An ethics complaint against Auburn Rep. Deborah Simpson has been dropped, and rightly so.

Simpson came under fire after appearing in a television advertisement favoring the construction of a casino in Maine. Voters will decide Tuesday whether to allow the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes to build a $650 million resort casino.

The casino is a bad deal for Maine. Its complicated authorizing legislation is ambiguous and difficult to fully understand, and it doesn’t provide Maine with a good enough deal to justify a yes vote.

While we disagree with Simpson’s position, she is fully entitled to it. And that includes working with the Think About It campaign and appearing in its television commercials in support of the casino.

The complaint called into question whether Simpson was being honest with her remarks. She said the proposed casino would be “the highest taxed casino in the nation.” By some measures, that’s true. By other measures, it can be legitimately questioned.

The same thing can be said about some of the advertising from CasinosNO!, which filed the complaint against Simpson.

The state’s Ethics Commission is not in a position to discern political “truth” during an election campaign. The commission investigates complaints of financial impropriety, conflicts of interest and other possible violations of campaign law. It is not a referee between electoral pugilists. Part of every voter’s responsibility is to investigate the issues and decide what to believe.

After receiving the complaint, commission Executive Director Jonathan Wayne told both sides that he would recommend that the panel dismiss the case. The ultimate decision rests with the members of the Ethics Commission. After learning of the recommendation, CasinosNO! indicated it did not intend to pursue the allegations any further, Wayne told the Sun Journal.

Wayne’s recommendation was the correct one, and CasinosNO! should have known that.

Trying to intimidate an opponent shouldn’t be part of the political process, and haphazard complaints based on spurious evidence cheapen legitimate ethics investigations.

It is wholly appropriate that the complaint against Simpson has been dismissed. She has the same right to publicly advocate for the casino as others – including Gov. John Baldacci and former Gov. Angus King – have to oppose it.


Looking west
Beetles, high winds and the hatefulness of man have conspired to set California ablaze.

More than 2,000 homes have been destroyed and more than 20 lives lost. The economic impact from the destruction will climb into the billions. More than 600,000 acres have burned. Images from the scene leave us dumbstruck and in awe.

A combination of poor forest management, bad weather and, in some cases, arson, led to the fires. But, it is our own desire to live with nature, to push the boundaries between suburb and wildlands that often places us in harm’s way. We are drawn, many of us, to the water and the woods, and, sometimes, to our own demise.

Living in a state carved from rocky coasts and vast forests, built along the shores of glacier-made lakes and cantankerous rivers, Mainers have a special appreciation for the delicate balance between taming nature and succumbing to its power. It is with sympathy, sorrow and hope for a new day that we look toward the west.


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