Gambling board hits back at critics

BANGOR - Members of the Maine Gambling Control Board fired back at critics from anti-gambling interests and the media Wednesday, stressing that they are making progress in laying the legal framework for a planned slot-machine facility at Bass Park. "We've been busting our hump" to get the racino up and running, board member Michael Peters of Dixfield said during a board meeting at the Department of Public Safety's Augusta headquarters. That some of their most vocal critics, including CasinosNo! spokesman Dennis Bailey, haven't bothered to attend board meetings, which are open to the public, hasn't escaped board members' notice, they said. Also conspicuous in their absence were most of the state's media outlets, some of which have carried coverage critical of the $75 million racino project, the board and Penn National. Only two outlets, the Bangor Daily News and a Bangor television station, attended Wednesday's meeting. Earlier this week, Bailey vowed that the newly formed CasinosNo! Foundation, a nonprofit offshoot of its namesake political action committee, would be a "continuing presence" in the debate over the racetrack casino headed for Bangor. CasinosNo! has been credited with bringing down a proposed Indian casino in 2003. Much of the board's work so far has centered on hammering out the regulatory framework that must be in place before Penn can break ground, which it proposes to do this May. Board member Jean Deighan of Bangor noted that the board also has been accused by some anti-gambling and media interests of attempting to play a "cat and mouse" game with information it is requiring from Penn National. Because Maine lacks the ability to keep certain personal and proprietary information confidential, as do other gaming states, Penn has opted to accept a conditional license until the apparent oversight in the state's slots law is rectified. In addition, there's been media coverage about a bill that would keep automated teller machines, or ATMs, out of the racino, a move that Penn National Senior Vice President for Development Steve Snyder said would be "unprecedented" nationally. At the same time, board members say they have faced pressure to pick up the pace from the state's struggling harness racing industry, which is eager to begin receiving its share of the slots proceeds, and from Bangor-area residents who have been asking state and city officials daily when the racino will open. Snyder called the board's work so far "herculean" in that Maine regulators have done in less than a year what took other states years to accomplish. Rep. Randy Hotham, R-Dixfield, who has been a regular at board meetings and serves on the legislative committee that oversaw the overhaul of the state's slots law, also lauded the board. "The work you have done is very impressive," he said. After the meeting, Hotham noted that the board "could have taken the easy way out" on several aspects of its work but chose not to. Horsemen, however, wished the racino process would move more quickly. They've been working to get slots at tracks for several years. During discussion about the development zone Penn must abide by, the area within a 2,000 foot radius of the center of the track, representatives of the Maine Harness Horsemen's Association said they would oppose any action that would allow the racino to be built farther away from the track. Snyder noted that this was because the horsemen hoped having the track and casino close to each other would encourage "crossplay" between slots players and those who come to the track for pari-mutuel betting. "If you don't have the two connected together, I would say send it back to referendum," said MHHA Executive Director William Hathaway. "It is still a harness racing thing," said Gerald "Butch" Mackenzie, the group's president. "We want to be part of the process. If we don't go to the racetrack and race our horses, you won't have slots," he said. Dawn Gagnon dgagnon@bangordailynews.net