You Can Still Smoke In Bangor Public Parks.

Fire up boys, it still legal to smoke in Bangor public parks.  The Bangor City Council has rejected an ordinance that would have either banned smoking or created designated smoking areas in Bangor public parks.  It was close, they turned it down by a 5-4 vote.

The ordinance started out with an outright ban on smoking, but after cascading down through various committees, groups and individuals, Councilor Susan Hawes finally proclaimed, "We now have before us something that’s totally useless".

Several councilors and members of the public spoke in favor of the ban, citing the effects of second hand smoke.  Laura Mitchell of Parkview Avenue mentioned that her kids can't "flourish" while being exposed the smoke, and that they have picked up discarded butts and put them in their mouths.

Councilor David Nealley said that the city should not restrict the rights of smokers because they pay taxes too.  One resident, Charlie Birkel, questioned how the Bangor PD would enforce a ban, and said that the understaffed department had "bigger issues to deal with".

Looks like this proposed ordinance is dead for the time being.  Maybe if people were just mindful of others by not smoking around non-smokers and cleaning up after themselves there wouldn't be a need. But you know that's not going to happen, unfortunately.