Disclaimer: The views I express here are my own and should NOT be construed as speaking for the City of Bangor or the City Council of Bangor.
I’m going to be catching you up on everything I’ve been up to as a member of Bangor City Council. I’ve got nearly 5 months under my belt, so bare with me on this info dump. But once I get caught up I plan on doing weekly updates.
My updates on this blog will focus on Regular City Council meetings, workshops, and the committees I’m a voting member of, which is the Finance Committee and Government Operations committees. (Exceptions made when items of note appear on the other committee agendas.)
With that being said, let’s talk about November 2024.
November 13, 2024
Swearing in Ceremony
I was sworn in that morning, alongside members Wayne Mallar and Sue Hawes who were also elected and re-elected respectively. I gave some remarks which you can view and hear below.
City Council Meeting
That evening was my first official City Council meeting as a City Councilor.
The meeting agenda contained 2 liquor license renewals, a quit claim deed, and accepting the results from the November 5th election. Very light agenda that night.
November 18, 2024
Finance Committee
The agenda that evening included a number of purchase requests. Including accepting and appropriating money from the Federal Aviation Administration for a passenger boarding bridge at Gate 11 at the Bangor International Airport.
In addition to the agenda, the committee discussed challenges faced by the Treasury and City Clerk’s offices in processing mailed-in payments. I expressed concern that the current situation mirrors the circumstances that led to a material weakness finding in the last audit, specifically regarding the delay in deposits and bank reconciliations.
Staff shared their challenges, which included staffing struggles and a steep learning curve for staff to properly apply payments, especially with the complexities of tax and utility payments due to state of Maine lien laws.
The large volume of walk-in customers also creates a priority system where they are served first, which can delay the processing of mail-in payments. The election had further delayed payment processing. Additionally, staff time is spent assisting walk-in customers with genealogical requests, which also contributes to processing delays.
Finance department staff have been temporarily assigned to assist the Treasury and City Clerk’s offices with payment processing to alleviate the backlog. There is an ongoing issue that they are trying to mitigate.
In response to a question about extended hours for temporary staff, it was clarified that the software used to apply payments requires staff to be physically present, so off-hours work would also require an employee to be present. Treasury and Clerk’s office staff have been working extended hours to catch up.
The committee discussed the possibility of increasing electronic payment options to alleviate the in-person processing burden. While there are challenges to this, including software limitations and difficulties in identifying electronic payments, the city is exploring ways to implement more electronic payment solutions.
November 20, 2024
City Council Workshop
This was an orientation held at the Cross Insurance Center. The agenda can be viewed here.
November 25, 2024
City Council Workshop
The agenda was focused on ARPA. One of the issues was the Christine B. Foundation wanted an amendment to their ARPA award. From the agenda:
“The City Council previously authorized an award to the Christine B Foundation to fund site planning and design services associated with the creation of a new medical nutrition health facility. In the last 24 months, facility construction and campaign costs have increased 40% compared to the initial concept budget, patient referrals have increased by 40% and there is significant demand for limited private and government resources. Therefore, the Christine B Foundation is requesting an amendment to the existing agreement to allow the awarded funds to make capital improvements in the existing program fulfillment site (Hancock Street Bangor) as follows: fulfillment site lease (rental space 2025-2026 – $50,000), supply chain management (food safety improvement and distribution maintenance – $25,000), program personnel (.25 FTE 2025-2026 – $25,000). The requested amendment would allow the expansion of the service initially funded by the City Council albeit in a different form.”
As a citizen I was dismayed 2 years ago when the City Council made the decision to conduct what I termed a non-profit “beauty contest” for ARPA funds rather than working to ensure this large amount of money was leveraged to address our biggest problem: housing. City Council looked at the scoring the United Way Heart of Maine gave the grant applications, and made their choices. Christine B. Foundation participated in that process, which is how they obtained their award. While I can appreciate circumstances have changed, I also believe strongly in fairness. That same night we were taking back $221,540 from Wellspring when their circumstances changed and were unable to complete their project. I’m certain they too could have found other uses for the money that still adhered to the core of their mission.
Christine B. Foundation received that award because they scored well for how they were going to spend it. Now that their usage is changing, I believe that to be unfair to the other organizations who scored well but “didn’t make the cut.” The rest of the City Council didn’t see it that way and decided to allow the funding to be partially used for operating costs (which they previously said was not acceptable.)
This is not a reflection on the worthiness of the Christine B. Foundation. They’ll put the money to work serving Bangor residents without a doubt. This is a reflection of the process, and being consistent. I was a critic of the City Council’s ARPA process, and I am a critic of this decision to throw the process and the rules out the window, without a solid explanation of rationale. There were other applicants still doing the projects they applied for money for, and the amounts they requested were compatible with this $100,000. Had the City Council shifted those funds to other projects still in the works as applied for, it would have respected the grant application process it had established.
City Council Meeting
The agenda included 3 liquor license renewals, a contract for a sewer improvement project, purchase approvals, a contract for wastewater treatment biosolid disposal, but the item of most note that evening was the re-zoning of a property from Urban Residence 1 District (URD-1) to Multifamily & Service District (M&SD). The result would make the 4 existing units on the property be in conformity with that type of zoning.
The Planning Board had rejected this on a vote of 5-2, citing that this would be spot zoning. It was my understanding that they have a preference for doing zone on a neighborhood basis as the city works to implement the 2022 Comprehensive Plan. I don’t disagree with that thought process as spot zoning can make the work of implementing that plan more difficult as more and more parcels find themselves out of alignment with the city’s master plan.
That being said, we’re in a housing a crisis. Creating a situation where otherwise good units of housing sit vacant over a zoning mismatch is not a luxury the city of Bangor can afford in my opinion. It was on that basis I cast my vote in favor of the zoning change. The vote carried 8-1, which exceeded the two-thirds threshold necessary to override a Planning Board decision.
That brings November 2024 to a close.
November was about transition for me. Making the shift from a vocal citizen advocate who gave public comment often, to being a member of the very body I spoke and advocated to. Having watched so many meetings over the past few years the learning curve wasn’t much regarding procedure.
It’s also been a pleasure getting to know the other City Councilors. While we may not agree on every issue, one thing is certain: like myself, each member of City Council is serving because they care deeply about Bangor.
I encourage all residents of Bangor to reach out to me with any questions or concerns at my e-mail: michael.beck@bangormaine.gov. You can also reach the entire Bangor City Council at councilors@bangormaine.gov.
