SOUTH PORTLAND (AP) – Months after President Bush declared the end of major combat operations in Iraq, members of another Maine community are divided over the symbolism of yellow ribbons.

The debate over what the ribbons represent – support for U.S. troops or for the Iraq war – has already been aired in Camden and communities across the country.

In South Portland, the dispute has prompted city officials to rescind permission they gave to a resident to hang the ribbons from city buildings and telephone poles. Officials have taken down the ribbons they put up at City Hall.

The debate has gotten so bitter that one city councilor was publicly attacked over details of his private life. At one point, South Portland’s mayor ordered that a TV camera being used to televise a City Council meeting be shut off.

Valorie Swiger, whose son Jason, 21, is serving in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq, got permission from the city to put up ribbons in March. “I put up hundreds,” she said. “I put them up on poles along the street, at the fire station, police station and City Hall.”

When she began replacing ribbons that had become tattered from the weather, city officials said they started getting calls and e-mails from some residents.

One complaint came from Councilor David Jacobs, who believed the ribbons might inappropriately represent a city-sponsored political statement.

City Clerk Susan Mooney said she then realized the city has an ordinance forbidding residents from putting signs, posters and ribbons on public property. Mooney told Swiger she’d have to take down the ribbons, and Mooney removed ribbons put up by the city at the entrance to City Hall.

Swiger has complied, for the most part, removing ribbons from city buildings. But dozens remain throughout South Portland on utility poles.

“I don’t see any harm in them,” she said. “They say ‘Thank you’ to the troops.”

During a televised City Council meeting on Sept. 3, Swiger defended her position and said she had received a phone call from someone urging that “we send Mr. Jacobs to Iraq.”

Another resident, Geri Bissonnette, spoke in support of Swiger’s ribbons, saying they reflect the public’s backing of U.S. troops fighting terrorism.

Then Bissonnette berated Jacobs, questioning why, after winning a council seat as David Swander in 1999, he took his domestic partner’s surname before running again in 2002.

Bissonnette accused Jacobs of deceiving the public by changing his name to try to win public office. “He needs to resign and do the city a favor,” she said.

At that point, Mayor Ralph Baxter Sr. ordered the television cameras turned off and refused to let Bissonnette continue speaking. He said she had exceeded the five minute time limit.

After the camera was turned back on, Jacobs approached the lectern to defend himself.

“It’s been a long time since I felt I was in a sandbox being bullied,” he said, questioning those who “threaten to send you to other countries.”

Jacobs said he decided to take his partner’s name after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to show that the two of them represent a family, just like the families torn apart by the terrorist attacks.

Jacobs declined to comment on the dispute, saying he didn’t want to further inflame the situation.

Meanwhile, South Portland’s mayor has granted another councilor’s request for a council workshop on the ribbons. And the city clerk said she is trying to arrange a meeting between Swiger and city officials to find a resolution.

AP-ES-09-18-03 0216EDT