After watching a spirited mayoral election in Portland last fall, Bangor City Councilor Charles Longo says he’d like to see his city consider a turn toward an elected mayor, too. There are lots of benefits, as well as a few shortcomings to such a change, but before Bangor decides how its mayor takes office, it should identify what it wants the mayor to do.
Portland’s mayor previous to the 2011 election was, like Bangor’s now, largely a chairmanship position, appointed by fellow council members. With a city manager overseeing the day-to-day chores of city government, that’s not a bad thing, and while some ceremonial Bangor mayors have treated the job as if they were suddenly prince of the city, most have taken a calm and practical approach to working with fellow councilors.
An elected mayoral position changes things. Portland’s mayor is full time while the council is part time. The mayor can create or eliminate committees — under Mayor Michael Brennan, the number in Portland has dropped from nine to six — and veto a budget. Typically, a mayor sets the strategy for a city — an emphasis on schools, a housing program, a new approach for attracting businesses, etc. But, most important, an elected mayor is the face of the city and the person driving (or stopping) reform.
Councilor Longo imagines a Bangor mayor with many of the same powers as the one in Portland, though he cautions that he is most interested in getting the discussion going about the position rather than determining any specific roles. And he says the cost of a mayor ($66,000 plus benefits annually in Portland) gives him pause.
Determining what a mayor would do in Bangor should come before deciding whether the job is popularly elected or appointed because there is no sense asking candidates to run for office — to risk their reputations — and then so limit their abilities to function in the role that they are sure to look weak. Just as a mayor gets credit for the competency of their staffs, they are blamed when expenses exceed revenues, no matter what the source of the problem. They need to the power to force the budget to balance.
Bangor has considered and rejected the question of a popularly elected mayor during the 80 years it has had a council form of government.
But it hasn’t seen the enthusiasm and focus on city government that Portland experienced during its recent race that included 15 candidates. It was refreshing to watch, and gave Portland residents a much better understanding of the challenges their city faced.
Councilor Longo says he would like to see a public forum to get the public involved in the election question, and, if the public is supportive, a vote on changing the city charter in November. Before that happens, residents should decide if there are powers the mayor should have that he currently doesn’t. That may or may not lead to the question of whether the mayor is elected or appointed.
How about the Bangor Daily News engage in some responsible reporting and stop referring to Bangor’s Mayor in every article about the city council. We do not have a mayor and this newspaper is largely responsible for the confusion that exists around that.
From Wikipedia: “Under council-manager government, the mayor is a first among equals on the city council, which acts as a legislative body while executive functions are performed by the appointed manager. The mayor may chair the city council, but lacks any special legislative powers. The system is most common among medium sized cities from around 25,000 to several hundred thousand, usually rural and suburban municipalities.”
Uh, Wikipedia is not the authority on Bangor’s city charter. There is no position of “mayor” to be found in the charter.
the charter does say the chair of the city council acts as the ceremonial mayor and is the public face of the city and otherwise represents the city in the capacity of mayor, but there is no political duties associated with this ceremonial title
From the charter: “At the first meeting, or as soon thereafter as possible, the City Council shall elect one of its members as Chair of the council for the ensuing year, and until a successor is elected and qualified; and the City Council may fill for the unexpired term any vacancy as Chair that may occur.”
Not “mayor,” but “chair.”
“Acts” is not the same as “is.”
I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who understands the city’s government. It would behoove the paper to read the city charter.
Enough of the Charlie Longo show already!
The City of Bangor is a business. We have made great strides in recent years, and we need fresh perspective in our leadership to keep moving forward. There is nothing wrong with considering alternatives to the ways we do things now. Mr. Longo is not saying, let’s move forward and elect a mayor without research and consideration. Consider this, had Steve Jobs never remodeled his company from its condition of the 90’s, his legacy would have been no more popular than that of the Commodore 64. Bangor is getting on the map! I applaud our city leadership for making the smart choices to bring us this far.
It is becoming very hard to take Councilor Longo, and the BDN, seriously.
Longo longs to create a fiefdom where the commoners genuflect in the presence of their feudal lord.
No doubt he envisions himself arriving at council meetings in a sedan chair borne by city employees, with a maiden scattering rose petals in his path and heralding his arrival.