Bangor City Councilor Ben Sprague was unanimously selected Monday by fellow councilors to serve as mayor.
Along with Sprague, who was re-elected for a third term on Nov. 7, new councilors Clare Davitt and Laura Supica were sworn in at the Nov. 13 ceremony. Davitt and Supica replace former Councilors Sean Faircloth and Joe Baldacci.
Sprague, 34, the only incumbent in the six-person race, previously served as mayor in 2014.
“Our nation is very divided right now. Americans of all political stripes are becoming despondent, angry and many are losing faith in the institutions of government and in their elected leaders,” Sprague said during a short speech during the Monday morning ceremony.
“Let the work we do in this chamber over the coming year serve as an exception. Let our work serve as a source of hope for people who have lost their faith in government,” Sprague said.
“And let the manner in which we treat one another and the respectful and responsive way in which we interact with the people we serve be an affirmation of the importance and faith people still do have in good local government.”
“And lastly, let us be relentlessly pro Bangor in all that we do,” he said. “Let our ambitions be for Bangor. Let our goals be for the people of this city.”
Penobscot Riverwalk
At the Bangor City Council meeting Monday night, councilors unanimously awarded a $322,560 contract to Ellsworth-based R.F. Jordan and Sons Construction for construction of a new sidewalk as part of the Penobscot Riverwalk project.
The project will add an additional 750 feet of sidewalk behind Sea Dog Brewing Co., along the Penobscot River, and another 180 feet of new sidewalk nearby on Front Street.
Adding more sidewalks in this area, Councilor Gibran Graham said at the meeting, will aid in the city’s larger effort of “creating that sense of [pedestrian] thruway from downtown, to the waterfront.”
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