BANGOR, Maine — The good and the bad that come with growth were at the forefront of Monday night’s forum, where seven candidates vying for three spots on the City Council made pitches for why they should represent Bangor residents.
Candidates said they were pleased with the economic, entertainment and cultural growth of the city in recent years, but some stressed that the city needed to be fiscally careful and work to address crime and drug-related problems.
The candidates are:
• Patricia Blanchette of Old Orchard Drive, an incumbent councilor and two-time council chairwoman. She serves as chairwoman of the infrastructure committee and is a member of the finance and government operations committees. She also served in the state Legislature.
• Richard Bruns of Union Street, a Bangor-based chiropractor. He has served in organizations such as Kiwanis and the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce. He also has held positions on the Bangor Charter Advisory Committee and the Maine Medical Assessment Foundation.
• Pauline Civiello of Coombs Street, who works as office manager for an optometry office owned by her husband, Charles Civiello Jr. She was involved in Boy Scouts for 25 years, with each of her three sons attaining the rank of Eagle Scout.
• Ken Huhn of Leighton Street, who has master’s and bachelor’s degrees in business and works as director of program development at United Cerebral Palsy of Maine. He has served as past chairman of the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce and on the Cardiovascular Health Council.
• David Nealley of Baldwin Drive, publisher of Maine Seniors Magazine, has worked in the past in the financial services industry and as general manager of a company that made axes and garden tools. Nealley, a former councilor, has served terms on the finance, business and economic development, transportation and infrastructure, and regional asset committees.
• Chelsea Prybylo of Hudson Road, who has a bachelor’s degree in history from New York City’s Fordham University. The Connecticut native volunteers at St. Joseph Hospital, where her mother is CEO, and works on her family’s farm.
• Megan Shorette of Norfolk Street, a 2006 University of Maine graduate who serves as executive director for KahBang Arts, a nonprofit group dedicated to finding and supporting independent artists. She ran for a spot on the council in 2011.
“When I grew up in Bangor, it was not this Bangor,” Nealley said in explaining his concern about more prevalent crime in the city. “Bangor has changed.”
He said that with new patrol officers coming to the Bangor Police Department from the academy, resident involvement and council support, the city could start to look more like the Bangor he grew up in.
Civiello said she started a neighborhood watch group in her community. She argued that similar programs in other parts of the city could help to “resurrect the quality of life in Bangor.”
Civiello stressed that the city needs to “live within its means” in order to keep taxes in check. She was part of the effort to get a question on the Nov. 6 ballot that would add a provision to the city charter to require voter ratification of council action to borrow money in certain situations. Other candidates, including Shorette, Blanchette, Huhn and Bruns, said they were concerned such an amendment might hinder the council and cost the city money because it would need to increase the number of special elections.
Blanchette said that her 17 nonconsecutive years on the council gave her experience that “brings a level of stability” to a group with several young members.
The growth and development of the city’s entertainment corridor, which includes the area around the waterfront, casino and new arena, brings “vitality and life to Bangor that you would be hard pressed not to recognize.”
With the boom in activity and development downtown and along the waterfront has come an apparent uptick in the amount of drug use and crime in the city, candidates said.
Shorette said Bangor can boast about its entertainment offerings and “bustling downtown,” but along with that come some “growing pains.” She said the city could learn a great deal from looking at cities that have gone through similar expansions and sought to mitigate problems that stemmed from them.
Prybylo stressed the importance of attracting more job providers to Bangor. She said Bangor could become a cultural hub if it “supports the institutions that are here and invites more in.” She said she has struggled to find work in the city outside of the health care industry, and that the city needs a broader range of options to continue its growth.
Bruns said the city should work with universities and other communities in the region to set itself up for the future. Ensuring quality Internet infrastructure will be key in that effort, he said. The council set up by this 2013 election will be the one to set this work in motion, Bruns said.
“The whole package is here, and it’s just a matter of taking it to the next level,” he said.
Huhn stressed the need to work with surrounding communities to strengthen the economy. He said Bangor should work with coastal cities and foreign investors to have products, domestic and foreign, shipped through Bangor. In order to accomplish that, Bangor would need to work to improve railway infrastructure and potentially bring the moorings in the Penobscot River back into use.
The river also could continue to be used as a beacon for businesses and entertainment, Huhn said, citing the example of the San Antonio River Walk.
Election Day is Nov. 6. Polls in Bangor will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Civic Center. Early voting will be held until Nov. 1, with polls open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Civic Center. Absentee ballots will not be available after Nov. 1.
For more Bangor election information, visit www.bangormaine.gov.
“When I grew up
in Bangor, it was not this Bangor,” Nealley said in explaining his concern
about more prevalent crime in the city. “Bangor has changed.”
He said that
with new patrol officers coming to the Bangor Police Department from the
academy, resident involvement and council support, the city could start to look
more like the Bangor he grew up in.
ISN’T THIS ONE
OF THE PRIOR COUNCIL THAT REFUSED PAY RAISES TO CITY EMPLOYEES, INLUDING BANGOR
PD? The hypocrisy of politicians never ceases to amaze me. Eight new officers?
They are replacing eight veterans who have had enough of the crap City Hall
feeds them. This will be the first eight in a long line. Stop being politicians
and start doing what is right for our community!!
A little history. Sometime in the late 60’s there was an influx of money and a large number of new young officers were hired. Those officers retired in 1987-88 after 20 years. (The retirement age then.) There were many new hires during that period and now 25 years later there is another set of retirees ending their careers. There is no anti-city hall fervor. Its just time for retirement and coincidence. There are currently a number, 8-10, officers at the criminal justice academy and won’t be ready to come on duty until sometime after the start of the new year.
That said there does need to be a pay review for the police. These guys are underpaid relative to their peers in other departments. The problem comes on where to get the money from. Higher property taxes or the current municipal budget are the only sources of revenue. The Feds pop in for a little bit one year and take it back the next so can’t be counted upon. It is a real dilemma.
I disagree that we are not losing veteran officers because they are, in part, tired of putting up with city council decisions that weaken the department. Many could stay but are tired of having to swim against the tide which is the city council.
One other thing…after the PD trains those 8 new officers…how many do you think will stay after they learn other departments in the area pay more money and have a better retirement package?
And Blanchette also
Although it is a problem for all departments to hire good recruits one would think that Bangor would be a place that potential officers want to work. Not so. Part of the reason Bangor has a hard time recruiting and retaining is the lack of a stable retirement plan and no raise in at least 3 years. The department is not well supported by the city council. The citizens have fought all along to support their emergency medical services but the council has not. Nealley should not be a city councilor and neither should Blanche.
Blanchette said that her 17 nonconsecutive years on the
council gave her experience that “brings a level of stability” to a group with
several young members.
Stability? You call refusing to support City employees’
stability? No raises in several years? I call it criminal! You waste more time
money and energy on hiring new employees than you do retaining the talent you
current have. How many departmental heads have changed in the past few years? For
example: the council chases Jim Ring out of office only to hire him again as a
private consultant at a higher rate. Good for you Pat, that’s stability. Good
for you Jim Ring. Ed Barret – let go only to be grabbed by Lewiston before Ed
can clean out his office. Members of the City Council cannot see employees as a
necessary evil. They must be seen as an asset or there will be no stability! No smiles and double talk – COMMITMENT!! Like the employees!
Ironic to hear Blanchette tell us that she brings ‘stability’ to a young council. I’d vote for 9 Ben Sprague’s if they were running.
Sprague has been pretty good all in all. I was surprised. There again he does have a financial background and understands how money works.
Durgin and Hawes will love your “young council” comment.
if they are harkening back to a kinder gentler Bangor with less drugs and crimes and at the same time tying the alleged uptick in both to a “… boom in activity and development downtown and along the waterfront…” they certainly pass the smell test for being politicians.
If perspective judges were grilled an an open forum, we might have less crime. These candidates can’t put the bad guys away and throw away the key.
I’m glad someone asked the candidates about contracting out more work to private firms. The way some city services are run is wasteful and unproductive. Private firms could do a lot better for less.
And to all those whining about no raises for city employees – no one has been getting raises in this economy. I believe a lot of city employees are overpaid for the minimal work they do as it is.
“to all those whining about no raises for city employees” should do some homework. Almost everyone that works for the city has received raises recently except the Bangor PD. Look at public works and the school department.
Are you serious, Bangor Pd got raises about a two months ago
Not true.
Really, then some of the cops are lying, but what is new they all lie. Enjoy your day
A neighborhood watch group is something done by a neighborhood. Interesting when one person tries to take credit for something like that.
Kind of like when one person wants to take credit for killing Osama Bin Laden or when people want to blame one person for getting us into a war oversees. It takes more then one you say?
Romney believes that successful corporations are the work of one man. Hence, the lady’s pride in doing it all by herself.
You didn’t get those college grades all by yourself. You didn’t do that!!
Where’s the boom in growth? The Casino is making less than it did two years ago, The Cross Center is City funded, the Waterfront has not returned a nickle on whats been invested. I hope the gamble pays off, but I don’t see it on the balance sheet yet.
I am not a fan of pessimism but instead reality. The two are often confused.
1. The casino numbers will continue to drop until the market absorbs the Oxford impact. There is a long way to go here.
2. The Cross Center is going to lose money every year for the first 10 and that is expected as best case scenario. The taxpayer will pick up this burden and no one else.
3. The waterfront concerts will never be able to return to the taxpayer the money that was donated to fund their for profit private business.
There are slivers of boon going on in Bangor but I completely agree there are many more liabilities then assets.
What do you mean city funded. Hollywood slots is supposed to be paying for the services there
I believe Bangor needs a indoor flea market that can draw and function year round. In FLA these larger flea markets are a major draw plus they offer entertainment in the center. There are no other around and only could be a success if done right, clean and family oriented. A great opportunity for Bangor is looming out there. In addition, look at how many jobs would be involved as vendors. It could involved our Canadian neighbors also. With Bangor International Airport, merchandise could arrive from all over the world.
“When I grew up in Bangor, it was not this Bangor,” Nealley said in
explaining his concern about more prevalent crime in the city. “Bangor
has changed.”
He was one of the former councilors that supported methadone clinics when he used to be on the council 10 years ago. His campaign should be to stand outside the methadone clinics shaking, shaking hands. Oh that wouldn’t work, most of them get paid mileage to drive to Bangor to get their free heroin everyday.
Who am I? “Quite frankly, moreover, I am buoyed by the quite frankly bullish trend Bangor moreover has experienced quite frankly moreover quite frankly”.
.My vote will be for Civiello, Bruns and Santa
I didn’t know who Ken Huhn was, until I read this article. Now he’ll get my vote.
Putting the moorings back in Bangor Harbor would be a major step toward getting some salt back in the Bangor Pool. More boats, ships, and tie ups would look good and pay more.
Re-awakening the city to its all but forgotten role as a hub for shipping goods – foreign and domestic, would be revitalization of that long, lost aspiration.
Capitalizing upon what we have, and developing it even further for the benefit of both business and public is a winning policy.
We need someone on the council with the drive to move the city forward in those areas that have lain dormant for too long.
We have the port, the docks, the airport, and the rails. Let’s use ’em.
Respectfully, the moorings being talked about are for recreational boats owned largely by wealthy, out-of-towners who want to come up the River to eat and drink at the downtown bars, do a little gambling, and maybe get premier parking for a waterfront concert. The current docking doesn’t provide enough revenue to fund a 40 hour per week Harbormasterwith the boat owners wanting and expecting 24 hour, 7 day a week service and security.
Bangor used to be a fun place to visit, to shop, to stroll, to eat.
Stillwater Ave and Hogan Road are a nightmare, the city is noisey, unfriendly, and it smells. I never go there unless I absolutely must (usually to E.M.M.C. for my sister, or the Bangor Eye Clinic for my neighbor.)
When we go we eat in Brewer, and leave the area as fast as possible.
350,000 people come to Bangor on some kind of regular basis to shop, use medical services, fly etc. It’s a nice luxury for folks from out of area to come here where we area residents provide an airport, new arena,police , etc.as well as an expensive infrastructure to support it all. On top of that- a lot of these “undesirable” folks are not our own, but hail from all over central, eastern and northern Maine. When I was a kid we played in the middle of Stillwater Ave. and dodged a vehicle once in a while. You are correct, it’s not the same place as it used to be. However, if it’s that bad- Portland and Boston have superior medical services and fine restaurants. In addition there’s no crime and those cities smell like roses.
…and your point is I should go elswewhere?
Already done that. As I said I drive my sister and my neighbor over there occasionally. personally I wouldn’t buy a rat trap in your pseudo city.
My family has been in Bangor since the 1840s. We came here as dirt poor Irishmen. We’ve worked hard and prospered and like it here just fine with or without your whining. They sell rat traps almost anywhere you know.
I found the forum not very informing. Very little talk of core municipal services other than”we’re all in favor of making the streets safer”. More concerts and festivals isn’t economic development- most of the money leaves town and what little stays ends up in the bars and resaurants. How many liquor licenses are downtown compared to 20 years ago? Ask any Police Officer what is a higher priority- a vagrant passed out on a porch in the westside neighborhood or someone coming out of any one of 4 dozen bars in the greater downtown and getting behind the wheel of 4000 lbs of steel. I hope I know what all will answer. I don’t recall one suggestion of how to address the safety/ crime issue…neighborhood watches are for neighborhoods to police themselves for quality of life issues and in loco parentis (in place of the parents) not to deal with the severity of crime we are seeing today being imported and supported by our welfare system.
Pauline Civiello is a lady of integrity and has many good, conservative ideas about saving money for Bangor’s taxpayers.
VOTE Pauline for Bangor City Council.