Racino license hearing tabled Scott is now sole owner of Bangor Historic Track

BANGOR – Despite hopes of resolving the matter this week, the Maine Harness Racing Commission decided Friday to carry its hearing on Bangor racino developer Shawn Scott’s suitability to hold a state racing license into next month.

The hearings will resume Jan. 8 at the Augusta Civic Center, according to Ruth McNiff, the assistant state attorney general who is presiding over the proceedings, which began Tuesday morning after a one-day delay because of a snowstorm.

When the hearing recessed late Friday afternoon, Scott was describing how he came to be a player in the gaming industry. His testimony will resume when the commission reconvenes next month.

Earlier in the day, commission members learned that Scott, a former 49 percent owner of Bangor Historic Track Inc., which operates the racing operation, exercised his option late Thursday on the remaining 51 percent of the stock.

He now is the sole owner of BHT, although the city maintains ownership of the track. BHT conducted racing this year under a conditional license for 2003.

In yet another development Friday, Scott dispelled rumors that he was trying to sell his interest in BHT. He said the reason he had contacted a New York City broker was to obtain a bond to provide financing for his Bangor project.

Scott also said he’d obtained a $200,000 line of credit at Bangor Savings Bank to allay any concerns about the track’s historic annual operating losses, which have ranged from about $50,000 to $100,000 in most recent years.

The five-member racing panel is considering Scott’s application for a racing license, which would allow him to install slot machines at Bangor Raceway, according to the state racino legislation Maine voters passed in a Nov. 4 referendum.

The Legislature, however, is expected to consider stiffening regulations for slots when it gets back to work next month. How the changes might affect Scott’s $30 million plans to transform Bangor Raceway into a racetrack casino remains unclear.

Day four of the commission’s licensing proceedings also yielded testimony from Richard Moreno, a Louisiana lawyer who represented Scott while Scott owned Delta Downs, a thoroughbred and quarter-horse track in that state; Ival “Bud” Cianchette, an avid horseman, former BHT shareholder and chairman emeritus of Cianbro Corp., the contractor Scott hired for the first phase of his Bangor racino effort; and Hoolae Paoa, who has worked on Scott’s projects in Louisiana, New York and Maine.

The witnesses were called by Scott’s legal team to attest to Scott’s “good moral character” and “financial responsibility,” the two key conditions Scott must meet to be eligible for a harness racing license in Maine, which he must obtain in order to realize his racino plans. Another factor to be considered is whether Scott’s involvement in harness racing in Maine would be beneficial to the industry overall.

On Friday, Scott described his path from the real estate business, which he entered while still in college in California, to Nevada, where he developed his first gambling facility in a former post office.

Scott discussed his subsequent move into Louisiana, where he bought and built truck-stop casinos before purchasing Delta Downs, the deal that put him on the map.

In yet another development, the Department of Agriculture on Friday released additional documents regarding the business relationship between Scott and business partner John Baldwin.

The newly released information includes documents about a property dispute in Washington state, financial and other records pertaining to Baldwin uncovered during Scott’s gaming license investigations in other states.

The redacted Baldwin documents were released Friday under a request filed under the state’s Freedom of Access law. They were not among the hundreds made public Dec. 4 as the result of a state supreme court decision prompted by requests from several Maine media outlets.

The original batch of documents released Dec. 4 covered a range of matters relating to Scott’s license application and the state-mandated investigation to that end. A racing commission staff report and documents related to Scott’s past business dealings weren’t going to be released until Dec. 15, the date the commission was scheduled to begin its licensing hearing.

There was not enough time to study the hundreds of documents pertaining to Baldwin before press time.