Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
Digg
Tell us what you think!Send a letter to the editor about this or any other article in The Maine Campus.
On Nov. 4, voters will decide in a referendum whether to allow a racino to be built in Bangor for the purposes of video gaming. Ballot Question 2 has garnered intense debate in the Bangor area, bringing to light concerns of economic stability and moral values, but has been overshadowed by the media firestorm created by Question 3, the proposed Indian resort casino in Sanford.
Question 2 proposes that a $30 million racetrack and casino complex be built on the site of the existing Bass Park in Bangor to help stimulate the harness racing industry in Maine. A former racetrack in the nearby city of Brewer has recently come under consideration as well. The complex would include renovations to the current harness racing track, a six-story luxury hotel and conference center, restaurants, shops, a new grandstand, movie theaters and 1,000 video gaming machines. The proposal would also allow Scarborough Downs to install up to 800 video gaming machines.
Local sales revenue is projected at nearly $100 million, with an annual payroll of $5.3 million to the 300 on-site jobs that would be created. This figure does not include an additional proposed 500 temporary jobs created during the construction/renovation phase of the project.
Voters in Bangor decided by a margin of 57 percent to 43 percent in June to allow Shaun Scott, director of Capital Seven LLC, a Las Vegas-based development group, to go ahead with plans for the new complex. Now the fate of the project lies in the hands of voters across the state of Maine when they cast their ballots on Nov. 4.
While Question 2 may not have generated the amount of controversy as the proposed American Indian casino, it has sparked debate among community members in the Bangor area.
Bangor City Manager Ed Barrett said the city has not outwardly supported the racino, nor have they campaigned against it, but he did speak favorably about the possible economic impact it could have on the area.
“There is a long history of harness racing in the state of Maine, well over 100 years of it,” Barrett said. “It’s increasingly apparent their struggle to continue with a wide range of entertainment options available. It’s an expensive sport and is in danger of failing unless someone finds a way to support that industry.”
This is why the racino has become a popular solution to reviving horse racing industries in other states, Barrett said. If the vote passes, Maine would join Ohio, Iowa, Michigan, Delaware, Louisiana and West Virginia in allowing video gaming at harness racing tracks, all of which have seen significant increases in profits, according to David Nealley of the Coalition for Maine Harness Racing and Agriculture.
“West Virginia alone has seen well over $100 million in profits from racino developments … This isn’t little stuff,” Nealley said.
“We’re talking a $2.1 million minimum gain for the city of Bangor alone,” said Barrett. “These funds may allow us to replace the Bangor Auditorium… You’ve seen it …We need a new one,” he said. “We can’t build one off property taxes alone.”
Barrett also hopes that if the question passes, the new complex will draw more business and tourist dollars to the city’s struggling economy.
“One of our major interests is to make Bangor a more attractive place for folks to come visit and live,” he said. “Maybe even capture some of those 3 million people who go down I-395 to Mount Desert Island and Acadia every summer and pay $250 a night for a hotel.”
Profits from the racino would also be distributed to various initiatives statewide. The Fund for a Healthy Maine would receive 10 percent of profits to ease the burden of prescription drug costs for the elderly and disabled. The Maine harness racing industry would receive 7 percent of the profits to increase purses at tracks and assist with horse care costs. Another 5 percent would go toward Maine agricultural fairs, the race commission’s Sire Stakes Fund and administration, including gambling addiction programs. An additional 3 percent would be given to state universities and community colleges for scholarships – something Nealley said student voters should take into consideration.
“Our problem isn’t finding qualified students to send to schools in Maine, it’s having jobs for them when they get out,” Nealley said. “There are an enormous amount of students out there who have to decide if they can take those one or two classes and finish their degree or take time off to work. Think of the job openings that come with a vibrant economy.”
But while supporters of the racino predict an economic boom, opponents warn of the negative aspects that they say go hand-in-hand with legalized gambling. Peripheral costs could include an increase in dollars spent on law enforcement, the court system and programs associated with gambling addiction.
“Slot machines are the crack cocaine of gambling,” said Michael Heath, executive director of the Christian Civic League. “They’re extraordinarily stimulating and addictive,” he said. “Our concern is that you’ve essentially got a casino that has no restrictions or limits on the number of days or hours they can operate. It turns seasonal betting on horses into high-stakes gambling.”
Heath also believes that with a gambling mecca in Bangor, rates of depression, addiction and even suicide are bound to go up.
“You can expect the number of addicted folks to go up,” Heath said. “Social costs relative to gambling such as crime and theft will also increase.”
Heath and the Maine CCL are not only opposed to class three [video] gambling. They also oppose class one and two gaming, the lottery and horse track betting.
“I’d like to see the lottery repealed – we’ve never supported the lottery,” Heath said.
While Heath said there may be an early economic impact on the community, he foresees a higher social cost to the Bangor area as a major downfall. Heath had no solution when asked about an alternative plan for stimulating Maine’s bleak economy, stating only that the racino was not the solution to Maine’s problems.
“We don’t have one,” Heath said. “The CCL is not going to write these kind of checks,” he said.
“A lot of people in Maine say they don’t want change but they don’t want to preserve traditional industries that make Maine the way it is,” Nealley said. “We’re not asking for government solutions. We have a private sector solution in hand to help save harness racing industry,” he said.
“It’s so troubling to see the assistant attorney general make a joke in Bangor about a parking lot being so full that it looked like a job fair for the casino,” Nealley said. “It’s not funny. Maybe he needs a tour of this region to see why that kind of humor doesn’t work here.”
Bangor Daily News