Judge rejects anti-casino request on Bangor track

By GRACE MURPHY, Portland Press Herald Writer

Copyright © 2004 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

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BANGOR — Bangor Historic Track kept its conditional racing license Friday after a state judge rejected arguments by an anti-casino group to freeze it. Penobscot Superior Court Justice Andrew M. Mead said Casinos No! did not prove it would be harmed if the license remained effective while complaints over its validity wound their way through the court.

Catherine Connors, an attorney with Pierce Atwood representing Bangor Historic Track, argued that granting Casinos No! its motion would have harmed the track by putting its 2004 racing season in jeopardy.

"They're trying to lift a horse racing license so we can't go forward with the season, even though their interest isn't horse racing, it's slot machines," Connors said.

A voter-approved state law that takes effect today allows slot machines at the state's commercial racetracks if certain conditions are met. One condition required voter approval from the track's host community by the end of 2003, which Bangor Historic Track achieved but Scarborough Downs in Scarborough did not.

The law also requires tracks to receive a racing license from the Maine Harness Racing Commission before they can operate slot machines. The commission granted the company a conditional racing license Tuesday, against advice from the state Attorney General's Office.

The commission also rejected requests from the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot Indian tribes, Casinos No!, and the Christian Civic League of Maine for legal standing during the licensing process. State lawyers had recommended the commission grant the tribes intervenor status.

The tribes and Casinos No! are now contesting the legality of the racing license and asking the court to overturn it. The tribes want to operate harness racing and slot machines at the city-owned track; Casinos No! opposes slot machines at tracks and casino-style gambling.

Casinos No! is concerned that the racing license automatically entitles the company to operate slot machines, before a state background check, and wanted the court to freeze the license until the issue could be resolved in court.

Penn National Gaming acquired Bangor Historic Track this winter from racino developer Shawn Scott, who sponsored the referendum campaign to allow slot machines at tracks. Bangor Historic Track has historically operated the races at the city-owned track in Bangor.

James Kilbreth, an attorney with Verrill & Dana representing Casinos No!, said his client has concerns about the process followed by the commission before granting the racing license this week, and did not want the company to install slot machines before the court complaints were resolved.

"In theory, there is an automatic license to operate slots," he said.

Connors presented a letter Penn National sent to Gov. John Baldacci last week in response to a request that the company waive the automatic slot machine license provided under the new racino law.

Baldacci has proposed stricter regulations of the voter-approved law, and a bill creating a new Gambling Control Board is pending in the Legislature.

In its response to Baldacci, Penn National agreed to hold off on seeking a gaming license until either the new legislation or other regulations approved by Baldacci's administration are in place.

Attorneys for the tribes were at Friday's hearings, as were as lawyers for Scott, an association of state horsemen and Scarborough Downs. Some of those parties are requesting legal standing in the pending complaints by the tribes against the license issued by the racing commission.

The racing commission was unable to find an attorney in time for the hearing. The state Attorney General's Office refused Thursday to represent the commission in the court cases, after the commission acted against the advice of the attorney general's lawyers during the licensing hearing.

Commission Chairman George McHale was allowed to address Mead, and he requested a continuance.

"Being a radio and news man, I felt kind of like Perry Mason up there," he said after the hearing.

Mead said he hoped to set a hearing schedule that would resolve the complaints by Casinos No! and the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot tribes by the end of March. He asked all parties to submit memos by Wednesday outlining the issues involved in appealing the commission's licensing decision.

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