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Commissioner submits resignation during meeting, cites 'neglect' and state hostility toward racing
Summary
A longtime commissioner read a prepared statement describing decades of service and said state leaders had chastised the commission; the commissioner announced resignation effective at the close of the meeting and asked that the full statement be entered into the minutes.
A commissioner read a prepared statement to the Minnesota Racing Commission announcing a resignation effective at the close of the meeting, citing frustration with state treatment of the industry.
The speaker recounted being recruited from South Florida in 1985 to serve as a regulatory racing veterinarian and described longstanding work to professionalize race-day exams, drug-testing chain-of-custody, and digital medical records. The speaker said the commission’s mission was to ensure integrity and to promote the industry, and described recent events as evidence of "neglect, even some hostility on the part of the state." "Therefore, effective at the close of this meeting, I'm resigning as a Minnesota racing commissioner," the speaker read.
Colleagues responded with expressions of gratitude and regret; one commissioner acknowledged the speaker’s leadership and said the departing commissioner would remain a resource. The resignation was read into the public record and the speaker asked that the statement be included in its entirety in the meeting minutes.
