Task force on impact of proposed Maine casino named

AUGUSTA – Appointments to a special task force charged with analyzing the impact of a proposed Maine casino were announced Friday by Maine Senate President Richard Bennett, R-Norway.

Bennett and President Pro Tem Michael Michaud, D-East Millinocket, once again turned to Sen. Jill Goldthwait, a Bar Harbor independent, as their final choice for membership on yet another high-profile committee.

“I’ve been told not to expect an initial meeting of the task force before August 24,” Goldthwait said.

The four-term Hancock County legislator serves as Senate chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee and played a pivotal role earlier this year on a Senate panel that reviewed ballots in a hotly disputed southern Maine Senate race. The panel’s recommendation set the stage for a full Senate vote that gave Democrats a majority in the 35-member chamber.

And in an unrelated casino development Friday, Casinos No! – a York County grass-roots organization opposed to casino gambling – urged state regulators to carefully review a proposal by a Las Vegas developer to purchase Bangor Raceway. The recommendation followed news reports this week alleging that the new owner, Shawn Scott, has been accused of “accounting irregularities” at other raceways and casinos he owns. The report, featured on Maine Public Radio, maintained that Scott plans to turn Bangor Raceway into a casino by installing slot machines.

“This is a major reason why we have opposed the introduction of casinos in Maine,” said Casinos No! Co-chair James Bartlett. “Once the door is open, it will be impossible to prevent the spread of casino gambling across the state.”

The casino issue, advanced earlier this year by representatives of the Penobscot Nation and the Passamaquoddy Tribe, has been the focus of considerable debate in Maine, particularly in York County where the tribes would like to construct a half-billion-dollar gambling resort as a joint venture with the state. With the exception of one little-known, write-in candidate, all four gubernatorial aspirants have expressed their opposition to a Maine casino.

Despite a likely veto from the next governor, the Legislature will proceed with a $10,000 taxpayer-funded study to evaluate a casino’s impact on the state. In addition to assessing a casino’s impact on social services, affordable housing and crime, the proposed 19-member task force would assess such a gambling resort’s effect on local businesses and other forms of gambling in Maine.

In addition to law enforcement interests and business representatives, the task force will include the following legislative appointments by Senate and House leaders:

Senate Chairman Kevin Shorey, R-Calais; Goldthwait, Sen. Chandler Woodcock, R-Farmington; Thomas Phillips, Portland, casino opponent; John Menario, casino proponent; House Chairwoman and Penobscot tribal representative Donna Loring, Richmond; Rep. Bruce Bryant, D-Dixfield; Rep. Jan LaBrecque, R-Gorham; Jim Carson, South Portland, casino proponent, and Richard Balkite, York, casino opponent.

“Representative Loring is diligent and fair in her approach to issues,” said House Speaker Michael V. Saxl, D-Portland. “I know that she will do a great job with this important task.”

Casino opponents hope to convince the task force that a York County gambling resort would only be a beginning for the tribes. Citing the MPR report, Bartlett said Henry Jackson, executive director of the Maine Harness Racing Commission, made it clear that the new owner of Bangor Raceway “would like to see brought into Maine.”

“It would be naive to think that if Maine Indian tribes succeed in getting their casino in southern Maine, that will be the only one,” Bartlett said.