In his recent letter "Horse racing can benefit Western Maryland" (Oct. 17) Del. Casper R. Taylor criticized Barry Rascovar's column regarding locating a horse-racing track in Allegany County ("Racing's bad idea for W. Maryland," Opinion Commentary, Oct. 1).
 
 As a resident of Allegany County, I must say Mr. Rascovar's version of life here is much more accurate than Mr. Taylor's.
 
 Mr. Taylor wrote of the support such a track has at the local political level and wrote glowingly of our local economy.
 
 But at a public hearing held in Allegany County by the Maryland Racing Commission several weeks ago, only two public officials spoke, and they didn't favor a track.
 
 Where were Mr. Taylor's supporters?
 
 Mr. Taylor also claimed that unemployment is down in both Allegany and Garrett counties and that we have seen 2,000 new jobs in the last 24 months.
 
 
 According to statistics from the Allegany County Chamber of Commerce, the county's unemployment rate is down but so is our work force.
 
 In July 1999, our work force consisted of 33,868 people, and our unemployment rate stood at 6.8 percent. By July 2000, our work force consisted of 32,622 people.
 
 Is our unemployment rate down? Yes, to 5.7 percent -- but the continued exodus from our county accounts for much of that.
 
 In a report compiled by Mr. Taylor's Western Maryland Economic Development Task Force, jobs counted toward the 2,000 new jobs Mr. Taylor mentions include positions at a federal correctional facility in Preston County, W.Va.
 
 If Mr. Taylor wishes to count those jobs, he could also include jobs in Frederick, Hagerstown and Winchester, Va.
 
 Hundreds of Allegany County residents commute to those cities daily for well-paying jobs with decent benefits. Such jobs are difficult to find at home.
 
 Mr. Taylor claimed the state has invested $400 million in Western Maryland over the past two years. That may be correct, but where has that money gone?
 
 No sign of such investment can be seen in terms of jobs or of projects under way -- except the state prison -- that will result in true economic growth.
 
 We are, as Mr. Rascovar stated and Mr. Taylor denied, a region whose economic improvements are based on landfills and prisons.
 
 The way Mr. Taylor decided that a horse track would come to Allegany County is a perfect example of how he does business in Western Maryland.
 
 The people of Allegany County were never asked if they wanted a horse track before the bill allowing its license was passed. There were no public meetings to discuss the impact such a facility would have on our community, no discussions to determine if the community supported the concept.
 
 We were told that Allegany County would be the site of such a facility, and that was the end of it.
 
 Mr. Taylor was not interested in what the people of Allegany County thought about his plans at that time -- and he's not interested now.
 
 Kimi-Scott McGreevy Cumberland