Before Bangor City Manager Debbie Laurie started working for the city more than 30 years ago, she never aspired to be a municipal employee.
With six months left until her retirement, however, Laurie knows her career in city government has exposed her to unique opportunities and valuable people who keep the city running.
Laurie will retire as city manager on May 30, 2025, the city announced on Nov. 27. Though she has only held the city manager position for a few years, Laurie has been tasked with addressing chronic challenges, including rising housing prices, a swelling homeless population and rampant opioid use.
After considering retirement for “a while,” Laurie picked May to give the Bangor City Council plenty of time to find her replacement. Waiting until then also allows Laurie to assist in the arduous process of creating a new municipal budget for the next fiscal year.
Laurie said she doesn’t plan to find another job after retiring.
Originally from Brewer, Laurie joined the city in 1992 after working in certified public accounting firms as an external auditor. At the time, the city was one of her clients, Laurie said.
Laurie then worked in the city’s finance department, and served as Bangor’s finance director, until she rose to become interim city manager in August 2021 following the departure of Cathy Conlow. She remained in that role until February 2022 when she was officially awarded the city manager position.
As both finance director and city manager, Laurie said her most important job was assisting and guiding city employees who work directly with residents to deliver essential services, solve problems and answer questions. The work those employees do, Laurie said, is the most important and valuable thing the city does for residents.
“I’m incredibly proud of what we do and the service that’s provided to our citizens every day,” Laurie said. “I think we’re one of the best cities to live, work and play. I hope more people have the opportunity to experience the things I have.”
After more than three decades in City Hall, Laurie said her career in local government has given her the opportunity to work closely on exciting projects that changed the landscape of Bangor.
One of the most exciting projects Laurie worked on was the replacement of the Bangor Auditorium, which was demolished in 2013 to make way for the Cross Insurance Center.
“Growing up in this area, I knew what the Bangor Auditorium meant,” Laurie said. “It was the mecca of high school basketball, and I think most people had really fond memories of that. How in the world would we ever replace a facility like that?”
At the time, Laurie was the city’s finance director and sat through every committee and community meeting about the future of the Bangor Auditorium. She was also involved in bringing in an architect, construction manager and other professionals to design and create the Cross Insurance Center.
“It was a unique opportunity that most people don’t get a chance to do, right down to sitting in a room and talking about what the floor coverings and the wall coverings should look like,” Laurie said. “I think that’s sort of a once in a lifetime thing.”
To Bangor’s next city manager, Laurie said it’s important to stay open-minded, listen to the ideas and concerns of others, ask questions without fear of sounding silly and learn from every mistake.
“If you don’t take every experience you have and take it as a learning opportunity, I think you become stagnant,” Laurie said. “I’ve learned something new virtually every day.”