I was at the Oxford casino public informational meeting (Sun Journal, Oct. 1). Unfortunately, the propaganda offered there was mostly disinformation, misinformation and non-information. For example:

The casino backers based all their wildly optimistic claims on the predictions in the “Gabe Report” by University of Maine professor Todd Gabe.

They claimed that it was an independent report; that is not true.

Professor Gabe was paid by a front group called “Maine Taxpayers Taking Charge,” which is actually the casino owners’ group. Gabe’s own report admits that he can’t tell whether the money he projects for the casino is new money into the economy or just money being sucked into the casino that would otherwise have been spent in other local businesses. Gabe’s similar study prior to the 2003 vote on the Bangor racino made “projections” that were almost double the actual receipts.

The backers claimed that the casino would be “locally owned and operated.” This is not true. They know the law requires that the casino be operated by an “experienced casino operator.” There are no “experienced casino operators” in Maine.

At the meeting I asked the backers to tell us what out-of-state company would be the real operator of the casino, and what would be its ownership stake, and they refused to answer, admitting only that an out-of-state company would be operating the casino.

The plan is destructive and dishonest; a bad deal for Oxford Hills; more harmful than good.

I’m against it.

Jeffrey Rosenblatt, Albany Township