Now we get it. We kept wondering what drove Allegany County States Attorney Larry Kelly to suddenly announce that he would prosecute the illegal use of slot machines in county bars and restaurants after years of ignoring the problem. It all makes sense, given House Bill 1170 now floating around the General Assembly, which would put the legalization of slot machines in certain locations to a statewide referendum.
 
 What has that bill got to do with Allegany County? Plenty. We’re betting the ranch that Allegany County will end up a slots location, and that those slots will crop up - surprise! - at the Rocky Gap Lodge and Golf Resort. And Mr. Taylor will not stomach any competition for precious slot dollars, not even from local clubs. Get out of the way, citizens of Allegany County. Mr. Taylor has a hotel to save.
 
 Of the four slot locations the bill would allow, both the Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun openly name two they feel certain would be targeted: Baltimore city and Western Maryland. The bill’s language makes it easy to speculate where the slots would go in Western Maryland. Our guess? Well, if it's built, which it probably won’t be, Bill Rickman’s Cas-backed horse track in Little Orleans, and Mr. Taylor’s hotel at Rocky Gap.
 
 The language of the bill cites horse tracks and “tourist destinations” as slot locations. The “tourist destination” term, the bill’s backers assured the downstate media, did not include Ocean City or any other “family resort destination.” Both Ocean City’s business community and its local government officials firmly oppose slots, having gained an intrinsic understanding of slots’ devastating impact on existing tourist attractions through the example set by Atlantic City. The casinos in Atlantic City practically killed that city as a destination for anything other than gambling, since it wasn’t doing too well to start with. And while the casinos continue to do well there, that’s about all that does well.
 
 Ocean City has no desire to experience the same fate. Smart move. Western Maryland, however, isn’t so lucky. First of all, our leaders are a feckless crew who couldn’t think their way out of a paper bag. Second, Rocky Gap is sinking financially (that would be the paper bag our feckless leaders can’t get out of). Recently our County Commissioners announced that they may not be able to wean the County’s Rocky Gap debt payment from our Project Open Space Funds (which are supposed to support park and recreation projects) because revenues from Rocky Gap have not been what they expected.
 
 No kidding. So how to save this floundering albatross? Slots. Who cares if slots aren’t considered family friendly fare, even by the slot bill’s backers? Not Mr. Taylor. Who cares what being one of four slot locations in the state would do to our quality of life, which is the one selling point we actually have here? Not Mr. Taylor. Who cares if slots kill any true economic development that could create good paying jobs and inspire private investment in our area? Definitely not Mr. Taylor.
 
 With slots you get schlocky jobs that pay $6 an hour, or maybe $7. (Hey, that’s right in line with Mr. Taylor’s One Maryland program, which ensures poverty wages for all.) Will any of the big slot money stay in our community? No. We can’t impose a county tax on gaming because our Delegation and County Commissioners don’t want to (making us MORE attractive as a slots location). Nope, aside from the state tax the money will go into the pocket of the slots operators, who are not going to move their corporate headquarters to Allegany County. The money that’s made here doesn’t stay here. Get it?
 
 As you may have guessed by now, slots aren’t going to do a whole lot for Allegany County. But what’s that got to do with it? Mr. Taylor appears desperate to salvage his hotel, and at any cost. (Is that because its construction was financed via junk bonds floated and guaranteed by the state, and if it goes under the state will have to pay back the banks involved? Or are we incorrect about that?).
 
 Mr. Taylor may have encouraged the slots crackdown in Allegany County so his precious hotel won’t have any local competition when the slot fairy finally arrives in the form of a statewide referendum. The crackdown makes it look like we’re enforcing the law (a good move), but perhpas in reality we’re just readying the playing field for the pros.
 
 So who does Mr. Taylor represent again? We can’t keep that straight.