Gov. Martin O'Malley, who is pushing for voter approval of the slots plan, has warned that without revenue from expanded gambling the state could be forced to make steep budget cuts that would trickle down to localities. That frightens officials in Cecil County, where Manlove said they have raised property taxes as high as they can and that further increases would hurt retirees on fixed incomes.
Just 30 miles to the northeast of Perryville sits Delaware Park, a horse-racing track that offers two football-field-sized floors of slots and a nearby golf course. The place has the feel of Las Vegas with $14.95 prime rib dinners but without the cigarette smoke and live card dealers. Electronic table machines, which Delaware has allowed, feature virtual dealers for blackjack and three-card poker.
On a sunny afternoon last week, Delaware Park drew drivers from Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
FOR THE RECORD - An article in yesterday's editions about slot machines in Cecil County mistakenly reported the accomplishments of the racing horse Kelso. He was named Horse of the Year for five consecutive years.
THE BALTIMORE SUN REGRETS THE ERROR
"If everyone else has this, why not us?" said 82-year-old Hozie Faulcon, who drives more than an hour from his Baltimore County home to try his luck on slots.
Opponents of slots in Maryland argue that the machines take advantage of the most economically vulnerable residents. Amy Yarnall, a Methodist pastor in Cecil County who is encouraging congregations to become active in rallying against the referendum, said she has seen the ravages of gambling on families in the area and worries that more residents will take to slots if they are allowed in Perryville.
"People are already struggling to pay their bills and put food on their tables," she said. "Our county just doesn't need more help to impoverish people."
The Asbury United Methodist Church sits about a half-mile from the proposed Perryville site, at the top of a road that leads to a neighborhood where some are wary of what slots would mean for their community. Emily Grove, who has lived there for 46 years and whose husband owns a home-improvement business across the street, said she and her neighbors fear increased crime and traffic.
"We live in the country," Grove said to underscore her point.
But Mike Andrews, co-owner of The Grist Mill Tavern, a popular restaurant in Perryville, said he would welcome change. Perryville once figured prominently in the Civil War and served as a stopping point for George Washington when traveling between Virginia and New York.
But Andrews, pointing to a 1930s town map hanging by the entrance to his restaurant, says the area hasn't grown much in decades.
"A lot of people worry slots will bring the wrong kind of people, like hookers and lounge lizards," said Andrews, who thinks those fears are overblown and would welcome the new customers that an added area attraction might bring. "This town is hurting for retail and a center of town."
