Gambling oversight board needs a chairperson for third time in little more than a year
For the third time in just over a year, the Florida Gaming Control Commission has lost its chairperson.
Charles “C.B.” Upton, a Tallahassee lawyer, submitted his letter of resignation on Tuesday after less than four months on the job. No reason was readily available.
Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Upton in April to succeed John MacIver, who left the chairman’s role in January when DeSantis appointed him to the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach.
Upton is the president of Upton Holdings and an attorney for Upton Law Firm in Tallahassee, where he advises clients on gaming law issues. His wife is Anna Upton, CEO of the Everglades Trust, the political arm of the Everglades Foundation, the nonprofit organization focused on scientific research and advocacy for the restoration of the Everglades.
Upton would not comment on the resignation, and the governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
The departure had been rumored for the past few weeks after Upton’s name was removed from the commission’s website and the August meeting of the board was canceled.
The five-member commission was established by legislators in 2022 to regulate all gambling in Florida, including pari-mutuel wagering, card rooms, slot machine facilities and overseeing implementations of tribal gaming compacts. The governor appoints the chairperson and, since its inception, the commission’s board has been one of musical chairs.
DeSantis first appointed Julie I. Brown, who was then his secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, to chair the commission in its formative stages before it assumed regulator oversight in July 2022.
But within months, Brown stepped aside so DeSantis could appoint MacIver, who was then general counsel for the Florida Department of Financial Services under Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis.
After MacIver left the role in January, the commission also lost Michael Yaworsky as vice chair in March when the governor and Cabinet appointed the Tallahassee lawyer to serve as the Florida Insurance Commissioner. Brown has now succeeded Yaworsky as vice chair.
