BETTING ON BIDDEFORD: People needing people

This November, all Maine voters will decide whether a gambling casino should be permitted in Oxford County. Casino gambling is illegal in Maine. This question reached voters via a citizen-initiated referendum.

How, then, can the voters of one town, Biddeford, be permitted to bring a racino - a race track with gambling – to their community without asking other Maine residents what we think about it? It really stinks that communities near the facility will have no say in this decision.

Due to a provision in the racino law which voters approved when they said “no” to the casino in Sanford years ago, but “ok” to a racino in Bangor, an existing horse racing track may move within 25 miles to operate a racino. The proposed host town has to approve the deal. Since Scarborough voters turned down the opportunity to host a racino, Joe Ricci’s widow, Sharon Terry, owner of Scarborough Downs, has come a-courtin’ to Biddeford.

Scarborough Downs is partnered with Tom Walsh, doing business as Ocean Properties, Ltd, and a third-party investor, a “silent partner”, the entity with knowledge of the gambling industry, who has not been identified.

Who needs who? Scarborough Downs, a racetrack, needs a host town to accept the racino. The “silent partner” needs a way to operate a gaming facility in Maine. The only way to do so currently is to partner with a harness racing business. Ocean Properties Ltd.’s needs are less clear since the business seems to concentrate on hospitality facilities on the waterfront. The corporation, founded by Tom Walsh, owns nearly half the transient room accommodations in Bar Harbor, most of it waterfront. They own hotels in Canada and the United States and manage other real estate for third-party investors. You may want to Google search “Ocean Properties Ltd. and Tom Walsh” to see how vast their holdings are.

Biddeford’s Mayor Joanne Twomey is unwavering in her belief that a racino represents the kind of development the city needs because she thinks it will bring jobs. What are these jobs, how much will they pay and what skills are required? Can we be sure that only local residents will be hired?

This project, to be built near Exit 32 of the Maine Turnpike, is about the false economy of taking money out of the pockets of people who can’t afford to lose their assets, by preying on their hopes and dreams for winning some money. It’s about the city promoting a money-exchange rather than a business which might actually produce something of value. It’s an income-transfer program which would be built on city-owned land.

At a time when this proud mill city with a surplus of vacant but desirable mill buildings seems poised for a renaissance because entrepreneurs are investing in these structures, when Maine Energy Recovery Company (MERC) may be compelled to find a location outside the downtown, and as the University of New England continues to expand, a majority of the leaders of this city are placing their bets for an improved economy on a gambling operation. It’s sad that it has come to this.

Maine voters made a big mistake years ago when we let the gambling industry get a foot-in-the-door here in Maine, at what is now Hollywood Slots in Bangor. Some were persuaded to vote for that operation as a way to save the harness racing industry.

Biddeford City Councilor Clement Fleurent, who says he is morally opposed to gambling, took the trip with Mayor Twomey and other Councilors to see the Slots operation in Bangor. According to the Kennebunk Post (October 8, 2010), he called Hollywood Slots a “first class joint”. But he said that his “lasting impression was of people streaming in and out of the racino without smiles on their faces”. He gets it. Why isn’t he the Mayor?

A BIRD IN THE HAND

September is about in the middle of the bird migration season on Mount Desert Island. Last month while working in the garden, I noticed that there were more hummingbirds than usual around the property. The birds shifted between feeding on nasturtiums and other late-blooming plants and resting perfectly still on small shrubs including the beach roses. Hummingbirds are present Down East during the summer and frequent our yard despite the fact that we don’t set out feeders for them or any other birds for that matter.

When it was time to take a break from the gardening, I fetched the dog’s leash and went into the fenced-in yard to clip her onto the lead. Goldy had something in her mouth. When I commanded “drop it”, she spat out something very small and bright colored onto the grass. I bent over and discovered that it was a female ruby-throated hummingbird.

It seemed important to get away from the dog as she was showing a great deal of interest in the bird. So I cupped the bird in my hands and left the fenced yard, walking some distance away to examine it. The bird was alive. I could feel its heart beating in my palm. I gently pulled at and extended the two legs and feet which were intact. As I examined the body, I could see no puncture wounds or signs of blood. The bird appeared to be stunned and why not, ending up in the mouth of a dog. As I stroked the bird’s back, I tried to figure out where to put it down in a high enough spot to escape predators. All of a sudden, the bird took off, and flew vigorously into the high tops of the forsythia, well away from the dog yard.

How could a dog catch a hummingbird? How could such a small bird survive being in a dog’s mouth? Why did I decide to take the dog for a walk just then? I can’t explain any of it but believe it was an amazing experience for all the creatures involved.