March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Bangor’s symptoms

Bangor’s elected officials point accusingly at the New Federalism, and shrinking state subsidies, and sympathetically at the overburdened property taxpayer as sources of discontent in the city.

But the two most damaging developments in local politics in two decades have not come from Washington or Augusta. They are home grown. They can be read on the blue-and-white campaign signs conspicuous throughout the city:

The shift of the local elections from October to November. Going big time during the general election has produced increasingly expensive municipal campaigns and grossly larger political egos.

The eagerness of a few local politicians to create an office of Mayor, with a capital “M.” This would be a destructive development for Bangor, because it ultimately would place an elected official in direct conflict with the professional city administration. It would breed favoritism and, at the very least, petty corruption. It would usher in an era of boss politics that would flourish in Bangor’s fractious political environment.

In the past 10 years, because of internal pressures created by councilors, the office of chairman has acquired too much significance. Divisiveness is a chronic problem for any elected body with nine independent members, but it has been made worse in Bangor by the excessive attention some councilors have paid to who gets and holds the chairmanship.

Fighting over a job that should be one of organization and coordination of committees, running council meetings and fulfilling what the city charter only briefly mentions as a ceremonial function of mayor should not be worth the bickering and discord it creates. But, driving around Bangor last week, one couldn’t miss three signs stacked together, promoting the implied City Council “ticket” of Hal Wheeler, Pat Blanchette and Arthur Tilley. They do not belong to the same party. They appear to have one thing in common: Marshall Frankel becoming council chairman.

If one objective of a chairman is to promote communication and cooperation among all the membership, this is a lousy way to start a political season. It guarantees conflict. It escalates the significance of personalities on the council.

In these difficult political times, the wise thing would be to diminish the role of individuals and to emphasize the collective strength of the group.

This campaign is running in the wrong direction.


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