BANGOR, Maine — Former Bangor City Council Chairman Ben Sprague passed his gavel off to Councilor Nelson Durgin during an organizational meeting Monday morning at Bangor City Hall.
Durgin, 77, will serve his second one-year term as chairman. He led the council in 2013, before Sprague’s chairmanship.
Councilor David Nealley, nominated Durgin, a motion seconded by Councilor Joe Baldacci, who along with Sprague was re-elected to the council on Nov. 4. The council unanimously backed the suggestion.
Durgin’s lengthy military career culminated in 1991 with his promotion to major general and appointment as Maine’s adjutant general and commissioner of the Department of Defense, Veterans, and Emergency Management.
He has lived in Bangor with his wife, Carla, since 1967. He stayed in Bangor despite his daily commutes to work in Augusta during much of his career.
After retiring from the military, Durgin was appointed executive director and administrator of the not-for-profit Phillips-Strickland House, which provides residential care services to elderly residents in Bangor. He retired from that position in 2010.
The Durgins were recognized with the Katahdin Area Council’s Distinguished Citizen’s Award by the Boy Scouts of America in 2012.
Bangor faces significant challenges in the coming year, Durgin said after taking the gavel, and it will require a team effort to continue Bangor’s recent development and downtown revival in the face of growing economic challenges.
“The economic issues are always going to be major issues, but it’s not just the city, it’s the region,” Durgin said. “We have to be working together with the other communities around Bangor to ensure we have plans in place and a direction that we take that helps us solve some of these economic problems.”
That collaboration was visible Monday, with three members of the Brewer City Council — Mayor Jerry Goss, incoming Mayor Matt Vachon and Councilor Bev Uhlenhake — in attendance for the Bangor ceremony.
Chief among the region’s economic challenges is finding funding to keep up with growing state and federal mandates, the Bangor City Council chairman said. Durgin said he would work with other municipal officials to prevent the decline of municipal revenue sharing dollars, but the state is relying on an “upside down” tax system that relies heavily on property and real estate taxes, rather than income and sales taxes.
“We can’t go it alone,” Durgin said. “We may be the big dog in terms of size, but we depend on all the communities around us for the economic growth and vitality of the Greater Bangor area.”
Baldacci, Sprague and Sean Faircloth, the council’s newest member, were sworn in by City Clerk Lisa Goodwin during the morning meeting. They’ll join their six fellow councilors for the council’s regular meeting Monday night.
The Bangor School Committee also held its annual organizational meeting Monday morning, welcoming new members Marlene Susi and Susan Sorg. Chairman Warren Caruso returns after being re-elected in an uncontested three-way race.
Caruso was selected to serve another year as chairman in a 5-0 vote after being nominated by Jay Ye, who was tapped to serve as vice chairman after a nomination by board member Susan Hawes.
Committee member Mark Eastman nominated himself for the chairmanship before the vote, but the motion failed for lack of a second.
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter @nmccrea213.