BANGOR, Maine — City council candidates said that in spite of what political differences they might have, they’ll collaborate to push Bangor’s growth and vitality while ensuring the city’s taxpayers get a fair shake, no matter who’s elected to the nonpartisan, nine-member body.
The five candidates jockeyed for votes during a Thursday night forum hosted by Bangor Public Library and the League of Women Voters at Bangor City Hall. There are three seats available on the nine-member council. Terms are expiring for Council Chairman Ben Sprague and councilors Joe Baldacci and James Gallant. Sprague and Baldacci are running to retain their spots for another three years, while Gallant has decided to forego a re-election bid.
Sprague, a Harvard University graduate and financial adviser, has served as council chairman for the past year. After the next members of the council are elected and sworn in, the full council will decide who should take the chairmanship for 2015.
He told the audience that he’s “fought tooth-and-nail” to convince state lawmakers to restore as much municipal revenue sharing money as possible to prevent an even more significant property tax increase for the city’s residents and businesses.
He credited the most recent council, which he led as chairman, for taking a hard stance on unpaid taxes and chipping away at a list of 87 dangerous and abandoned properties in the city.
Baldacci is a Bangor-based lawyer who was elected to the council in 1996 and again in 1999, serving as city council chairman in 1998. He was elected again in 2011.
He stressed the importance of Bangor’s school system and said it was vital that Bangor get a “fair shake” from state and federal government to fund the increasing mandates on schools, which are becoming a burden to local taxpayers.
“It was the biggest challenge of the past three years, it’s going to be the biggest challenge of the next three years,” Baldacci said.
Also vying to rejoin the council is Gerry Palmer, a former five-term councilor who served as council chairman in 2008. He decided not to run for re-election in 2011. Since then, he has remained active in Bangor’s Chinese community, recently taking a trip to Harbin, China, to promote and build on the sister-city relationship between the two cities.
He called Bangor the “entertainment capital of Maine,” and said the city should continue to push that reputation and find ways to be more welcoming and attractive to tourists. That will ultimately drive further economic development and jobs, Palmer said.
He also said he was concerned about the potential shuttering of the downtown University of Maine System Offices, though the discussion is in very early stages.
Faircloth is a five-term state legislator who was selected to serve as majority whip in his final term in 2008. In 2009, the former lawmaker left the state to become executive director of the Secular Coalition for America in Washington, D.C.
Faircloth stressed the importance of bringing jobs to the city, which is especially needed since about 1,000 paper industry jobs have been lost in the region. He said he supported a national park in the Katahdin region as a way of creating jobs.
“We must do more to encourage the 21st century economy,” Faircloth said, arguing the city could court people who own online or mobile businesses to come to Bangor to enjoy its quality of life.
He also said his years of experience as a legislator would help him to advocate for the city’s fair share of funding from Augusta.
Freeman, a Winslow native who moved to Bangor in 2009 to study at the University of Maine, said he is concerned with the rising costs facing Bangor taxpayers.
As a certified public accountant, he said he believes he can bring his financial knowledge to the table and help the city manage its budget or come up with new ideas that could help keep taxes down while continuing to maintain and grow the city’s services and offerings.
“For many, [the tax rate] is becoming significantly burdensome,” Freeman said.
The city council forum was preceded by another featuring three school committee candidates — Marlene Susi, Susan Sorg and incumbent Warren Caruso. There are three seats opening on that committee, so the candidates effectively are running uncontested.
The city recorded both forums, which will be rebroadcasted on local public access Channel 7 leading up to the election, and posted to the city’s website at Bangormaine.pegcentral.com.
Election Day is Nov. 4 and Bangor voters may cast their ballots at Cross Insurance Center between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter @nmccrea213.