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.

City Council Workshop

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City Manager’s Update

The City Manager opened with a few announcements. She asked councilors to hold May 30th on their calendars for a tentative Talbot Trail renaming ceremony, a date suggested by the Talbot family. She also gave a shoutout to the Parks & Rec Director and his team for another successful Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race — 882 paddlers from all six New England states plus four from Canada, supported by 60–70 search and rescue volunteers and a dozen or so Pine State Radio Club members at checkpoints. Finally, she noted that a review of the Council Guidelines Policy is coming soon and invited councilors to submit any suggested edits, and she gave a heads-up that the proposed sidewalk ordinance is heading to the Advisory Committee on Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Human Rights for discussion.

Parks & Homelessness: Policing and Day Space

This was the meatiest discussion of the night. With the Well’s warming shelters and day space now closed for the season, the City Manager laid out a two-part proposal:

Part 1 — Park Monitoring: Staff are proposing a dedicated police detail to monitor Pierce Park during open hours, on a volunteer overtime basis, to address ordinance violations like substance use, littering, and unauthorized structures. The cost could run up to $680 per shift depending on the officer’s seniority. To contain that cost, the city is also considering temporarily shortening park hours — possibly aligning Pierce Park’s hours with the library — rather than closing parks mid-day. Councilors stressed this isn’t about removing people from parks but about enforcing existing ordinances consistently.

Part 2 — Day Space RFP: The city is feeling the gap left by the HEART Center closing. The Director of Health and Human Services made a compelling case that a day space is an evidence-based intervention — not just a place for unhoused neighbors to be, but a hub where case managers, health providers, and service organizations can find clients efficiently rather than chasing them around the city. She also noted that newly housed individuals often feel isolated, and a day space addresses that too. The council voted unanimously to authorize staff to begin an RFP process to solicit proposals from service providers, with the incoming homeless advisory committee expected to play a role once it’s up and running.

Recreation Center / New Facility Discussion

The Parks & Recreation Director walked the council through the child care and gymnasium components of the proposed new Parks & Rec facility, drawing on the Berry Dunn feasibility study from 2024. Key points:

• The current Rec Center has significant limitations: shared entrances for child care and the general public, no dedicated drop-off/pick-up zone, accessibility challenges between floors, and rooms that double as child care space and other uses simultaneously.
• The proposed new facility would have five dedicated child care classrooms, a dedicated drop-off zone, a one-on-one behavior space, and full accessibility.
• On the gymnasium side, Parks & Rec currently juggles seven different gym locations across the city to run youth basketball for 375 kids on 32–38 teams. A three-court facility would consolidate that. A dedicated walking track was also part of the original concept.

The sticking point remains the overall price tag — estimated in the $65–70 million range — which several councilors called too much sticker shock for the public. There was broad consensus that the child care portion is essential and uncontroversial, while the ice rink component (the most expensive piece) is where opinions diverged. Several councilors floated separating the ice rink out entirely, potentially pursuing it as a community-led, nonprofit-owned project with the city helping at the finish line rather than owning it outright. The conversation was tabled with ice expected to be a major agenda item at the next session.

The council then moved into executive session.

Regular City Council Meeting

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Consent Agenda

I requested item 26-143 be pulled from the Consent Agenda and moved to New Business. The remaining Consent Agenda passed 8-1 (Councilor Fish voting no.)

• 26-143 ORDER: Authorizing the City Manager to Endorse a Subordination Agreement and an Amendment to the Development Agreement for Pike Development to Pursue Financing for the Purchase of the Property Located at 8 Harlow Street.
  • Pulled from Consent Agenda and moved to new business by Councilor Beck (me).
  • Councilor Beck moved to amend the order to require a “project recovery fee” to compensate taxpayer staff time given this is the second restructuring of the deal. That amendment failed 1–8 (Beck alone in favor).
  • The base order then passed 9–0.
• 26-144 ORDER: Authorizing an Application for Reimbursement from the State of Maine for Costs Related to Implementing LD 1184 and Other Housing-Related Laws.
• 26-145 ORDER: Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Seasonal Land Lease for the Use of a Portion of Land and Building Structure Within the Airport Shuttle Lot Located at 762 Maine Avenue with Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company of Boston, LLC.
• 26-146 ORDER: Authorizing a Wabanaki Veterans Memorial in Broad Street Park.
• 26-147 ORDER: Authorizing the City Manager to Enter into a Contract with Sheridan Construction for Construction Manager at Risk Services for the Community Connector Cold Storage Facility Project.
• 26-148 ORDER: Authorizing the Disposition of City-owned Land on Sherman Avenue for Affordable Housing Development.
• 26-149 ORDER: Authorizing the Use of City-Owned Land on Sherman Avenue for Affordable Housing Purposes and Declaring Said Use a Public Purpose on Under the Community Development Block Grant Program.

Referrals to Committee and First Reading

Voted unanimously in favor for First Reading.

• 26-150 ORDINANCE: Amending City of Bangor Code – Part I Administrative Legislation Chapter 23 Boards, Committees and Commissions Section 35 through 38, Respectively, to Modify Membership, Election of Officers, and Meetings/quorum for the Downtown Parking Advisory Committee (First Reading).
• 26-151 RESOLVE: Authorizing the City Manager to Accept and Appropriate $7,852,320 in FY23 Bus and Bus Facilities Competitive Grant for the Construction of a Work Force Development Training Center and the Rehab of the Cold Bus Barn Facility for the Community Connector (First Reading).

Unfinished Business

• 26-095 ORDINANCE: Amending the Code of the City of Bangor to Establish Chapter 46, “Employee Authority in Immigration Matters”.
  • Motion to substitute with revised text — Failed 4–5 (YES: Beck, Faloon, Leonard, Walker; NO: Carson, Dean, Fish, Mallar, Hawes)
  • Motion to postpone the original ordinance to the May 11th council meeting — Passed 5–4 (YES: Beck, Carson, Faloon, Leonard, Walker; NO: Deane, Fish, Mallar, Hawes)
• 26-139 ORDINANCE: Amending Chapter 165, Land Development Code, District Map to Re-Zone a Portion of Property Located at 355 Maine Avenue from Government & Institutional Service District to Shopping & Personal Service District.
  • Passed 9-0
• 26-140 RESOLVE: Accepting and Appropriating $80,000 from Maine General Medical Center to Implement Outpatient Early Intervention Services with Respect to HIV Disease.
  • Passed 9-0

New Business

• 26-153 RESOLVE: Addressing Councilor Mallar’s Statements During the March 31, 2026 Ethics Board Meeting Regarding the School Department Budget and Non-English Speaking Bangor Students.
  • Background: During a break at the March 31, 2026 Ethics Board meeting, Councilor Wayne Mallar made comments to a city staff member stating the school department “gets no increase,” that non-English-speaking students “can’t speak English, read English, or write English — it’s not a disability, we do not have to furnish,” and “they’re probably all illegals anyway.” The comments were heard publicly in real time via the livestream.
  • This resolve formally states that Councilor Mallar’s comments were his own opinions and do not reflect the views of the full city council, and that the comments will not affect individual councilors’ votes on the school budget. I moved an amendment by to strike the word “necessarily” from the final sentence (making the disavowal unequivocal) and it passed 8–0, and the resolve as amended passed 8–0 (Council Mallar did not vote on either).
  • A motion was made to hear this item before the Board of Ethics referral. On the agenda this item appeared last.
• 26-152 ORDER: Referring the Conduct of Councilor Mallar on March 31, 2026 to the Board of Ethics for an Advisory Opinion.
  • This order formally refers Councilor Mallar’s March 31st conduct to the Board of Ethics for an advisory opinion on whether his statements violated the city’s code of ethics — specifically sections related to maintaining public confidence, prohibiting unlawful discrimination and inequitable treatment, and requiring disclaimers when speaking in an official capacity. Mallar was permitted to speak but not vote.
  • Council debate was divided:
    • For referral (Beck, Carson, Faloon, Leonard, Walker): The comments were made in a municipal building, to a municipal employee, on a live municipal mic, about a municipal matter — making the public/private distinction blurry. The ethics board is the proper body to answer these questions. Councilor Leonard noted this is the same due process he never received when censured himself.
    • Against referral (Dean, Fish): While personally disagreeing with Mallar’s statements, they expressed concern about the cost and resource burden of ethics proceedings and a First Amendment argument that distasteful private opinions shouldn’t automatically trigger ethics referrals.
  • An amendment to strike the catchall “or any other provisions of the ethics code” language failed 1–7 (Carson alone in favor).
  • The order as originally written passed 5–3 (YES: Beck, Carson, Faloon, Leonard, Walker; NO: Dean, Fish, Hawes — Councilor Mallar did not vote). Referred to the Board of Ethics.