Is Maine ready to make another bet on casinos?

(This post originally appeared on The Washington Post)

More money for schools. A year-round boost to what is now a seasonal economy. Two thousand jobs created. Forty-five million dollars in tax revenue generated. That’s what supporters of a new casino in Maine — the state’s third — are saying. Sounds pretty good, right?

But according to this Associated Press report on Fosters.com, many people aren’t happy with the new proposal. Some are voicing their distrust over the entrepreneur backing the initiative: Shawn Scott.

Scott is a businessman in the gambling industry with multiple ventures in hotel and racetrack casinos as well as video poker establishments. According to the AP article, Scott’s been “denied licenses and sued many times.” Of course, as one of the primary backers behind the new casino referendum, this kind of stuff doesn’t sit so well with the local community.

But that’s not what most people are talking about. It is Scott’s prior history in the state. Back in 2003, he was behind Maine’s first approved casino, a referendum that he financed and then quickly sold his license for a tidy profit. Scott was also behind a similar failed initiative in Massachusetts last year where the PAC behind it was ultimately fined. Although voters will have the final say in an upcoming referendum, the language appears to be so tightly worded that only Scott– or one of his entities–would be the one to run the new operation.

“It’s a nice trick,” one Portland voter told the AP.

Maine’s governor, Paul LePage, is also against the deal, calling it a “stacked deck” and blaming “big money and out of state interests” for “hijacking” the process.

Scott denies this and said in a recent interview that he intends to operate the new casino and not sell his license.

Maine voters will make their decision on Nov. 7.