Editorial
Ordinances
exist to protect the citizenry and enforce situations
that are for the collective good. Often, they are
burdensome to the individual but a burdened party
has one meager consolation, that the ordinance is
being applied fairly to all.
Unless
you live in Gray, that is.
In
2003, in response to a Hempstock festival in an adjacent
town, a spate of Mass Gathering Ordinances (MGO) sprang
up and Gray was one of the towns to get on the bandwagon.
The Town maintained that any gatherings of people
anywhere in town that numbered more than 500 may constitute
a safety hazard and protocols were needed to ensure
that the well-being of the town at large would be
preserved. Already gleefully regulatory, Gray officials
sank their teeth into creating yet another ordinance
and it was adopted quickly.
Gray's
MGO is three pages long, contains 15 clauses, and
costs the applicant a lot of money and time. For example,
applicants must apply 60 days ahead and pay $250 for
the privilege, provide a million dollar insurance
policy, hire police, provide for adequate sanitation,
prove that noise levels will not exceed certain decibels,
show proof that neighboring landowners are on board,
provide one parking space for every four expected
guests, and on and on.
This
summer, there have been three applicants for a Mass
Gathering Permit. The Libra Foundation held a Holstein
Convention at Pineland, on property that straddles
both Gray and New Gloucester. New Gloucester does
not have a MGO but Gray does, so Libra had to apply
in Gray but not in New Gloucester. Perhaps the Holsteins
in New Gloucester are better behaved.
A
local couple who bought and are restoring a Nationally
Registered historic farm wanted to have a country
music festival on their quiet and forested acreage.
They were put through the wringer, with every letter
of the MGO held up as the one and only standard. They
were held to more than the letter if you ask them,
and the word harassment did come up a few times. The
Town said that their job is to uphold the ordinance,
period.
Then
the Gray Fire Association came along and said they
wanted to invite 2,000 people, close Rt. 26 for two
hours for a parade, and hold a day-long 125th Anniversary
Celebration in the middle of town to honor the Fire
Department.
They
were not only not put through the same wringer, but
have been given a pass by the Manager to escape some
of the more restrictive clauses in the ordinance.
The
applicant, Gray Fire Association, is a private organization,
not part of the Town, with their own bylaws, officers,
and operating rules. They are not a Town Department,
though many of their members volunteer on the town's
Fire-Rescue. On numerous occasions, Manager Mitchell
A. Berkowitz said that that the Association needed
to apply for a MG permit.
At Tuesday's Council meeting, however, it was revealed
that the Association had failed to apply within the
60-day window. Vice-Chair Andy Upham said that the
minutes of the last Council meeting show Mr. Berkowitz
stating unequivocally that the Association must comply
and he asked why plans were proceeding when no application
had been produced. Mr. Berkowitz said that the Association
has filed but he could not remember when. "Beforehand,"
he said. But it's OK because other protocols have
"been represented" to him as having been
completed. He couldn't say for sure, though, because
he hasn't actually seen the paperwork. But when Mr.
Upham pressed Mr. Berkowitz, Mr. Berkowitz said the
Association probably meets an exclusion in the MGO
and hadn't really needed to comply after all. That
they should feel "guided by" the ordinance
and not "required by." That was Mr. Berkowitz
said he should have said and the minutes should be
corrected. That the whole situation is really moot
because the Association "works closely"
with the Town, he said.
So
the message is, if you promote a country music festival
you are held to the letter of the law, but if you
work closely with the Town you get a pass. That if
you are a favored organization the rules will be bent
and an excuse provided. That if the Manager fails
to adhere to the rules and is caught, that the Manager
will re-interpret the rules at will so he can get
out of it.
This
is the wrong message to be sending to the citizenry.
That the Fire Association was already given preferential
treatment is unequivocal. The minute the 60-day window
passed and they had not yet applied they became favored.
The Council is now in a position of having to decide
what to do about it. I do not envy them their "political
nightmare" as Mr. Upham stated. Everyone agrees
that rules are rules and they must be applied fairly.
The question is, why are they not being applied fairly
in Gray?
Elizabeth
Prata, Editor
to respond,
editor@monumentnews.com
