A controversy has erupted recently over the Scarborough Downs racino referendum election from last November. Who supported the referendum? Who opposed it? Who wrote letters to the editor? Who took out ads? Who was a volunteer? Who got paid? Who did legal work on it? Who were political consultants?

Who filed reports with state government in Augusta on what money they spent on the election and why? Who failed to file reports? Who missed deadlines? How badly? And why?

Whew! The questions have been dizzying.

My name has come up in some of the stories. That is always exciting.

You might have guessed that my name was included because I still hold the record for the most $2 “show” bets placed at the horse track from l973 through 2008. But that is not why.

My name was mentioned because I supported the racino proposal, agreed to allow my name to be used in newspaper ads, got hired to do legal work and analysis of the local and state laws involved, got paid for legal work over three months, and had that fact reported in the usual reports filed with state election officials, although the person filing the reports either was asleep at the wheel and filed the reports too late, or got bad information from Town Hall on when to file the reports, or both.

All the stories had a juicy “who said what to whom, and when, and why” element to them.

March and April are good times for such stories. It helps distract us from the fact that Mother Nature has lied that spring is around the corner.

I watched a DVD the other day of an episode of the great l960s-’70s cop show “Dragnet.” That compelled me to draft the following question-and-answer session that I envision would happen if I was called over to the Scarborough PD by Detective Rouse or Chief Moulton to either “answer a few questions” or be hooked up to a polygraph:

Question: Did you get involved in the Scarborough Downs referendum last fall?

Answer: Yes.

Question: When?

Answer: The lawyer for the racetrack, Ed MacColl, was my law school roommate 30 years ago in Portland. He asked me if I would support the racino proposal. I researched it, asked some questions, got some answers, and agreed to let him use my name in newspaper ads.

Question: You ducked the question. We need a date.

Answer: That is easy. The first conversation was on my wedding anniversary date, Sept. 14 – or was it Sept. 12? (Just kidding, honey!) It was Sept. 12.

Question: You got paid for that?

Answer: No.

Question: But where did the brown paper bags filled with cash delivered to you late at night in a parking garage come in?

Answer: Never got any bags, but my l3-year-old daughter, I am sure, would agree to meet them over at the Maine Mall, perhaps at Limited Too or Abercrombie and Fitch.

Question: You think this is funny?

Answer: No, sir. Not at all.

Question: Back to the money. What about the money?

Answer: In the days following my agreeing to have my name used, it became clear that being involved would be complicated. MacColl asked about the best way to answer questions that certain residents had asked about what money the Scarborough schools would get from racino revenue, who would get the jobs in the hotels to be built, whether money would also go to state government, what approval was needed from the state to allow a locally approved racino to go into effect, how the law that set up the Bangor racino was similar or different to the Scarborough proposal, and others.

Question: Sounds like something a lawyer would do to you.

Answer: Exactly.

Question: So what happened next?

Answer: My law partner, Jones – Jeffrey … W – got involved. He said it sounded like a lot of work. He asked, “Is this another one of your Scarborough ’causes.’ “

Question: I don’t know what he means.

Answer: Me neither! Thank you!

Question: Is he saying you would be inclined to get involved, spend time analyzing laws, writing letters to people, speaking at meetings, or making phone calls to concerned citizens, and do it all for free as if it were the Band Boosters or Garden Club or Historical Society?

Answer: You’ve been talking to him, haven’t you?

Question: No. But he may be part of our investigation if you dummy up on us.

Answer: OK.

Question: So he wanted you to get paid?

Answer: Yes. He is funny like that.

Question: What did you think would be involved?

Answer: It seemed easy to antcipate l0 or l5 hours a week for the fall. It also sounded like the election would be close. In these things, that usually means a recount, etc. I have been involved with several recounts over the years – starting with the famous Sue Winch School Board Recount in the l983 School Board election.

Question: Why ‘famous’?”

Answer: Seemed like she could have won the recount, but she decided to concede, be a good sport, and just run again the next year.

Question: Sounds like the mature, adult thing to do.

Answer: Yes. Don’t you just hate that?

Question: So you requested Scarborough Downs pay you?

Answer: Yes. We estimated our law firm, the lawyers, staff people, would spend a lot of time over October, November, December. About $2,500 a week in legal time. $l0,000 a month.Three months. $30,000 seemed a fair figure.

Question: Is that when the wheelbarrow filled with cash showed up at your house?

Answer: No. A check showed up in the mailbox at 243 Route One around Oct. 24. My partner got it, endorsed it, and deposited it in our law firm bank account at Peoples Heritage Bank, or whatever the name is now.

Question: Was this supposed to be a secret?

Answer: No. In elections, all payments are written up in reports. The reports are filed either at local town halls or with the secretary of state. Standard procedure.

Question: So what is the controversy?

Answer: My name appeared in newspaper ads and letters, but the public report that was supposed to be filed in Augusta some time in late October didn’t get filed.

Question: And that was a problem?

Answer: Yes. First, the public is entitled to know what money is being spent by election proponents. I and others had spoken out in favor of the racino proposal, but the report had not been filed that showed our law firm got paid.

Question: Had you claimed you were a volunteer?

Answer: No. I had sent e-mails to people, always from my law firm e-mail address. Seven or eight people asked me if my work was legal or politcal – I said we had been hired on this race by Scarborough Downs. I sent letters on law firm stationery to people. Some people thought I was acting just as a citizen, and not as part of the racetrack’s election team.

Question: Was this your fault?

Answer: I didn’t think so, but Evan Livada, still a strong President Bush supporter, says I could have put a sticker on my forehead saying “PAID STAFFER.” Probably effective.

Question: Is there an accusation here that you would do anything for money?

Answer: I don’t know, probably by some who think capitalism is evil.

Question: Do you?

Answer: No. I allot most of my weekly compensation at my job to a payroll deduction plan that buys raffle tickets from Scarborough High groups, and buys baseballs to replace the ones lost in the woods at the field behind my house.

Question: Name one time ever that you have refused to take on a client or political cause even though you had been offered money to support it, or work on it.

Answer: In the l980s, there was a big push to turn Scarborough Downs into a major outdoor concert venue. One credible out-of-state promoter made it clear that he could hold three or four Grateful Dead concerts in Scarborough, and make scads of money. I could have made about a million dollars over a few years for helping with local permits, zoning issues, etc.

Question: Why didn’t you?

Answer:: Howard Burdwood said you can never get the smell of pot out of your clothes, even if you take the stuff to the dry cleaners. He said it would change Scarborough too much.

Question: Why do you think there have been questions about the fall racino referendum?

Answer: I don’t know. The late report brought some on. But, also, conspiracy theories are one thing our town has produced a lot of since l658. At one point, along with lobsters and potatoes, it was one of our biggest cash crops.

Question: What do you think should happen to you now?

Answer: My neighbor Alan Peoples says a reasonable approach would be to have me register with police and have to tell them what neighborhood I’m living in – kind of like pedophiles have to register. Fliers would be put in mailboxes on our road saying, “A person who supported gambling at the horse track is living in your neighborhood!”

Question: Do you think your efforts ended up swaying the election? Your side lost by 300 votes.

Answer: I promised to deliver my 84-year-old mother, and did, she told me. But I think my father might have canceled her out.

Question: Anything else to add?

Answer: Could you turn off that light bulb above my head? All the sweat is ruining my Baltimore Orioles 2009 A.L. East Champs T-shirt.