BANGOR – Just weeks after the governor signed a law paving the way for slot machines to come to this city, a group from southern Maine announced its intention to have the state’s newest form of gambling outlawed.

“Before we go down the path of becoming a gambling state, we want to have a vote,” said George Rodrigues, spokesman for the Westbrook-based No Slots for ME!, which late last week applied to the Secretary of State’s Office to launch a citizen initiative that would make slots illegal in the state.

“The question did not get a fair hearing last time,” Rodrigues said.

Voters in a November statewide referendum approved slot machines at the state’s harness racing tracks if voters in a local community approved. Bangor voters did approve, and thus Bangor Raceway is the only site eligible for slots under the new law.

Rep. Pat Blanchette, D-Bangor, upon learning of the effort to ban slots, offered a harsh rebuke for those behind it.

“Bangor doesn’t have a problem with slots, and if they do, why don’t they do us all a favor and not come to Bangor?” said Blanchette, who served on the committee that added strict regulations to the slots law.

“I’m sick to death of these do-gooders from southern Maine telling us we’re not smart enough to know what we voted for,” added Blanchette, noting that Bangor voters approved the slots law twice – both times by large margins. “They need to just stay in southern Maine and clean up their own messes.”

Rodrigues, a chemical engineer, noted that voters in his city also approved the slots measure in November. But after receiving more information – information that was lacking in the November campaign – he said, they overwhelmingly rejected it in a second vote.

Before all Maine voters could consider banning slots, Rodrigues’ group must gather more than 50,000 signatures. If successful, the group likely would place the question on the November 2005 ballot.

Officials with Penn National Gaming, the company poised to open the racetrack casino in Bangor, said banning slots in Maine would be regrettable.

“We hope that a small number of anti-gaming advocates in the southern part of Maine will not be allowed to deprive the city of Bangor and the surrounding region of this tremendous economic development opportunity,” Penn spokesman Eric Schippers said.

Perhaps no one has been more vocal in his opposition to slots than Dennis Bailey, spokesman for the anti-gambling group Casinos No!

But Bailey’s group is not organizing the repeal effort. Not yet.

Instead, he said, some in his group felt the timing was wrong to try to stop what would be an isolated slots parlor in Bangor. However, if Penn National tried to set up shop at Scarborough Downs, things would be different, he said.

“If they make a move down here, you’re darn right we’d be involved,” he said.