AG: Tribes qualify as intervenors

BANGOR – The Penobscot Nation and Passamaquoddy Tribe qualify for intervenor status in the continuing battle over the racing license needed to operate a racetrack casino at Bangor Raceway, according to a memorandum issued Monday by staff from the state Attorney General’s Office.

Far less certain is the fate of two other requests for legal standing in the debate – from CasinosNo! and the Christian Civic League of Maine, separate, statewide organizations opposed to gambling.

The memorandum, drafted by Assistant Attorney General John Richards, seeks to address several of the legal issues facing the Maine Harness Racing Commission, scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. today at the Augusta Civic Center to consider Bangor Raceway’s racing license for the season ahead, which begins in mid-May.

“Intense and unreasonable pressures have been brought to bear on the commission and its decision-making process with respect to harness racing in Bangor in 2004,” Richards observed in his memo to the commission’s five members. The Attorney General’s Office acts as legal adviser to the commission.

Richards advised the commission to follow the law and take its time in considering the license application of Bangor Historic Track and Penn National Gaming, which is seeking to run the racing meet.

“It is not in the public interest nor in the interest of those who make their living in the harness racing industry to be rushed to judgment on a brand new application, submitted by people who are not yet even known to the commission, without a substantive review conducted in accordance with appropriate procedures,” Richards concluded.

A spokesman for the Penobscot-Passamaquoddy partnership said the tribes were satisfied with Richards’ position on their legal standing.

“We’re pleased that the Attorney General’s Office has recognized that we have a right to intervene and hope that the [commission] will agree that the process needs to slow down,” said Portland attorney Richard Spencer, a member of the Penobscot Nation and Passamaquoddy Tribe’s legal team.

Intervenor status, if granted by the commission, would give the tribes legal standing in the tussle over a racing license for Bangor Raceway, which is owned by the city of Bangor. A private company, Bangor Historic Track Inc., operates the racetrack.

Representatives of the two tribes involved say they want to operate the racetrack casino proposed for Bangor. They said that allowing them to do so would prevent millions of dollars in revenues from flowing out of Maine to out-of-state owners.

Because of state law and the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act, the two tribes have essentially the same legal rights that municipalities have as well as other authorities by virtue of their status as federally recognized tribes, Richards noted in his memo.

Whether the two other groups, CasinosNo! and the Christian Civic League, are granted such standing in the Bangor Raceway licensing matter is the commission’s call to make.

Because petitions for intervenor status from those two entities “do not demonstrate that they are ‘substantially and directly affected’ as required under state law, the five-member harness racing panel is not required to grant legal standing but does have the discretion to allow their participation, Richards noted. If granted, their status can be limited.

Spokesmen from those two groups could not be reached for comment late Monday.

Bangor Historic Track Inc., the applicant now before the harness racing commission, was purchased by entrepreneur Shawn Scott in December, while his licensing suitability hearings were still under way. When the commission resumed its proceedings early last month, Scott announced he was selling Bangor Historic Track to Penn National Gaming Inc., a publicly traded Pennsylvania gaming and racing company.

As many as 1,500 slot machines are headed for Bangor as the result of a citizen-initiated law Maine voters adopted Nov. 4. That law, which authorizes slots for Maine’s two commercial harness racing tracks at Bangor and Scarborough, kicks in Feb. 21.

Despite all the legal wrangling over regulating slot machines, Richards pointed out that the operation of slot machines is “an issue that is not before the commission for any decision.”