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Maine Casino Issue Offers Opposing Images of State

SANFORD, Maine – As reported by the Associated Press: "This once-bustling mill town, where two Indian tribes want to build a sprawling casino and resort, has become a battleground where Las Vegas glitz collides head-on with Maine's idyllic L.L. Bean image.

"Home of the durable L.L. Bean boot, Maine prides itself on its persona of lobster shacks, lighthouses and Thoreau's North Woods. Contrast that with the image of a casino and all that goes with it: roulette wheels, bright lights, booze and wads of money won and lost.

"The passion stirred by that clash of images has helped fuel unprecedented spending by casino backers and opponents as politicking intensifies in the last week of a bitter campaign.

"…Casino backers say the resort will be free of neon, showgirls and Elvis impersonators, and built in `the grand New England tradition.' But critics maintain that a casino is bad news no matter what its facade, and that Maine is no place for a `Vegas East.'

"…Casino supporters say postcard images and glossy pages of L.L. Bean catalogs do not reflect the harsh reality of life in hardscrabble Maine.

"The truth, they say, is that the state has lost 17,800 manufacturing jobs in the past three years, and that Maine's annual household income of $37,654 is 40th in the nation and falling as the number of Mainers living in poverty has grown.

"…Funding for the opposition has come from hundreds of contributors, including Leon Gorman, chairman of L.L. Bean the company and grandson of L.L. Bean himself.

"…For now, the campaign is fierce as supporters spew out promises of jobs and tax revenues and new opportunity for the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot tribes.

"Opponents have promises of their own should a casino come to Maine: more crime, more traffic, more social ills…"

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