Chairman John Moran Jr. leaving the Nevada Gaming Commission on Thursday

Chairman John Moran Jr. is leaving the Nevada Gaming Commission. A meeting scheduled on Thursday is set to be his last as a member of the entity. Following his departure, the five-member Gaming Commission will be down two members, as a replacement for Commissioner Deborah Fuetsch, who resigned in May, has not yet been appointed.

Moran said Tuesday that he consulted with Gov. Steve Sisolak three months ago and gave him a timeline for his departure, reports Las Vegas Review Journal. It was determined that Moran would exit after September’s meeting, with Vice Chairman Steve Cohen expected to fill the role until the Governor appoints a new chairman.

Moran was appointed chairman by Sisolak in July 2020. Initially appointed to the commission by Gov. Kenny Guinn in 2004, he had been serving as acting chairman since the resignation of Tony Alamo in April 2020. Alamo left to devote more time to his medical practice during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“My goal was always to serve the state of Nevada and the people on three commissions and to chair all three,” said Moran, according to the previously cited news source. “Now, I’ve reached my goal some time ago and have really enjoyed being a chairman, but it’s really time to move over and give somebody else a chance at it.”

Having been reappointed to four-year terms by Govs. Jim Gibbons and Brian Sandoval, his 14 years on the commission make him the longest-serving commissioner in state history. “It’s been really rewarding for me,” stated Moran, who said he wants to see more people given a chance “to serve the state.”

Prior to his appointment to Nevada’s Gaming Commission, Moran was appointed to the Colorado River Commission in 1989, where he served as both member and chairman; and the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commission in 2000, where he served as member and chairman until 2004.

The Nevada Gaming Commission is the state’s top regulatory board and makes the final decisions on gaming license recommendations made by the full-time Nevada Gaming Control Board.

In May, Deborah Fuetsch, the lone Nevada Gaming Commission representative from Norther Nevada, resigned after serving for five years. “It has been a true privilege to serve the state as a member of the Nevada Gaming Commission,” she said in a letter to Sisolak. “I truly believe I fulfilled my duties as a regulator with honesty, integrity and independence.”