COFFEE SHOP TALK

PERHAPS FOOD FOR THOUGHT, OVER A CUP OF JAVA

Dennis Bailey et al.-- Some thoughts provided to me by an individual in Maine:

Several years ago Maine had a proposal for a casino. At first, the casino looked at two communities Biddeford and Sanford for placement of the facility. They said that they would not go in a community they were not welcomed in. In the town of Sanford there was a PAC called Think About It and it had great success against Dennis.

Casinos No launched a campaign in Biddeford and Sanford. In the town of Biddeford they had a vote and chose not to support the casino in their town. In Sanford there was a non-binding vote, which won for the casino--I guess he has not won them all.

The question was put forward as "do you favor a casino in the town of Sanford". The answer was overwhelmingly YES in every single ward. Dennis failed in that campaign and apparently said residents didn't know what they voted for. Over the course of his campaign, Dennis courted the coastal property owners and the elite of the state to support his cause. Never once did he or his campaign offer any ideas to spur much needed jobs in the area or in the state for that matter. In fact, Dennis apparently took on another campaign shortly after, to turn down a tax measure that would reduce the tax burden for Maine taxpayers, and would encourage reasonable government spending.

Maine is one of the highest if not the highest taxed states in the US. At the time of the casino wars in Sanford, it apparently needed jobs badly and a casino would have offered approximately 20,000+ direct and indirect jobs to residents. Dennis argued that the jobs would be minimum wage ($6.00 at the time), and would not support a household. He also argued that the jobs would go to migrant workers, primarily oriental individuals as he laid out in ads at his Sanford headquarters--imagine that, Orientals working in New England. He also stated that Sanford had no housing to support the new workers and neither did surrounding communities.

Some interesting connections:

Can Dennis explain his involvement with the Scotia Prince cruises that allow gambling. This ship goes right on the coast of Maine, with Maine residents, to gamble. His company Savvy Inc. was supporting and promoting the Scotia Prince as a fun family affair when residents as young as 18 would be allowed to gamble. The casino would have only permitted those 21 or older.

At the same time the Scotia Prince paid no state taxes. They flew international flags, presumably to enable them to dodge federal taxes as well as labor laws--almost like sovereignty. What standards of employee treatment could they get away with? Dennis had no problems continuing to support the cruise line and still continues to support them to this day.

Another client he took on after the casino issue was a couple of Powerballwinners, Pat and Erwin Wales. Dennis had no problem taking their money, event hough he apparently was opposed to gambling.