Bangor City Council Meeting - November 10, 2025
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Bangor City Council Meeting - November 10, 2025
On November 10, 2025, the Bangor City Council convened to address urgent public safety concerns, approve funding for winter warming shelters, rezone industrial property, and temporarily suspend remote public comment protocols. The meeting featured significant public testimony regarding the city's homelessness and HIV crisis, airport worker wage disparities, and accessibility issues, followed by a contentious debate and eventual vote to ban remote public comments while a structured review is conducted.
Consent Calendar
- Quit Claim Deeds: Approved six orders (26-002 through 26-006) authorizing the execution of municipal quit claim deeds for properties on 8th Street, 14th Street, Grove Street, Ohio Street, and Candeskake Avenue.
- Collective Bargaining: Approved Order 26-007 authorizing the execution of a collective bargaining agreement between the City of Bangor and Askme Council 93, representing aircraft dispatchers.
- Election Results: Approved Order 26-008 acknowledging the official results of the November 4, 2025, municipal election referendum.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Michael: Expressed support for teaching the "magnetism constant" in schools, claiming it is an order of billions that correlates with the human DNA sequence, the speed of light, and blood resonance. He argued that understanding this constant is the key to curing Parkinson's, cancer, and diabetes, and criticized current educational curricula for omitting it.
- Scott Pardy (Resident): Expressed strong support for the new council but stated deep dissatisfaction with the lack of campaign promises regarding public comment duration. He formally requested the immediate designation of homelessness and the ongoing HIV outbreak as top priorities, arguing that cosmetic projects are a "failure to prioritize people over superficial aesthetics" and urging the council to fund a definitive strategic plan rather than delaying action.
- Airport Worker Representative (Mr. Spelling): Stated that the city has a "capacity to do right by its workers" given a 100% increase in airport revenue since 2015 compared to a 24% increase in expenditures. The speaker requested the council consider a wage adjustment to catch city airport staff up to the cost of living (which they stated they have fallen behind by nearly 10% over 15 years), contrasting this with a 28% increase in administrative salaries.
- Pastor Terry Dinkins: Expressed gratitude for the city's support of warming centers and the involvement of Together Plays. He voiced strong concern regarding drug epidemics and stated a desire to fight against drugs to save citizens, emphasizing that "people are still dying on our streets" and the city "can do better."
- Unidentified Resident (from Northern Virginia): Expressed support for the safety of modern Bangor, stating that his teenage daughters can walk safely in the city. However, he expressed concern regarding the city council's reaction to a neo-Nazi candidate and the "battle of egos," describing recent council conduct as "embarrassing" and urging the council to focus on city business.
- Hillary Simmons (Resident): Expressed strong opposition to the suspension of remote public comment, arguing it "punishes the entire community for the actions of a few" and silences "good voices" while rewarding "bad actors." She advocated for alternatives such as pre-registration and anonymity requirements rather than a total ban.
- Scott Pardy (Second Comment): Echoed Ms. Simmons' opposition to the ban, stating that the vast majority of users are respectful and that the council should use moderation tools (like the "hang up" button) rather than silencing the community. He urged the council to "put our big boy pants on" and manage disruptive callers without removing the platform entirely.
- Joe Bowman (Resident): Expressed support for maintaining remote access, arguing that closing it is a step backward in technology and connectivity. He stated that he fears the council is "rewarding the hate" by giving bad actors a win through censorship and noted the racial dynamics of the region.
- Adam Baker (Resident): Expressed partial support for addressing disruptive behavior but argued against the "drastic measure" of a total ban, suggesting registration or verification as better approaches to ensure accessibility.
- Pastor Leonard Licotter (Non-resident): Suggested reconsidering the rule requiring residents to speak first, stating that although he does not reside in Bangor, he spends more than half his day in the city and is concerned about its affairs.
Discussion Items
- Remote Participation Policy (Order 26-011): Councilors debated amending the remote participation policy to suspend remote public comment. Councilor Beck and others cited recent "racist or fake calls" and disruptive behavior during Zoom sessions as the primary drivers for the suspension. Councilor Dean and others argued that the city only needs to provide remote access if council members are participating remotely, and that the current technology cannot prevent bad actors from speaking or being heard before being muted.
- Timeline for Review of Remote Access: Councilor Mallor proposed a specific deadline (January 1st) to reinstate remote access to avoid indefinite delays. In response, Councilor Beck and Councilor Falloon agreed that staff needs time to develop new safeguards (such as registries) and pledged to place the issue on the first workshop of the next year (January) for full discussion, though no specific date was codified in the vote.
- Warming Shelter Funding (Resolve 26-010): Councilors discussed appropriating an additional $60,000 from one-time General Assistance funds to support two organizations (Together Plays and The Brick Church) in operating warming shelters for the 2025-2026 winter, noting that previous funding was insufficient to cover the anticipated need.
Key Outcomes
- Approval of Resolve 26-010: Passed unanimously (9-0) to appropriate an additional $60,000 from one-time General Assistance funds to fully fund two warming shelter organizations for the upcoming winter season.
- Approval of Ordinance 25-294: Passed unanimously (9-0) to rezone the property at 69 Perry Road (2.17 acres) from "Industry and Service District (INS) and Contract Urban Industry District (UID)" to "non-contract Urban Industry District (UID)," removing previous contract conditions regarding permitted uses and buffers.
- Approval of Resolve 25-311: Passed unanimously to accept and appropriate $3,045,785 in grant funding from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services for the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program.
- Approval of Special Amusement License: Passed to renew the special amusement license for DICE Art Service, DBA DICE Earth Service, located at 1110 Broadway.
- Passage of Order 26-011: Passed unanimously to amend the city's remote participation policy to no longer allow public comment via remote means (Zoom) effective immediately. The council directed staff to work toward a system allowing for responsible remote participation in the future, with a commitment to revisit the issue at the first workshop of the new year.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. Welcome to the regularly scheduled Bangor City Council meeting. It is November 10th. It is 7 PM. We start all of our meetings with a Pledge of Allegiance. And I have asked uh Chief Hathaway if he would lead us in that. Underdog individual. Liberty and justice as well. Madam Chair, um, before we start, I would like to uh make a motion that we suspend remote public comment tonight in respect to the current issues we have had, and it is on the agenda this evening for discussion. We have a motion. Is there a second? Second. It has been moved and seconded that we suspend um remote comments this evening. It is on the agenda further down tonight with its own item, and we are um doing some other work on that program. So is there any objection to the order? Seeing none, we will be suspending any remote comments this evening. Okay, we do have a section. Uh this is gonna be a little choppy read because I'm gonna be bypassing some of the things that we're working on that we're dealing with the remote. This is just the policy for the public comment. Uh following the pledge is always the portion of the meeting set aside for general public comment related to city business that is does not appear on that evening's agenda. Public comment uh requires a person to state their name and whether they are a resident of Bangor. We have adopted uh public policy comment that we will adhere to that government topics, comments considered out of order or offensive or confidential, and a time limit of 15 minutes at the beginning of the meeting. And if necessary, we have the option to add time at the end of the business meeting. The public comment period is for city council members to listen, not to respond or debate with persons during the public comment period. If you do not live in Bangor or own property in Bangor, please allow those who do to have the opportunity to speak first. If you'd like to offer comment on an item related to city business, you may approach the podium. Now that may change a little bit, but it is still posted on there. Good evening. That's the question. Yeah, no, it's they're out there on YouTube. Okay, thanks. Good. Okay. There's your answer. Thank you. We're one. I don't know if anyone could show us with our fingers what one and a half millimeter is. It's really small, right? Like this. We are one and a half millimeters away from a cure to Parkinson's and other blood related diseases, such as cancer and diabetes. We have learned the speed of light. And we have learned the resonance of blood. The practice has. There are off the shelf product products for everything from your butt to your brain or your skin into your digestive tract that are healed within days and minutes and hours, literally. They know the resonance of blood. They know the speed of light that was provided to us before almost all of us were born. And they use that clock that was given to us with US and our allies in America and Europe and Asia back in the 1950s. It's the same clock we're still using today, but they don't have the magnetism constant. And it should be being taught in our schools. It's an order of mathematical value on the order of billions.
openpublica.com