Scott: No link to anti-racino PAC efforts

BANGOR – The developer of a Bangor racetrack casino denied on Tuesday any ties to a political action committee seeking to derail a similar project at Scarborough Downs in southern Maine.

Reached briefly on his cellular phone, Shawn Scott, president of Capital Seven LLC, the company hoping to bring 1,500 slot machines to the Bangor Raceway, rebutted news reports tying him to the PAC Good Morals for Maine.

A relationship between Scott’s company and the PAC would seem to fly in the face of an industry agreement reached by Scott, Scarborough Downs, the harness racing industry and owners of Maine’s off-track betting parlors to work together for racinos in Bangor and Scarborough.

“No,” Scott said when asked about the alleged relationship, referring further questions to his company’s public relations official.

Within minutes of the media inquiry, Christen Graham, spokeswoman for Scott’s company, was equally adamant in denying the connection.

“There is no relationship and there never was,” she said, dismissing the idea that Capital Seven was trying to undermine a potential competitor. “This is alarming, and it’s a distraction we don’t need.”

There have been several distractions in the past month surrounding Scott’s attempts to secure the license that would allow him to place the slot machines at the Bangor track.

The latest diversion came when a Portland newspaper reported that Good Morals for Maine registered with the state using a form that bears the same fax number as Maine Coalition for Racing and Slots, a PAC funded by a company owned by Scott that supported the Nov. 4 racino referendum.

Graham said Tuesday she couldn’t explain the identical fax numbers, but intimated that they could be part of an effort by Scott’s competitors to discredit him.

“We’re looking for answers ourselves,” she said.

A call to the PAC’s treasurer, David A. Wilson, was not returned Tuesday afternoon. The telephone number listed for Wilson is that of a Capistrano Beach, Calif., construction firm.

Ed MacColl, a lawyer who represents Scarborough Downs, said Tuesday he had made several inquiries into the apparent tie between Scott and the effort to stop a Scarborough racino.

“We’re certainly concerned about the story, and we look forward to receiving an explanation from Capital Seven and Bangor Historical Track,” he said.

Other members of the Maine harness-racing industry shared MacColl’s surprise and dismay.

“I am very disappointed and this is certainly a regrettable circumstance,” said William Hathaway, executive secretary of the Maine Harness Horseman’s Association.

Good Morals for Maine emerged on the political landscape just days before the Nov. 4 election.

Voters approved the statewide racino measure, but Scarborough residents defeated a local question to allow a racino in their town. Under the racino law, Scarborough Downs has until Dec. 31 to find a location within five miles of the existing racetrack in a community that supports a racino.

When Scarborough Downs approached Saco officials about opening a racino in their city, Good Morals for Maine purchased full-page newspaper political ads and aired radio spots urging voters to oppose the plan. The Saco City Council rejected the racino idea last week.

Scarborough Downs is now talking with the Westbrook City Council about opening a racino. Good Morals for Maine purchased more newspaper ads on Monday, calling on Westbrook voters to oppose the plan for their community.

Scott’s mother, Victoria Scott, purchased an option on 69 acres of land in Saco while Scarborough Downs was also seeking land and political support in that city. Scarborough Downs officials were talking about a potential partnership with Scott but the partnership fell through.

Graham on Tuesday denied that a slighted Capital Seven had any motivation to see the southern Maine project fail.

“Our eye is one ball, and that is Bangor,” she said. “Capital Seven has nothing to gain by this. In fact we wish Scarborough the best of luck.”

But MacColl said the relationship with Scott got off to a bad start. He said he contacted Scott when his lawyer was drafting the racino law to ask that the deadline for seeking local approval be changed from the Dec. 31, 2004, in the draft proposal to Dec. 31, 2005.

That would have given Scarborough Downs more time to try to gain acceptance for slot machines by Scarborough voters.

Scott did change the deadline but not in the manner Scarborough Downs had hoped, said MacColl.

Instead of extending it to 2005, he shortened it to Dec. 31 of this year, prompting a scramble by Scarborough Downs to find another community that will agree to slot machines by year’s end.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.