Racino firms decry tribes’ slots offer Representatives say plan too late

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BANGOR – Representatives of the gambling corporations attempting to bring slot machines to Bangor Raceway sharply criticized a competing proposal from two Maine Indian tribes.

The plan unveiled Wednesday by the Penobscot Nation and Passamaquoddy Tribe came too late, spokesmen from Capital Seven LLC and Penn National Gaming Inc. said Thursday. Maine voters already have spoken, the gaming officials said.

Representatives of Capital Seven and Penn National Gaming also said voters made their intent clear when they passed referendum Question 2, which allows slots to be installed at the state’s two commercial harness racing tracks.

Alternate legislation crafted by the Baldacci administration could bring about stricter regulations, including the creation of a five-member gambling control board.

“What’s happened since the voters’ will has been set aside so the Legislature can reconsider Question 2 is that it has created a circus atmosphere,” said Christen Graham, spokeswoman for Capital Seven LLC.

“Everyone and their brother is trying to take another bite at the apple and they are failing to acknowledge that the decision was already made 21/2 months ago,” she said.

Tribes see opportunity

Representatives of the Penobscot Nation and Passamaquoddy Tribe on Wednesday announced that they are seeking an amendment to the governor’s emergency gambling bill that would require an “open selection process” for slot machine licensees.

That, they said, would give Maine’s tribal people an opportunity to apply for a license to operate slots at Bangor Raceway, the historic half-mile dirt oval located at city-owned Bass Park.

As things stand, one must hold a racing license to be eligible for a license to operate slot machines. Opening the Bangor Raceway slots license, they said, would require the state to separate racing licenses from gaming licenses.

Penobscot Chief Barry Dana said that the two tribes began searching for new economic development opportunities after their bid to develop a tribal casino in southern Maine was defeated at the polls on Nov. 4.

Representatives of Penn National Gaming Inc., the Pennsylvania-based gaming operator that’s in the process of acquiring Capital Seven’s interest in the Bangor racetrack casino project, also are displeased about the tribes’ proposal.

“This scheme has come out of left field and is completely without merit,” Penn spokesman Eric Schippers said Thursday. “What the tribes are asking the Legislature to do is break up a carefully negotiated, fully binding agreement between the city of Bangor and the developer of this property so that the owners of Foxwoods Casino can slip in.”

Racing at issue

Schippers said supporting harness racing was the driving force behind voters passing Question 2.

“It is clear from the scheme the tribes have put forth to the Legislature that they have zero interest in harness racing or building a first-class harness racing facility,” Schippers said. “The tribes have no experience in racing or operating a racetrack facility with gaming machines, nor do the owners of Foxwoods Casino. I think that should concern voters who supported Question 2 and members of the Legislature.”

On Thursday, Dana said the tribes are interested in the racing end of the racino business and are in the process of reaching out to the horsemen’s community.

“I think the effort to revive and strengthen horse racing is absolutely a great idea and the tribes are 100 percent in support of that,” Dana said.

“We have owned horses and we have raised horses,” he said. “We’ve never managed a racetrack but certainly that’s an easy thing to do.”

Creating jobs locally, Dana said, would help preserve their way of life by allowing them to find work without having to leave their community.

Dana noted that Maine Indians have some experience with gaming, having operated high-stakes bingo in Maine for several years.

Donna Loring, the Penobscots’ representative to the Legislature, expressed similar sentiments on Wednesday.

Pequots to be involved

She also said the Maine tribes would partner with the Mashantucket Pequot Indian Nation, the tiny tribe that a decade ago opened Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Conn., now among the world’s largest.

On Thursday, a Foxwoods representative confirmed the Pequots’ interest in helping their counterparts in Maine.

“There is a willingness indeed,” said spokesman Bruce MacDonald. He noted that the Pequots’ first step into the gaming business was the result of a partnership with the Penobscots, who operated their first high-stakes bingo program.

“Foxwoods has a wealth of experience in running gaming operations. We have more slot machines under our roof than any other casino in the world,” MacDonald said.

“We have some top flight marketing and gaming people who would bring to the job many years of successful experience,” he said.

The exact role the Pequots would play here was still “conceptual,” he said.

According to Dana, the Maine tribes would share a portion of their slots income with the Pequots, if the opportunity materializes. He said that while details have yet to be finalized, the Pequots’ portion might amount to 30 percent.

Time of the essence

As the result of an effort initiated by multimillionaire businessman Shawn Scott and his development firm, Capital Seven, Maine’s two commercial harness racing tracks won approval to install slot machines in a Nov. 4 statewide vote. Bangor voters approved slots in a local referendum in June.

Scott began the process of acquiring Bangor Historic Track more than a year ago, and completed the purchase last month. Under pressure from the Maine Harness Racing Commission to meet licensing requirements, Scott this month agreed to sell the track for an as yet undisclosed price to Penn National.

The transfer of ownership is still pending. The Maine Harness Racing Commission, which oversees harness racing, has received an amended application and documentation regarding the transfer of ownership. Commission officials and staff from the state Attorney General’s Office now are reviewing the paperwork. They have yet to issue a conditional racing license for Bangor

The proposed tribal amendment was distributed to members of the Legislature’s Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee during that group’s work session Wednesday on emergency legislation proposed by the Baldacci administration to regulate racinos.

The Legal and Veteran Affairs Committee so far has conducted a public hearing and two work sessions on the Baldacci administration’s response to the citizen-initiated legislation Maine voters adopted on Nov. 4. Its next meeting is set for 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28, at the Capitol.

Bangor officials sit tight

City Solicitor Norman Heitmann said Bangor did not plan to take any action with regard to the tribal proposal.

“We have a contractual obligation to Capital Seven. It’s just that simple,” he said Thursday.

Capital Seven’s development rights at Bangor Raceway can be reassigned with the city’s consent. The city is still in the process of determining its legal rights and obligations with regard to the racino project and the pending change of track operators.

Council Chairman Dan Tremble confirmed that the tribes approached the city two weeks ago. He said there is some interest in the plan, especially in an aspect that would provide funds for regional development.

As he sees it, the council’s ultimate obligation is to ensure any racetrack deal is in the best interest of residents and taxpayers, not gaming operators.

The original legislation adopted by Maine voters earmarked 25 percent for various state social and agricultural causes, including the administration and regulation of slots.

According to Loring, the tribes’ proposal calls for the same, plus 5 percent for the host city, Bangor, and 10 percent for a regional economic development fund that would provide funding for projects designed to bring jobs and other benefits to the area.