O'Malley Slots Plan Arouses Suspicions

Hooke said that operators should be able to make a profit and that concerns about enrichment are overblown. A provision that limits operators' share of proceeds to 30 percent is the most restrictive in the nation, he said.

Analysts say it is possible that other proposals could emerge to compete with racetrack sites. But O'Malley, who would appoint the majority of the commission that selects sites, seemed to suggest during an interview Monday on Maryland Public Television that such was not his intent. O'Malley described his plan as having two track sites and three non-track sites.

"It appears there is every intention of favoring politically connected special interests," Del. Steven R. Schuh (R-Anne Arundel) said yesterday at a news conference at which Republicans outlined a plan that would allow operators to bid to put slots at six locations anywhere in the state.

Sen. J. Lowell Stoltzfus (R-Somerset) said he was particularly irked by O'Malley's decision to include the Ocean Downs area location, which is opposed by many elected officials and business groups in nearby Ocean City.

Stoltzfus suggested that political contributions from the track's owner, William M. Rickman Jr., could have been a factor. In January, companies affiliated with Rickman and his family gave more than $48,000 to O'Malley's campaign and an account run jointly by O'Malley and Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown (D).

"I'm not looking for any favoritism whatsoever," Rickman said at the time. "I'm looking for a fair slots bill to come out that maybe I have a chance to participate in."

Rickman did not return a phone call yesterday.

Joseph A. DeFrancis and minority owners of the Maryland Jockey Club sold their stake in Laurel Park to Canadian-based Magna Entertainment in September. But DeFrancis, who has contributed thousands of dollars to O'Malley and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert), still stands to benefit from slots coming to Laurel, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Louis J. Raffetto Jr., president of the Jockey Club, which still operates Laurel Park, said he learned long ago that one should not assume anything in politics. But he said he has not heard rumblings about a slot parlor elsewhere in Anne Arundel.

"We are an eligible location," he said. "That's what I can say."

Anthony McCarthy, a spokesman for Dixon, the Baltimore mayor, said her preferred slots site emerged after much research and discussions with O'Malley.

"We are more concerned with the specific site than the party that is developing it," McCarthy said.

Staff writer Ovetta Wiggins contributed to this report.