Bangor taxpayers urge council resolution on Iran

Early in October a group of Bangor residents, including some members of the Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine, submitted a draft resolution to the Bangor City Council for consideration and possible adoption. The resolution stated that the City Council “opposes pre-emptive military action by the United States against the Islamic Republic of Iran without adequate Congressional hearings and deliberations and urges Congress to prohibit the use of funds to carry out this action without clear explicit congressional authorization; and … urges the U.S. to work diplomatically and cooperatively with other nations and through the U.N. to pursue diplomatic engagement with Iran in order to reduce tensions and security concerns.”

The measure attempted to remedy the precipitous congressional approval of the 2002 authorization to invade Iraq by exhorting the president and the Maine delegation to examine carefully all the appropriate intelligence and to engage in thorough debate, and to regard the use of force as the last resort before initiating hostilities. Proposing it before the presidential election was timely because its content echoed a set of recommendations voiced recently by five former secretaries of state that the U.S. begin to pursue more diplomacy in trying to resolve differences with Iran on a host of issues.

Moreover, the resolution pointed out the relevance to local taxpayer concerns by stating the conclusion of research done by the National Priorities Project: The Iraq war spending to date will cost Bangor taxpayers $34.8 million. It’s obvious that war with Iran would increase this financial burden and divert funds from critical human needs in our community.

Our group presented the resolution to the City Council, which sent it to the relevant committee – meeting the next night – for further discussion and possible changes. After several group members spoke on its behalf, Councilor Frank Farrington offered a motion to approve its return to the full council for further debate and disposition. As he stated, he did so, despite his personal disagreement with its stance, because the resolution dealt with matters of genuine importance to our community and country.

However, the resolution never made it to the council due to the refusal of two other voting councilors to second the motion. One simply sat silently, the other stated many objections: the cost (postage for five letters?); the relative unimportance of the Iran relations issue compared to others (despite its prime status as a news item for the past year); the more effective path of contacting our representatives on an individual basis (despite the fact that individuals had been making these contacts for many years and were now coming to the council because of the lack of response); the risk of alienating our political leaders by ordering them to pursue a particular course of action or vote a certain way (the resolution only urges them to do so); and taking such a resolution doesn’t fall within the council’s purview (even in light of its duty to protect taxpayer interests and of the opportunity to express residents’ opinion is on critical national issues affecting local communities – as did officials in Bar Harbor, Harpswell and Orono by passing similar resolutions).

During his half-hour televised speech before his election, Barack Obama encouraged all Americans to become involved in local politics. With all due respect to the committee members who have undoubtedly worked long hours over the years to benefit the Bangor community, it seems that in the case of the Iran resolution personal whim, individual preference and emotional reactions of two councilors thwarted the democratic process for a great many

Bangor residents.

Two questions remain: Could not this measure have been forwarded to the full council given the strong support demonstrated by residents, even if it were voted down?

What will happen in the future when other residents approach this committee with a resolution that meets with one or more of the members’ personal disapproval?

Dave Witham of Bangor is a former English teacher.