BANGOR, Maine — A former city solicitor has joined one of Bangor’s oldest law firms.
Erik Stumpfel, 57, recently joined Rudman Winchell, founded in 1917. Stumpfel, who was born and raised in Baltimore County, worked for Bangor from 1991 to 1999. A graduate of Roanoke College in Salem, Va., and the University of Virginia Law School in Charlotte, Va., he worked for a rival firm in Bangor for the past 12 years.
“Being a municipal lawyer can be a real positive experience because in large measure, you are doing something that is viewed as for the public good,” Stumpfel said in January. “I am especially proud of my work in economic development.”
Stumpfel joined Ed Bearor, Tim Pease and John Hamer, who also worked for the City of Bangor, in Rudman Winchell’s municipal practice area.
Bearor said last month that he wants Rudman and Winchell to be “the go-to” firm in northern and eastern Maine for municipalities in need of legal advice.
“In his legal career to date, [Stumpfel] has provided legal services to county and municipal clients on more than $1 billion of economic development projects that have helped to create more than 3,000 permanent, full-time jobs,” said a Rudman Winchell press release announcing he had joined the firm.
Much of what he and his colleagues do is help a municipality follow the proper process when deciding whether to approve a new subdivision, a wind farm or a sewer project, Stumpfel said. He also works with town officials and private clients on economic growth issues including tax increment financing, business park development and how state and federal incentives and other issues could impact a project.
“Things have become increasingly more complex in recent years in terms of the impact of state and federal regulations on municipalities,” he said. “Shore-land zoning is very complex. Plus, the passage of the [statewide] Uniform Building Code has created a whole new set of rules towns with a population of more than 7,000 are responsible for enforcing.”
The statewide code replaced local rules and went into effect in January 2011.
Most cities have staff attorneys, code officers, economic development advisers and other employees to help elected officials negotiate the many laws and regulations municipalities must follow. Officials in less populated towns with smaller staffs and fewer full-time professionals available often turn to attorneys for help in dealing with the myriad statutes, codes and rules.
“For small, rural communities, dealing with federal and state laws and agencies can be a real challenge,” he said.
When not working with municipal officials, Stumpfel spends his time hiking. Several years ago he offered to photograph the “undiscovered” waterfalls of Piscataquis County for the Chamber of Commerce. He “found” 70.
The lawyer lives in Sangerville with his wife, Beth Stumpfel. The couple has two children, Jennifer and Jonathan, who are in college.
Rudmen and Winchell are just another corporate interest law firm. They would rather see a company make a bunch of money to pay their fees, rather then defend someone accused.
Last time I checked businesses are in business to make money, period. That includes law firms. Money buys the best representation it can get. It’s the American way. Erik Stumpfel is a class act and certainly deserves to maximize his earning potential by going where there is money to be made. And for small towns trying to navigate the myriad morass of rules and regulations enacted over the past 30 years to they can simply get somethng done, guys (and gals) like Erik Stumpfel are a godsend. In short, we created the bureaucracy via our elected politicians and why should we complain when it costs big bucks to navigate it and succeed in it?
Our town’s experience with Mr. Stumpfel was not good. He supposedly represented the interests of the citizens but was far more clever at accommodating the company that wanted to build a dangerous, polluting facility in our midst. He did not anticipate the many added costs the taxpayers would have to bear that relieved the company of responsibility for the expenses their presence and operation created.
Many people saw him as a drum major for developers that prey on the small towns that do not have the means to properly look after their own interests. Any small town that hires him might want to check with the citizens of towns that have had experience with him. Several articles in the BDN, such as the ones about Willimantic and others, give a good idea of how he works. Type Willimantic Stumpfel into the search window in the BDN archives. You’ll be amazed.
We know of another small town that hired him andpaid him with funds from the developer. He knew his fees were being reimbursed by the developer but defended it as ethical and “normal”. All the while he claimed he was getting the “best deal” for the town. Many townsfolk objected but he gets paid big bucks to make the case and he is very clever at it. But who’s interests does he promote? Small towns should be very wary when they seek “advice” from lawyers who have no problem with this type of reimbursement arrangement. They are compromised from the start.