National anti-gambling activist joins King in campaigns against ballot item

Glenn Adams

Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2000 | 5:17 a.m.

AUGUSTA, Maine - A national anti-gambling crusader joined Gov. Angus King at the Blaine House on Tuesday to label a video gambling proposal on the Nov. 7 ballot as a bad bet for Maine.

King and Rev. Thomas Grey fired the first major round in the campaign over the third question to appear on the crowded ballot, calling it deceptive and fraught with negatives for Maine.

Far from an economic-development measure, it threatens to siphon money from Mainers' pockets to line the pockets of casino owners, said Grey, executive director of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling.

"This is a product that leads to addiction, bankruptcy, crime and corruption," said the United Methodist minister, who became an anti-gambling activist in 1992 when he led a fight to keep a riverboat casino from docking in his hometown of Galena, Ill.

Supporters, who have formed the Committee for Property Tax Relief, say the proposal would keep some of the gambling money that goes out of state in Maine, while helping municipalities and giving new life to the harness racing industry.

But Grey said casinos exact a high social cost. He cited a government study showing that in the 47 states that allow gambling, counties with casinos have an 18.6 percent higher bankruptcy rate.

New machines are designed to be more interactive and to feature popular theses as a way to lure younger players, he added.

King said the citizen-initiated proposal is "cleverly worded" to disguise that the Scarborough Downs harness race track would be the only track in the state to get gambling machines.

Scarborough Downs' owner Joseph Ricci is a former political rival of King's. Ricci lost the Democratic gubernatorial primary in 1998, the year independent King was re-elected.

Grey credited King for being one of the few governors willing to take a stand against gambling interests, saying politicians are often unwilling to oppose them because of their generous campaign contributions.

In neighboring New Hampshire, Gov. Jane Shaheen has supported a proposal to allow gambling machines at four race tracks to help raise money for schools, a scheme critics have dubbed "slots for tots."

"Governor Shaheen hates my guts," said Grey. Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, on the other hand, fought a plan in 1995 to allow casino gambling at a closed race track in Pownal, Vt.

In Maine, King acknowledged pro-casino forces' estimates that the gambling machines could generate $25 million-$40 million for property tax relief.

But King believes most of the money would come out of Mainers' pockets, amounting to a mere redistribution of money that's already in the state. Maine entertainment and other businesses would suffer as a result, he said.

The governor also acknowledged that Maine has a state-run lottery, but drew a distinction between a spending a few dollars on lottery tickets and dropping money in what he said would be "a de facto casino."

"Fundamentally, this is not what Maine is all about and not what Maine want