Horse feathers

Even when its troubled core is quiet, the volatile universe that is Bass Park spins off wacky issues that shoot through the city like little comets — briefly flashing intense heat and light and leaving a trail of dust and cosmic confusion.

The other night, the Bangor City Council was blindsided by a Bass Park classic. It hit the members right between the eyes.

The issue was horse trailers.

Horsemen are invited and urged by the city to come to Bass Park each year because City Hall makes money on harness racing, and the Greater Bangor Area benefits from the attendant tourism and economic spin-offs. Unfortunately, from the perspective of some city residents, these horsemen have to bring along their horses, which are hauled in trailers, usually behind the horseman’s pick-up truck. It is also unfortunate that the horsemen, vehicles, trailers and horses frequently get off the interstate at Hammond Street and then travel to Bass Park on residential streets on the West Side, where they are unwelcome.

In addition, because this is Bass Park and because Bass Park issues never are simple, there are personal conflicts bubbling away beneath the surface. There are people who don’t like horesmen and harness racing, people who don’t like horses and horse trailers and people who don’t like people who don’t like any of the above. Nasty and bitter? You bet.

So, on the eve of the 141st opening of the Bangor Fair, the City Council has overreacted 6-1, adopting an ordinance banning through trailers, which will have limited impact (three streets?), to address a minor problem of extremely brief duration.

The ordinance may be unenforceable, unless the city wants to station its entire defense department on the streets in question. It also will be enforced very selectively, unless law enforcement people want to stop every golf cart trailer, snowmobile trailer, boat trailer and trailer load going to dump.

If the law is given any enforcement teeth, it will be a gross waste of municipal resources. There are sections of Bangor where there are real traffic problems — where people are hurt and vehicles damaged in actual accidents — where police manpower could be better invested. The downtown is a dangerous no-man’s-land for pedestrians.

The horse trailer situation may be offensive (to both parties), but it hardly qualifies as a genuine threat to public welfare and safety.

This ordinance is what happens when a few people squeak too loudly and the city pours on the grease. It is an act of municipal intimidation on behalf of a tiny handful of residents against horsemen and agricultural fair people who are encouraged to come here by other agencies of city government.

Ultimately, it is what happens when angry people control city government. It is broad policy made to palliate a private peeve.