Maine: Opposition not over

Group to fight casino vote
Legal challenges, recount are possible

Casinos No! may request a recount of Tuesday's state referendum question allowing a resort casino in Oxford County, Maine.

The citizens action committee has until 5 p.m. Tuesday to request the recount by submitting the signatures of 100 people who voted Nov. 2, to the state Secretary of State's office, according to Executive Director Dennis Bailey. The citizen initiative ballot question won by an estimated 7,000 votes, with the result still too close to call by the end of election night last Tuesday.

Bailey said there may be other challenges to the state's first casino. He has heard there were errors in the reporting of some towns' vote totals to the state, Bailey said Friday. Also, Casinos No! has been contacted by a, "couple of attorneys" who are looking into a constitutional challenge based on public law for private gain, and the state conferring rights to own a monopoly. The referendum wording, drafted by the state Secretary of State, defines only one casino in the state, in Oxford County, Bailey said.

Black Bear Entertainment LLC, proposes to build a $165 million casino and resort along Route 26 in the western Maine town of Oxford, not far from North Conway, N.H. Black Bear Entertainment is comprised of Maine business owners, including Jim Boldebook.

"We don't believe there's any position or reason for a recount, there's almost a 7,000-vote spread in the win," Boldebook said Friday.

On the legal question, Boldebook said, "We haven't heard details, but I'm confident there's no basis for a legal challenge. We hired the best attorneys in the business to draft the bill, to withstand any type of legal challenge."

The Four Seasons Resort will have game tables as well as slot machines, making it the first casino in the state. Hollywood Slots in Bangor has slot machines only.

"We will be nailing down site selection within the next week," Boldebook said. "We are at the same time working with architects and site planning people to present a plan to the municipality of Oxford, then we'll go to (the Department of Environmental Protection). Once those things are in place, we'll go ahead and proceed with the design aspects and negotiate for a managing partner for the casino aspect."

The Maine partners will retain majority control, he said.

Proponents say the casino will create thousands of jobs, pump tens of millions of dollars into the economy and generate more than $60 million in state revenue, with some of that going to education. Opponents say a casino will drain money and jobs out of the local economy while creating new problems such as increased crime and gambling addiction.

This was the fourth time a casino has gone to referendum vote in Maine since 2003. Each previous time, voters rejected the measure.

On Nov. 2, a majority of voters in Eliot, Kittery, South Berwick and York, voted against the Oxford casino.

Bangor and Foxwoods are about equal distance, an estimated 2½- to 3-hour trip, she said. Oxford, is definitely closer, about 90 minutes away, she said. Gambling is popular entertainment for the bus groups, especially the slot machines in Bangor, she said, but those trips are not as booked as other events, such as going to see musicals.

Bailey said groups other than Black Bear Entertainment have proposed casinos in Biddeford, Lewiston and Washington County.

Jim Bartlett, an attorney in York who serves on the Casinos No! executive committee, is concerned that Oxford is only the beginning of casinos in Maine.

"At some point, it will reach a critical mass. The Legislature will say, why limit it anywhere in the state of Maine? I believe where developers want to be is this area," Bartlett said of York and southern Maine. "As long as Massachusetts and New Hampshire don't have casinos, they want to be here."

Bartlett believes the jobs created by casinos do not pay enough to support families.

"All of the research we looked at, it showed that the jobs created were the lowest paying," Bartlett said Thursday. "The administrative and dealer jobs generally go to people from out of state."

The social impact includes problem gamblers, divorces, bankruptcies and crime, he said. "I think it's a false promise of providing tax revenue."

"It's taking our tax burden and shifting it to a small group of people, most likely those who can't afford that."

Businesses don't want to locate near a casino because of fears of how gambling will affect their employees, Bartlett said.

"We struggle in Maine to keep businesses, to attract new businesses," he said. "People think this is an easy solution. I hate to see us sell our soul for minimal gain."