Councilors put casino question before voters

How are the jobs it would create in Oxford more needed then that jobs that it would create in the L/A area?

Ben the money they are putting down is simply an option to but the land later...they would still have to pay 110% of market appraised value as set by the city for the actual purchase.

Thanks for your opinion Stavros!!

KJ, sorry dude its wider for the 1st 2 blocks, trust me I know! And if youy check with maien DOT you'll find the section past Country kitchen and out past gas mill park will also be widened shortly.

I challenge you to back up your statements with proof of what you state is "fact".

Allow me to disemble point by point

To your fist paragraph:  Capitalism itself is a "greed" based concept according to your apparent definition.  So that point is rather moot, since you couldn't show me a single person who invests in something just for the benefit of investing. Regarding the education aspect; what are you teaching our children today? That Maine in general, and Lewiston/Auburn in particular, have no ambition to attract any big industry to this area. You're also teaching them that they will need to leave their hometowns in order to get anywhere financially because any decent jobs that there are in the area, simply aren't hiring. And seriously? the last line OF COURSE they are seeking a profit, maybe you want to build and maintain a non-profit in that area, but good luck supporting yourself and the overhead on that one!

Your second paragraph: You are simply proving the point I made in a previous comment, people like you are the PROBLEM and people like you are stealing my ability to prosper. How many of you would I love to put in a large room somewhere and listen to you all cluck about how "a casino isn't the answer, but by gosh I'm not willing to offer up an alternative, so if it  doesn't meet my crazy moral standards then by god I'll vote against it at the cost of gaining NOTHING for our community" Ya know, your morality won't feed my kids, or clothe them. Your morality can't be spent as cash to improve my roads and revitalize my downtown. Your morality can't even be burned to keep me warm at night in this cold maine winter. And your descriptions of people involved in this industry are disingenious at best, and make you look the fool. I'd prefer to put my town's future in the hands of a Doctor and successful business owner, then in yours ANY DAY.

And to your last bit: I disagree with everything you say but your first line here. Gambling may be addictivie, but so is a LOT of other things, things I bet you've partaken in. Just pick your poison; Sugar, alcohol, drugs (legal and otherwise), caffeine, the Internet, video games, pornography/stripping, etc. You get the point, and I seriously doubt you've ever strolled up onto your soap box to have White Rock distillery closed, or Seltzer and Rydholm. WCSH or GME, Platinum Plus, Cold Stone Creamery, etc. You get what I'm saying, ALL of those things are addictive and yet I doubt you scream and holler when that new McDonalds on Minot Ave was being constructed. Also, you calling people low-lifes for gambling is assinine. Name calling is childish and the hallmark of a weak mind

Oh, and cause I feel childish, Your rationale is wrong, and that's FACT!

[citation needed]

Sammie, you say build anything, but a casino. Well, nothing wants to go there. That building, that location has been empty for years this is the best oppurtunity that we have. Casinos are about making money, yes, but so is every other business in the U.S. Question is do you also complain the many state wide scratch tickets as well? Because that is also gambling. Just saying.

Sammie...Please step back from the edge for a moment. I have to say your myopic view of this subject is quite rediculous. The fictional facts you parrot remind me of the people/lemmings who fawned at the presence of obama. I don't see too many of these people now that the messiah's true agenda and colors are blazingly clear. If you take a moment and look back in history you would probably say the railroad barrons were greedy people but they are the ones who took the risk. Don't you think the people who take on the risk should reap the rewards? Did this country benefit from the infrastructure/backbone of rail? Was it greed that fueled the introduction of the internet, commercial jets, automobile industry...etc. World history was created by the risk takers and the people on the sidelines benefited. There are many reasons that motivate people to take on risk...but please don't sit there and attempt to tell us you know for a FACT that this group is only doing this because they are all greedy. Your visceral attacks on these people and the casino industry leads me to believe that you may have struggled with a gambling addiction.     

Sammie - is greed also defined by the state selling lottery tickets? Bingo parlors on every corner? Off track betting? Lets not even mention the 50/50 sales and other creative events going right under our noses. Do you think only the wealthy paly those games? Wake up, gambling is living right among us.

mc - ever notice how the city has made Lincoln street wider, more of a boulevard effct? Actually drive down it sometime and you'll realize how dumb your statement is...this city has been planning for development of some kind in that area for years and has acquired property and widened streets and I have no doubt if we had a casino the Turnpike would advance the concept of a second interchange just off the river with direct access dfown Lincoln Street to such an establishment. For those who want to see mill development - are you also okay with all the large trucks and truck drivers coming into the downtown with the big rigs at all hours of the day? Think before speaking is something more people should take advantage of!

So Dan, I assume you're okay with Auburn paying a significant portion of the taxes on all the development around the Auburn mall to lewiston? How about that hotel by the river? Hint - if you build it in city A, city a should get the taxes...anything given to anyone else is simply done to encourage a few more people to vote for the proposal.  

So Dan, I assume you're okay with Auburn paying a significant portion of the taxes on all the development around the Auburn mall to lewiston? How about that hotel by the river? Hint - if you build it in city A, city a should get the taxes...anything given to anyone else is simply done to encourage a few more people to vote for the proposal.  

Yeah, your comment is pretty indicative of every other person in this country who wants to cry and complain about no jobs while shooting themselves in the foot by voting down something like this.

Let me make this clear, A CASINO WOULD BRING JOBS AND MONEY TO THIS AREA!

Do you people honestly think crime would increase? would it increase at a faster rate than it already is due to our stagnant economy? have you ever bothered to read up on the matter, maybe see how Hollywood Slots impacted the Bangor area? Mohegan and Foxwoods in Connecticut?....naa that would be work, and then you couldn't just blindly follow the Pied Pipers you see on TV and hear on the radio, who trot out a new Boogeyman every time something innovative, or new, or viable is introduced to our community. You want to know why our economy is in the toilet? PEOPLE LIKE YOU. You are taking away MY ability to prosper because you believe in a MYTH. I don't beleive you when you say that ANYTHING changed in an area that added a casino, and I genuienly think you and people like you CHERRY PICK numbers and statistics to back your beleifs because you can't rationalize it with yourself that YOU ARE WRONG.

I'm sure your children and grandchildren will "Thank You" for protecting them from prosperity and job stability. I'm sure they would hate to have the opportunity to work in a high paying industry, or have the chance to maybe build a business of their own that would benefit from the tourism a Casino would bring with it. I'm absolutely POSITIVE that they would be "indebted" to you for taking away the tax revenue and the money that could be raised to make our area more hospitable to new business, and I guarantee they wouldn't want the local roads improved, which would need to be done to handle the increased traffic, nor would they want to see "Downtown" Lewiston look nicer than the current wasteland of mostly empty commercial lots, that have zero parking to support them.

I bet your offspring will be just thrilled when all the rest of the jobs dry up in the area, and no new businesses ever come to Maine, since if you "ain't a paper mill, we don't want ya" and god knows how well they've worked out in the long run.

Thanks! I sure know I want to remain in a weak economy, while living in one of the most highly taxed states in the union, while people in my community who don't seem to know any better, vote away any chances we'll ever have to attract businesses to our state.

We scare away new ventures because we don't provide them with anything but hassle. You want to tax them heavily, while allowing no infrastructure to support them, to in turn demand that they then turn portions of their proceeds back to the State, so that they can lose money because we've weakened the dollar due to the very cycle that SHOULD be adding to it's value, not diminishing it. But I'm sure the State while still send you your check, and MaineCare will still pay your hospital bills, while I make a pittance, and pay my own over-inflated premiums on health care (not to mention paying yours) all while you take more money directly from my pocket by voting with your imagination instead of your common sense. Don't worry, I don't mind making a wage that is whole dollars less then my peers in the same industry in Massachusetts or New York or California. I don't care to improve my station in life by moving up in a company that will eventually move away from Maine due to our ridiculous property taxes. It's cool man, go ahead and make sure you VOTE NO on Casinos from here till 2050, but I hope you know that eventually your ilk will fall by the wayside, and people who think will eventually lose their apathy and vote in droves because their sick of Maine being voted further and further into bankruptcy.

I guess I should thank you, cause when this DOES come to vote, I'll actually do something about the way I feel, and I'll go pass out voter registration cards on the Tree Streets in L-Town, and I'll talk those kids into going to vote for the casinos, heck I'll give em rides to the polls if I have to, and I Guarantee those kids will vote YES for a casino, cause those same kids need those jobs, and so do I, and though you'll never admit it, so do you.

Sammie, what else would you put there? Please don't say the YMCA. The fact is there's either going to be a giant parking lot or a casino. To me, yes I live in Lewiston and pay plenty of taxes too, I'd rather give this a shot then spend another 20 years looking at a giant deserted open space. name one other business that has the potential to create jobs and bring people to the area. Have you been to Bangor? I am not even a gambler, but I have been to Bangor and can tell you that the casino there has not had a negative impact on the surrounding area. The same businesses are still standing nearby, including restaurants. And all this "on the backs of the poor" crap is such a  joke. The state sells $20 friggin lottery tickets for cryin out loud. Not many rich people buying those I promise you.