Well here we go again, another November and several more citizen initiated referendum questions on the ballot; one specifically aimed for York County. While I understand that Maine citizens have the constitutional right to partition their government in order to address certain issues, concerns or even to repeal a law instituted by the Legislature, the citizen’s referendum process has been hijacked by wealthy out-of-state millionaires attempting to circumvent our legislative process.

I have written several times before the flaws in this type of process for establishing public policy. With no public hearings, no critical independent legal review, no critical financial impact analysis or constitutional review, it is not the way public policy should be decided.

The specific York County proposal is yet another attempt by one individual to be able to build a casino somewhere in York County, without legislative scrutiny or a competitive bid process. During the 127th Legislative session the Legislature did attempt to bring forward a bill to allow a convention center with a casino and hotel complex in either York or Cumberland County with a whole lot of specific requirements attached, requiring significant upfront investments and a bidding process in order to make sure the right developer would be chosen who could fulfill the requirements in the legislation.

Ultimately that bill failed to pass mainly because several of the players pushing the current referendum question didn’t like the competitive process, and those who currently have casinos operating in Maine, lobbied hard against the Legislature’s proposal.

You no doubt have already seen the fancy ads on TV, in the newspapers, online and in your mailbox. The group proposing this question, which, by the way, spent some $500,000 paying individuals to collect the necessary signatures to get on the ballot, is projected to spend an additional $1.5 million to convince Maine that this is the best proposal to solve all our financial problems. It won’t. Be leery of false promises that seem to good to be true.

One of their claims is the number of jobs that will be created from this project. One has to ask where are they going to get the 2000 people to fill the jobs they are promising? I know businesses here in York County that are already desperate for help! Are they now going to have to compete with a large, out-of-state corporation? We currently bring in hundreds of foreign workers to fill jobs now, in both the summer resorts, restaurants and ski areas. With an unemployment rate hovering just above three percent, if a person doesn’t have a job now, I’m not sure this proposal will make any difference.

It is interesting to me that in all the fancy ads about the wonderful benefits this project will have for York County, and the rest of the State of Maine, not once do they mention gambling as the main source of income and revenue to be shipped out of state. We have seen this movie before and Maine citizen’s, especially in York County, rejected it for all the right reasons. Let’s not be fooled again. If a casino, resort, convention center is what the southern part of this state wants and needs, let the legislative process bring it forward so that not one person gets to decide.

With each of the questions that will be on the ballot this November please take the time to research the issues and make informed decisions. After all you are the legislator for that day and your vote will have far reaching impacts throughout Maine. Fancy ads and glossy mailers will only tell you what one side or the other thinks about the issue at hand. It is up to you to be an informed voter.