CALAIS – An economic stranglehold has gripped this Washington County city for more than a decade.

In August, the Domtar paper mill in neighboring Baileyville announced 150 workers would lose their jobs. That layoff came on top of another 150 jobs lost over the past few years with the closure of Georgia-Pacific Corp.’s chip ‘n’ saw mill and Louisiana-Pacific’s oriented strand board complex, also in Baileyville. In Calais the unemployment rate was 8 percent in August, according to state figures, nearly double Maine’s overall rate of 4.8 percent.

According to the Maine Department of Labor, the unemployment rates for the two reservations based on the 2000 Census was 21 percent at Indian Township and 21.2 percent at Pleasant Point. Some tribal officials put the figures much higher because some members have been unemployed so long they no longer are included in the statistics.

Against this bleak backdrop, many here are hoping a multimillion-dollar complex featuring slot machines proposed by the Passamaquoddy Tribe will lift the region to prosperity.

Others believe a gambling facility would only deepen the area’s problems.

On Tuesday, Nov. 6, public debate ends and voters will decide whether the tribe can build a complex that will have not only 1,500 slot machines, but also a harness racing track and a high-stakes bingo operation. The issue is Question 1 on the ballot.

For many in Calais and the surrounding area, Question 1 is a no-brainer. The Calais City Council recently threw its support behind the project, as did Baileyville officials.

“[The racino] is going to make Calais a destination point,” City Manager Diane Barnes said.

The Passamaquoddys have been making the same point for years.

“That border is the sixth-busiest port of entry into the United States, and we would like to try and capture some of that traffic coming through,” Indian Township Lt. Gov. Joe Socabasin said.

Tribal members point to the past when Canadians played high-stakes bingo at Indian Township. “A lot of buses used to come in [from Canada],” Indian Township tribal member Nina Levesque said.

“When we had high-stakes bingo here, about 75 percent of our patrons were from Canada,” Socabasin added.

The tribe is planning to build a racetrack-casino-high-stakes-bingo-hotel-conference center on a 700-acre site overlooking the St. Croix River, within sight of a new multimillion-dollar international bridge that soon will connect Calais to neighboring St. Stephen, New Brunswick. Two bridges now connect the two communities.

It’s an ambitious plan that has raised the eyebrows of at least one high-profile skeptic.

“They want [a racino]?” asked Dennis Bailey, executive director of CasinosNO! an organization that opposes gambling facilities anywhere in Maine. “They didn’t want one in [2003] when they had a chance to vote on it. Washington County voted against it. I don’t know where Calais [voted] for the big casino down here,” Bailey said of the tribe’s efforts to build a gambling facility in southern Maine.

Most communities in Washington County voted against the 2003 referendum question, but Calais narrowly voted in favor of the southern Maine casino plan. On the question of a racino in Bangor, Washington County residents overwhelmingly approved the plan, and Calais residents supported the plan by a wide margin. Penn National Inc. later opened a multimillion-dollar slot machine facility in Bangor, and a bigger facility there is now under construction.

Calais again appears ready to bet on the tribe and on its neighbors in Canada who many think will support a racino.

Bailey disagreed. “Ninety-six percent of the people, and Penn National confirms this, are Maine people [at the Bangor facility]. Canadians have slot machines. … Why would they come and deal with the exchange rate and gamble when they can do it in their own state?” he asked.

The case for a racino

“We need a calling card and we don’t have one right now,” said Linsey Hightower, owner of a popular steakhouse in Calais. “Because we are on the border it will bring a lot more people here.”

“We need to look to the future,” added Melissa Royer, owner of My Favorite Things, a small shop. “We have the possibility of having a Foxwoods right here, jobs and a future for our kids,” she said, referring to the Connecticut casino owned by the Pequot Nation.

“It is not every day you have someone knocking on your door wanting to spend tens of millions if not a hundred million dollars ultimately that is not government-funded. It is a private enterprise,” Calais lawyer John Mitchell said. “They want to build something that is lasting and provides jobs and work. … We just lost 150 jobs at Domtar. … What is there to replace it?”

“We have a lack of jobs here and desperately need housing,” tribal member Levesque agreed.

“Why would they discriminate against us as Indian people to have a racino here when they already have one [in Bangor]?” Indian Township tribal member Linda Meader asked.

“If it is good enough for them, it is good enough for us,” Indian Township tribal member Daschelle Newton added.

“All we are asking is to be independent,” tribal elder Joseph “Cozy” Nicholas of Pleasant Point said. “Not just us, but the people of Washington County.”

Pleasant Point tribal councilor Eddie Bassett said opponents do not understand life in Washington County. “We have the worst kind of situation as far as economic development goes. We have joblessness, we have a brain drain. Our [tribal] young people are leaving and we can’t keep them here because there are no jobs,” he said. “This is not just an Indian thing; I am coming from the Indian perspective, but economic development is important for the whole region.”

But not everyone in the area is an avid supporter. Calais lawyer Dan Lacasse said he was ambivalent. “I don’t feel like I should stand in anybody’s way to try and bring economic development to the city, but it is something I have real reservations about,” he said. Lacasse said he was concerned about an increase in crime and a drain on municipal services.

Calais police Sgt. David Randall said that if things were planned well, he did not believe a racino would lead to an increase in crime. He did predict there could be more traffic problems. “Just as when other businesses open up, you are going to have traffic accidents. I am just not totally convinced that crime is going to be a major issue,” he said.

Nor will a racino stress the mostly volunteer fire and ambulance departments, Fire Chief Danny Carlow said. “I don’t foresee it would put any undue burden on us,” he said.

Industry with no product

In addition to CasinosNO! the Christian Civic League has mounted a campaign to stop the project. The league recently formed a political action committee called “Gambling with the Way Life Should Be.”

“I just think that it’s not the right thing for Washington County,” said Pastor Bob Hinton of the First Baptist Church in Calais. “It’s just going to cause a lot more problems, and we have enough problems. And it is going to be a big headache for a lot of people. A lot of people who don’t have money down here are going to be spending money there and lose what they have now.”

“This is not economic development,” Bailey of CasinosNO! said. “This is taking money that would be spent on refrigerators, cars and going out to dinner and putting it in the hands of an industry that produces absolutely no product,” he said.

Calais resident Sharon Sherrard, a member of the Second Baptist Church, said she opposed the racino on religious grounds. “On the one hand I think it would be good for the area, but on the other hand I say no, and I guess no because of my religious beliefs. I am just afraid that there are a lot of people who can get themselves into big trouble. Gambling can be quite an addiction and I don’t foresee that many jobs coming from it,” she said.

The tribe predicts there will be as many as 400 jobs during the construction phase and another 200 once the complex opens.

Opponent Leon Gorman, great-grandson of the founder of L.L. Bean and chairman of the board, told The Associated Press recently that Maine’s character as a clean mecca for outdoors-loving visitors would be tarnished by the presence of another casino.

Indian Township’s Socabasin shook his head at Gorman’s comment. He recalled a previous meeting with L.L. Bean executives. “We suggested bringing a call center here to Washington County or a warehouse, so that we can distribute some of the products they sell,” the lieutenant governor said.

Instead, L.L. Bean offered something else. “They wanted to put a display of some of our baskets in [their store in] Freeport, and the other thing was if we’d like to bring a drum group down they’d like to have us drum for one day. That is all they offered,” he said.

“[That] is a good reason to shop at Cabela’s,” lawyer Mitchell said of L.L. Bean’s competitor.

Living in Washington County

Marilyn Bernardini, owner of a popular Calais restaurant, said she found the absence of solutions by opponents interesting. “They don’t offer us anything else to bring down here,” she said.

“That is not our mission,” Bailey said when asked about Bernardini’s comment. “Our mission is to stop casinos. And we are not an economic development organization. We are opposing [the racino] because it is not economic development. It is economic cannibalism. People are going to be poorer not richer, that’s our belief,” he said.

Tribal elder Nicholas suggested Bailey spend time in Washington County. “Have you ever lived on this reservation? Have you tried to live in Washington County and tried to survive?” he asked.

“Life is tough in a lot of places,” Bailey answered when told of Nicholas’ invitation. “I don’t diminish at all the difficulties of Washington County. I personally don’t believe this is the panacea they are looking for. … It is not about Washington County; it is about slot machines. … It is not going to provide the economic boost that Washington County needs, we don’t believe it.”

“We just want to be self-sufficient,” Lt. Gov. Socabasin responded. “We would like to be able to support ourselves. If we can create opportunity here in Washington County then that means more people won’t have to collect state aid.”

Calais motel owner John Marchese is optimistic. “I think [voters] will see that Washington County deserves a break,” he said of the November election. “We need something. We’re not asking for handouts here. We want to be able to do it ourselves.”