BANGOR – Representatives on both sides of the fence regarding referendum Question 1 – the Passamaquoddy Tribe’s proposed racino in Washington County – threw verbal punches at one another during forums Thursday in Bangor and Machias. The issue will be decided during the Nov. 6 statewide election.

A recent public opinion poll shows a majority of likely voters favor the racino, which was evident at the afternoon event at Husson College in Bangor that was attended primarily by tribal members and residents who support the proposed gambling facility in Calais. They didn’t hesitate to applaud and cheer representatives from the advocacy group Yes on 1 – Rick Phillips Doyle, governor of the Pleasant Point reservation, and Sen. Kevin Raye, R-Perry.

Dennis Bailey of CasinosNO! was the sole representative on the other side of the table at the Husson forum, organized and moderated by staff and students of the New England School of Communications.

“I have great respect for the tribe and their leaders,” Bailey said, noting that the group he represents has a fundamental difference of opinion with supporters.

“We don’t believe gambling casinos represent true economic development,” he said. “CasinosNO! may be behind the times, but we still know it’s a scam.”

During questions from the public directed at each side, Raye used the opportunity to call Bailey on the carpet for having worked for the Scotia Prince – a cruise line with gaming on board.

Bailey quickly claimed that CasinosNO! isn’t opposed to gambling, but is opposed to the expansion of gaming in Maine.

“This campaign’s not about me,” Bailey said. “It’s about a really bad idea in Washington County.”

He also stated that different gaming ventures bring varying levels of impact to individuals and communities, and that this likely won’t be the last attempt to create a gambling facility in Maine.

Raye and Doyle disagreed with Bailey’s negative image of what the racino would bring and stressed that the proposed facility would provide much-needed jobs to a desperate Washington County. The facility, according to Raye, would make the area a destination for tourists who otherwise might pass through without stopping to spend money in the county.

“We have been studied to death,” Raye said. “Meanwhile, our struggle continues. The time for study is over, the time for action is here.”

Penobscot Nation tribal members and leaders from Indian Island also are in support of the initiative, Penobscot Chief Kirk Francis said in an interview before the forum.

Francis was adamant that the Penobscots’ support is not about gaming or slot machines, even though they have a bill in the Legislature to add slot machines to their high-stakes bingo game.

“It’s about self-governance and self-sufficiency,” Francis said.

Although the tribes don’t always agree, they have found ways to work with each other for more than 10,000 years, and this is no different, he said.

“Our bill has nothing to do with this referendum,” Francis said. “We have no self-interest in this referendum. People are suffering in this state, and the people that are responsible for those people are trying to act … The whole area will thrive because of a tribal initiative.”

He explained that Maine is now a gaming state and the tribes only want access to what other tribes all over the country have.

“It’s about more than slot machines and revenues,” Francis said. “It’s about bringing hope to a region of the state that has none right now.”

Yes on 1 reports that 41 percent of the racino revenue is slated to go to the state, and while Bailey didn’t dispute that, he said the money wasn’t going to lower taxes or help fund schools.

Another point of contention that drew gasps from the crowd at Husson College involved crime rates.

Bailey noted a 22 percent increase in Bangor’s crime rate since the opening of Hollywood Slots in 2006, but added that in its report, his group never directly associated the spike to the racino.

Bailey did say that when Bangor Police Chief Ron Gastia was asked about the increase, he said it couldn’t be attributed to any one thing, but that three new methadone clinics had come into the area.

“You may want to ask why your police chief in Bangor isn’t doing as good a job as Biddeford [and other places that have methadone clinics],” Bailey said.

Raye later countered that it was “unfair to suggest that Bangor’s chief of police isn’t doing his job correctly just because he didn’t have the answers Mr. Bailey wanted.”

Bailey, Raye and Doyle were joined by Indian Township tribal Gov. William Nicholas on Thursday evening for round two of the debate at the University of Maine at Machias.

While much of the second event rehashed similar arguments, there was an emotional exchange that occurred after Bailey drew a parallel between drug dealers selling their product and the tribe trying to sell the state on gambling.

Bailey said that what he hears when the tribe talks about the money it is spending on the racino proposal is, “It’s our money and we can do what we want with it. That’s what drug dealers say about selling a product that people want. I don’t know where that stops.”

The remark brought an immediate response from Nicholas.

“We earn our money with what we do here in Washington County in our seasonal work. We are not drug dealers,” he said. “I take that offensively. … I gotta tell you, to be labeled as drug dealers because we’re the people of Washington County, I wouldn’t take that, nobody should take that. What we say we’re doing with our money is for the people of Washington County.”

Bailey quickly responded, “You’re not a drug dealer and I never said that. That’s a cheap shot.”

Later during the event in Machias, Raye also suggested that Bailey and the backers of CasinosNO! were out to stop all gaming in Maine. He predicted that Bailey and his group would go after Hollywood Slots in Bangor again if they were able to defeat the tribe’s initiative.

Despite the jabs taken by both parties Thursday, however, Raye shook Bailey’s hand after closing remarks at the Husson College event.

“This is a very difficult decision for all the voters of Maine,” Bailey said. “It’s not a simple issue.”