Despite a shaky economy and a looming state-budget deficit, Bangor finds itself now with opportunities that took years to develop – new businesses such as the wood-composite facility announced last week, arts events and a new arts museum, steady progress on the waterfront. Bangor city councilors are considering whether to mark these achievements with a vote on term limits for themselves and, while they are looking for trouble, asking about limits on the school committee, too.

There is no especially good time to debate term limits – do it when a council is underperforming and future councils will be needlessly punished; debate when times are better to loosen term limits and it looks like council opportunism. Bangor is closer to the latter condition now, and while the proposal to expand the limits from two to three three-year terms would not take effect until 2008, enough of the current councilors will still be active in politics to have a direct interest.

The Maine Legislature is an excellent example of the failure of term limits – lawmakers, good and bad, move through leadership positions too quickly to gain real skills at directing the unruly, headstrong members of the House and Senate; too many new lawmakers don’t understand the legislative process and spend a lot of time on procedure; defeated ideas come up again and again as those new lawmakers lack the history of the bills. Term limits can take care of a specific problem at a specific time, but then become a permanent burden afterward.

Some city councilors know this and are trying to lessen the problem by increasing the number of terms. Especially at the local level where the number of qualified and interested council candidates is finite, they should just drop them altogether. Politically, that is unlikely, so the increase is the preferred alternative and the longer service should help Bangor be more of a presence on statewide municipal boards. If the council decides to put it one the ballot, voters should support the longer service.

Imposing the mistake of term limits on the school committee on the grounds that the mistake was imposed on the city council, however, makes no sense.

A couple of councilors say there is public interest in doing this, and no doubt there is. There is public interest for all sorts of things – try proposing that property taxes be cut in half; there would be plenty of public interest in that. But just as it would not be responsible to halve local revenue to the city, it would be similarly irresponsible to perpetuate the idea that term limits would improve Bangor schools.

Some good things are happening in Bangor despite term limits for the council; some very good things have happened to the school system for a committee without them. Leadership is needed from the council to ensure that the limits themselves are limited as much as possible.