and Fred 5 Buro and many other people; correct? 6 A. That's correct. 7 Q. And it lists the incidents that 8 occurred during that particular day; is that 9 correct? 10 A. Yes. 11 Q. Now, I assume as the COO of this 12 property, that this is a very important document 13 to you to get everyday; is that correct? 14 A. Absolutely. 15 Q. And is there a day that ever goes by 16 that you don't read each and every one of these 17 incidents? 18 A. No. 19 Q. So you would say -- and you've been 20 in business 20 years or whatever; is that 21 correct? 22 A. At the Tropicana. 23 Q. And you read these even before you 24 became COO; correct? 25 A. Yeah. I mean, it depends on your 79 1 position in the company that you would be CC'd on 2 it or not. 3 Q. As president and COO of a company, 4 would you know if -- firsthand, since you've been 5 president and COO since August, that none of 6 these incident e-mails would ever go without the 7 head of the company reviewing the incidents; is 8 that correct? 9 A. Well, they should be reviewed. 10 Q. And just in case it wasn't clear 11 earlier because we didn't get each one of the 12 e-mail cover sheets for all these other 13 incidents, were all these other compilation of 14 the daily reports, for all these other daily 15 compilations, would there be a similar e-mail 16 other than the date for everyone of these on a 17 daily basis -- 18 A. Yes. 19 Q. -- going to the people who are 20 named? 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. Now -- and as the COO of the 23 property, security reports to you. 24 A. Correct. 25 Q. And as the COO of the property, 80 1 previous to your taking that position, security 2 department reported to Fred Buro; is that 3 correct? 4 A. That's correct. 5 Q. I guess as a final question, and I 6 don't know if we've ever really hit up this type 7 of area, but describe for the Commissioners what, 8 other than being sold out tonight, which is 9 obviously a good sign, what is the property like 10 now. We're stuck here on Tennessee Avenue. You 11 know, tell us as COO and president of Tropicana 12 Hotel Casino, we've heard all things about 13 January, February, March and, you know, all these 14 things, please, I'm not going to repeat them or 15 ask you about them, but tell us about the 16 Tropicana Hotel today. 17 A. It's thriving. It's absolutely a 18 fun place to be. Customers go, and they're very 19 happy. We have some construction on the casino 20 floor. We're spending millions of dollars. So 21 that even customers that are seeing that, they're 22 really happy about that and, you know, it's 23 getting back to normal. I think our employees 24 are happy. 25 We had an Employee of the Month today, 81 1 there was about 40 people or so and, you know, 2 it's doing -- doing well, and as we figure out 3 and rebound from these player development issues, 4 you know, we're going to be very competitive in 5 this marketplace. 6 Q. Is the place clean? 7 A. It is clean. 8 MR. LEVENSON: I've no further questions. 9 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Anything on redirect? 10 MS. MAHER: No. 11 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Any questions? 12 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Just one more. You 13 have never ever not read a security report. 14 THE WITNESS: Everything is possible. 15 COMMISSIONER EPPS: You've never not read 16 it. 17 THE WITNESS: I try. I know that 18 sometimes, I -- 19 COMMISSIONER EPPS: Have you ever not 20 read it? 21 THE WITNESS: Yes, I probably have never 22 not read it. 23 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Anything else? 24 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: Just one thing. 25 I just want to go back to that one quick 82 1 section when Mr. Levenson asked you that same 2 question, your answer was should be. 3 Now, I'm assuming that someone in your 4 position doesn't read every single incident 5 report regarding an occurrence on the property. 6 Would it be fair to say that you 7 probably read those that are more serious or 8 serious as opposed to, say, those that are 9 routine stuff that, you know, happens all the 10 time? 11 THE WITNESS: It's -- for me, it's the 12 first thing I open. In the morning, it's the 13 first document that I open, and I'll scan it. 14 I'm not going to -- sometimes, it's a lengthy 15 incident report. You know, there's been 16 occasions where I've deleted it by mistake, may 17 not have read it but, you know, it's one of the 18 first things I want to get out of the way 19 actually because it was -- it's a recap of what 20 happened yesterday. 21 So from an e-mail, it's the first e-mail 22 I open, then I go right to the numbers, and 23 that's where it is. 24 COMMISSIONER SOMMELING: No more 25 questions. 83 1 MR. LEVENSON: I just have one more 2 question just to clarify based on Commissioner 3 Sommeling's, so we're all on the same page. 4 5 FURTHER REDIRECT EXAMINATION 6 BY MR. LEVENSON: 7 Q. The e-mail that goes out, it goes 8 out, as you can see on the rest of A-91, it goes 9 out with a synopsis of each one of the incidents; 10 correct? 11 A. Correct. 12 Q. And does it also have the ability in 13 the e-mail process to pull up the full incident 14 report? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. So when you're talking about in 17 answering questions that you don't review the 18 full incident reports on a daily basis -- 19 A. Right. 20 Q. -- is it your testimony though that 21 the first order of business you do every morning 22 is to look at the summary of the incidents that 23 occurred the day before? 24 A. Correct. 25 Q. And you think that's a very 84 1 important responsibility of yours to know what 2 incidents occurred, at least as an overview as 3 set forth in the summaries on a daily basis; 4 correct? 5 A. Correct. 6 Q. You certainly try the best you can 7 not to miss any of those daily reports. 8 A. That's correct. I mean, a lot of 9 them I already know because I've been notified 10 what occurred on them but -- 11 MR. LEVENSON: I've nothing further. 12 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Any other questions? 13 MS. MAHER: No. 14 CHAIR KASSEKERT: All right. You can 15 step down, Mr. Gianntonio. 16 I believe our next witness is not going 17 to be due to arrive till about two o'clock? 18 MR. LEVENSON: I thought it was three, 19 Madam Chair. 20 CHAIR KASSEKERT: Three o'clock? 21 We'll recess then until three o'clock. 22 (Whereupon, the Commission recessed at 23 12:55 p.m.) 24 25 85 1 C E R T I F I C A T E 2 3 4 I, CHRISTINE STANCO, a Certified Court 5 Reporter and Notary Public of the State of New 6 Jersey, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a 7 true and accurate transcript of the stenographic 8 notes as taken by and before me, on the date and 9 place hereinbefore set forth. 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 CHRISTINE STANCO, C.C.R. 18 LICENSE NO. XI00789 19 20 21 22 23 24 25