It has become political

    The possibility of bringing a Cabela’s to Scarborough looks like it will hinge on a ruling from the state on whether the company’s internet and catalog sales can be exempt from sales tax in Maine. The development has turned what was once a fairly private conversation into a public and now a political one. Gubernatorial candidate Chandler Woodcock was in Scarborough this week to urge the state to make a decision on the request. Those running for both state and local office in Scarborough have also brought the debate up a number of times during their respective campaigns. At the Planning Board meeting this week, the first review of the development that proposes to house a Cabela’s was postponed until the state’s decision was known. A lot depends on the state’s ruling in this case. But using the situation as a way to push a political agenda seems a little out of place. The decision that Cabela’s is asking the state to make has little to do with Maine being pro-business or anti-business. Those who work for the state’s revenue department are making their judgment on a special request. In effect, those with the state are doing their job. It is too bad in a way that this particular local business development is being held hostage, so to speak, by a state decision. Does the state have too many hoops for business interests to jump through? It is possible. But those hoops do exist, for better or for worse.