BANGOR – Gov. John Baldacci is no stranger to the golden shovel.

The Bangor Democrat has used the ceremonial tool at numerous groundbreakings during his political career, commencing major construction projects all over the state.

Even though Monday’s groundbreaking – which cold weather turned into an indoor ribbon-cutting – was in his hometown, Baldacci hardly felt slighted that he was not invited to the Bangor Raceway.

The aging facility was the site of a ceremony in which Las Vegas developer Capital Seven LLC officially began preparing the building to house hundreds of slot machines within the next four weeks.

While a company spokeswoman said the oversight was the result of a miscommunication, it likely wouldn’t have mattered much to Baldacci, an outspoken opponent of introducing slots to Maine.

Even if he had been invited he wouldn’t have gone, said Baldacci spokesman Lee Umphrey. “It’s just another example of [Capital Seven] putting the sulky before the horse.”

Administration officials were among those calling the ceremony – as well as a Monday afternoon job fair by Capital Seven – premature considering the company has not yet received its license to operate slots at the facility.

Baldacci’s opposition to the project has manifested itself in more concrete ways than a ceremonial no-show.

On Wednesday, the administration will release draft legislation designed to rein in the November ballot measure that allowed slot machines at the state’s harness racing tracks.

The bill will create new regulations – including the expected creation of a gaming commission – and tighten other aspects of the referendum measure approved by voters last month, Umphrey said,

Last week, Baldacci signed the “racino bill” into law, but cited a rarely used section of Maine’s Constitution to delay its implementation until 45 days after the Legislature reconvenes, thus making the law effective on Feb. 21.

Normally, a law approved at referendum takes effect 30 days after the governor signs the proclamation. Under those circumstances the law would take effect on Jan. 3.

It’s that earlier date that Capital Seven officials had in mind Monday, as crews gutted the inside of the historic grandstand in Bangor to make way for the first 250 slot machines.

“Against great adversity, we continue to move forward for Maine’s harness racing industry,” David Nealley, a city councilor and Capital Seven’s newly hired executive vice president, said over the din of construction.

While work in Bangor continued, Capital Seven attorneys in Augusta disputed the governor’s rationale for delaying the law. Under the Constitution, the governor can order a delay if the cost of administering a new law exceeds available revenue.

Capital Seven’s challenge came Monday as the Office of Fiscal and Program Review released a new fiscal note showing the state’s cost for the Bangor Raceway to be $9.8 million for fiscal year 2004. The figure accounts for, among other things, new administrative and law enforcement costs and declining lottery revenue.

During that fiscal year, which runs July 1, 2004, to June 30, 2005, the slot operation is expected to contribute about $14 million to state coffers.

However, much of the money is dedicated for other uses, such as the Fund for Healthy Maine and supplemental prize money for harness racing, leaving less than $1 million to offset the state’s administrative costs, according to the financial analysis.

“It’s safe to say there are a number of assumptions there we disagree with,” said Capital Seven attorney Stephen Langsdorf, who had yet to review the revised fiscal note.

Bangor Historic Track, a company owned in part by Capital Seven executive Shawn Scott, is scheduled to go before the Maine Harness Racing Commission on Dec. 15 in an effort to upgrade its conditional racing license to one that would allow the operation of slot machines.

The sooner the better, supporters of the racetrack casino said Monday at the groundbreaking.

“The state should be excited and help make this happen,” said former Bangor Mayor Nichi Farnham, who discounted recent criticism of Scott spawned by an unflattering report on his business practices released last week by state officials.

“The voters said they wanted this to happen,” Farnham continued, referencing the 53 percent of Mainers who approved the project in the statewide referendum Nov. 4. “I’m a little disappointed the state thinks it has to slow this down.”

Across Main Street at the Holiday Inn, more than 300 racino job hopefuls lined up outside a conference room to fill out job applications and undergo brief interviews with Capital Seven officials.Among the Capital Seven officials on hand for the job fair were Nealley, spokeswoman Victoria Scott (also mother of company owner Shawn Scott), and Harry Richard, who assumed his position as director of operations Monday.

According to Richard, who has come to the Bangor project with more than two decades of experience in the gaming and hospitality industries, plans call for hiring about 100 staff in time for the planned Jan. 3 opening of the temporary slots parlor.

Glen Dumont of Bangor was among those who applied for a job at the racino. Asked what kind of position he hoped to land, Dumont said, “Anything. Right now I’m in between jobs.”

Mike Foster of Bangor, however, had a more specific goal.

“I’m looking for something in management,” he said. Foster said he’s been out of a job for a week and that his most recent job was with a nonprofit credit counseling company.

While waiting in line Monday afternoon, he said he was interested in working in “backroom operations,” which he said was a business term meaning such behind-the-scenes functions as credit operations and personnel.

Foster acknowledged he was aware of media reports suggesting the racino might not be open on Jan. 3. That possibility did not deter him from filling out an application.

“It doesn’t hurt to apply,” he said, adding, “I’m not just looking here. I’m keeping all of my options open.”

NEWS reporter Dawn Gagnon contributed to this report.