Council workshop weighs Project Hope funding, hears Job Corps pitch

Bangor city councilors met in a workshop Monday evening to discuss a Job Corps partnership and a two-year, roughly $126,000 funding request for a homelessness case management program called Project Hope. Councilors agreed on the program's value but split over whether to use opioid settlement funds, leaving the item without consensus and headed for more discussion. The council also went into executive session for legal consultation and adjourned at 6:45 p.m.

Key points

• Councilor Wayne Mallar nominated Daniel Carson as temporary chair because Council Chair Susan Hawes could not attend; Carson led the workshop.
• Robin Stanicki, the city's community development officer and a former Job Corps participant, presented a resolution recognizing Job Corps, with Workforce Development Manager Tyler Knight describing the program's roughly 176 current students and its partnership with the city.
• Jen Genderman, director of Bangor Public Health Community Services, said the Homeless Advisory Committee supports Project Hope and that the funding split would be $63,000 in year one and $63,000 in year two, with the city committing to only one year.
• Councilors Carolyn Fish and Susan Faloon said they support the program but object to using opioid settlement funds, citing a lack of public process; Councilor Joseph Leonard said he is comfortable with CDBG funds but on the fence about opioid funds and opposed to using unassigned fund balance.
• Councilor Angela Walker suggested splitting the cost across opioid settlement funds, CDBG funds, and unassigned fund balance, and said the program could house up to 45 people this winter.
• Councilor Michael Beck raised concern about preserving CDBG money for warming shelters, and Genderman said Main Housing has not yet announced warming shelter funding decisions.

Next steps

• Councilors may postpone the Project Hope funding decision and hold further discussion at a future workshop, with Carson noting the council is at an impasse.
• Assistant City Manager Courtney O'Donnell will bring the Office of New Americans report and meeting plans to the Acre committee on Tuesday and asked councilors for stakeholder suggestions within about a week to 10 days.
• The homelessness crisis policy is scheduled to come before the government operations committee on October 5.
• O'Donnell will send councilors the design plan for a historic timeline planned for the council chambers wall once it is finalized.

Read the full transcript The agenda