Bangor council honors crash responders, sets 2026 priorities

[0:34] Susan Hawes: Good evening and welcome to the regularly scheduled meeting of the Bangor City Council. It is February 9th, 7 p.m. We start all of our meetings with like no reason like Pearl would. [0:47] Hillary Simmons: You lead up please, I [0:51] Jamie Beck: pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and [0:56] Justin Cartier: to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, to give his will, with liberty and [1:03] Mike Furrow: justice while people [1:22] Susan Hawes: are moving in. We're gonna do a roll call vote, Madam Clerk. [1:26] Lisa Goodwin: Councillor Beck present, Councillor Carson present, Councillor Deane here, Councillor Faloon present, Councillor Fish here, Councillor Leonard here, Councillor Malheur here, Councillor Walker present, Councillor Haas here, nine I'm present, zero absent. [1:52] Susan Hawes: Where is Mr. Finney? He's over there. Is the team here yet? Oh, okay. Our first, we have some proclamations this evening. The first one is for the Black History Month, and Ray Finney is the Director of Community Outreach for the School Department. He's going to bring his team forward and they are the members of the Bangor High School Civil Rights Team and they're here tonight to accept the proclamation. So Mr. Finney, if you would bring them around and introduce them, will Counselor Carson will be reading the proclamation and then he will join you. Thank [2:49] Michael Beck: you for inviting us tonight, Kayla Hendricks [2:58] Lisa Goodwin: and Zoe Jamis, they are three members of the Van Gogh High School Civil Rights [3:03] Justin Cartier: we appreciate you bring the past look forward there you go okay [3:11] Daniel Carson: Chancellor Carson proclaiming February is Black History Month, whereas in 1926 historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson established what would become Black History Month to bring special acknowledgement and awareness to Black American accomplishments, contributions, and history in the shaping of America. And whereas, since 1976, it has become a nationally recognized month-long celebration held to acknowledge and pay tribute to the contributions made by Black Americans to the history of our country that for years were omitted by society and history books. And whereas Black history is American history. Black Americans have shaped our nation's identity and contributed greatly to the success of our country through invaluable contributions in all professions and fields. And whereas the City of Bangor encourages reading Maine's Visible Black History, the first chronicle of its people by H. H. Price and Gerald E. Talbot, formerly of Bangor and the first African-American in the Maine legislature. And whereas during the month of February, as our nation takes pause to reflect on the injustices and struggles overcome by Black Americans throughout our nation's history, and to pay tribute to the battles they have fought in the name of equality, the city of Bangor encourages actions that advance equality. And whereas we celebrate the contributions of Black Americans who have fought for a country that lives up to its ideals and for the true meaning of our founding documents such as the Declaration of Independence that says all men are created equal and whereas the city affirms that the observance of Black History Month calls us into celebration and acknowledgement of the undeniable contributions of Black Americans and the continued need to work to build an equitable just society now, therefore, Susan M. Hawes, the Mayor of the City of Bangor, on behalf of the City Council and the citizens of Bangor, do hereby proclaim February as Black History Month to honor the legacy and achievements of Black Americans throughout our shared history. Given this, the ninth day of February, 2026, signed by Mayor Hawes. [6:07] Carolyn Fish: City Manager? Yes, and I have the distinct honor of doing something a little different tonight. I'm going to get to read a proclamation, but first I would like to invite several folks up to the front to be recognized. Bangor Deputy Fire Chief Eric Pelletier and Assistant Chief Andy Emory, Bangor Police Lieutenant Jason Stewart, Bangor International Airport Interim Chief Dispatcher Leif Feige, and 101st Air Refueling Wing Fire Station Chief Kevin Marine. And I would also encourage all of the other tremendous first responders that are out in the entryway to come on in, and for those that are already here to stand and be recognized as well. So now I'll try to make it through this proclamation without losing it. So a proclamation recognizing the extraordinary work of emergency personnel. Whereas a private business jet carrying six people crashed immediately after departing Bangor International Airport on January 25th, 2026 in difficult nighttime weather conditions, and whereas the emergency response, one of the most challenging in recent memory, drew 25 personnel from Bangor Fire Department, 26 from the Air National Guard's Airfield Fire and Rescue, a team of Bangor Police Department officers and Investigators, airport personnel and fire units from 10 surrounding communities, and whereas wind chill temperatures fell to minus 12 degrees with the freezing temperatures complicating response efforts and requiring precise coordination and the continuous movement of apparatus to maintain an uninterrupted water supply. And whereas other response challenges included near blizzard conditions, first responders who navigated deep snow and icy terrain, and the presence of hundreds of gallons of jet fuel around the scene and whereas personnel over four days were engaged in non-stop response efforts planning logistics mitigation strategies and coordinating with several partners including the national transportation safety board and whereas the fir the efforts by first responders airport personnel and more than 100 Guardsmen all contending with extreme environmental and operational challenges displayed resilience, adaptability, and professionalism. Now therefore, Mayor of the City of Bangor, Susan M. Haas, on behalf of the City Council and the citizens of Bangor do hereby recognize the extraordinary, courageous efforts of those who worked under dire circumstances and in extreme conditions following the deadly plane [11:30] Susan Hawes: This is the portion of the meeting set aside for general public comment directly related to city business for matters that do not appear on this evening's agenda. Public comment requires a person to state your name and whether you are a resident of Bangor. The city council has adopted a public comment policy that we will adhere to. Statements during public comment should respect the dignity and seriousness of the proceeding and individuals will be restricted to speaking once. Obscene truly threatening or overly repetitive comments will be deemed out of order and will be interrupted and removed. Topics that are considered out of order also include matters that are in litigation individual employees or employee groups discussing matters for which Complaint or grievous grievance procedures are in place personal disputes between the speaker and another resident not germane to city business support for or opposition to any candidate for political office and personal complaints pertaining to individual city employees. There is a time limit of three minutes per speaker and the total time allowed for general public comment regarding city business will be limited to no more than one hour. The public comment period is for City Council members to Listen and not to respond or debate with persons. 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 a comment on any item directly related to city business not appearing on the regular agenda, you may approach the podium. Individuals who have appropriately pre-registered to give public comment via remote means will be given the opportunity to participate remotely. Alternatively, councillors may be reached via email at counselors at bangor maine.gov. A link to the adopted public comment policy can be found on the city's website. Is there anyone wishing to speak? My [13:57] Justin Cartier: name is Justin Cartier. The opinions I expressed tonight are mine and mine alone, not those of any board you've appointed me to nor any that I've been elected to. I hope those are things that you require me to say it so my time starts now. The American Cultural Revolution has spread not through bullets and bombs, but through bureaucracy, higher education, corporate structures and activist networks, all advocating the same ideological project under different labels. Over the last decade, organizations under the banners of anti-fascism, racial justice,, racial feminism, sorry, radical feminism, abortion on demand, LGBTQ plus pedophile factions, environmental extremists, and gun control fanatics all show remarkable cohesion. Their membership overlaps, their donors are the same, and their tactics as are their tactics. Professional activists whose views are revolutionary and Marxist within this structure is DEI, I, diversity, equity, and inclusion, which is not a harmless corporate fad, rather it is a cultural and psychological weapon system using guilt, struggle sessions, and the constant threat of social or professional punishment to keep people in line. It compels caring and good people to monitor their speech, second-guess instincts, and submit to forbidden words and mandatory rituals. This is not inclusion, rather coerced conformity disguised as virtue, resulting in fear, silence and self-censorship. People cannot ask certain questions, state facts or acknowledge certain perspectives without risking careers. No accident here. Goal accomplished. DEI is a domestic application of political reeducation aligned with Marxist and neo-Marxist approach to cultural change. Redwashing is a term for systemic erasure of materials that expose Marxism's history, tactics, consequences. Civics and traditional American history are removed from curricula and replaced with grievance narrations. When the record of socialist atrocities are dismissed, entire generations miss what their grandparents would have seen immediately. By the early 2020s, the U.S. had been subjected to decades of cultural reshaping, gaining useful idiots as well as avid supporters communism spreads societal collapse is a process not an event the path forward requires more than outrage the architecture of the modern welfare state which had to turn large parts of the population into political clients when you take 5,000 from one voter and you give a thousand to five voters you gain four votes we must cultivate the nuclear family childbearing and stable communities american education must be reclaimed from the red wash propaganda. Civics, U.S. history, and the atrocities of Marxist regimes must be restored, and the DEI committee support ICE, and this push towards a communist Bangor. May God have mercy on your souls. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Thank [17:10] Susan Hawes: you. Good [17:13] Michael Norton: evening. My name is Michael Norton. In 2003, in three or so, I read a book about Einstein. And there was a passage that said his last note was this. Oh, God. Glad I have two pieces of paper. Was this. Five over nine. This is for everyone. They couldn't figure it out in 2003 or 2004 when that other guy published his book about Einstein. But I figured it out last week. And I wish all the emergency workers were here too, because when they go through moments like that, like we're just describing the proclamation, they lose a lot of sleep. So Einstein was 80 years old when he wrote his last notes before he passed away. And mathematicians do this all the time. They abbreviate. They abbreviate things, tasks that they already accomplished, so they can move on to the next iteration of their mathematics. I believe, it doesn't matter if he did or not, but I believe he was abbreviating down to the hundreds with five over nine because he knew at that point he was going to live to 100 years old. And so the five over nine is actually 500 over 940. And it's It's not division, it's just a ratio of the day that we all have. Because if you add these two up, there are 1,440 minutes in every day of the year. And 500 is about eight hours and 20 minutes exactly. So that's how much sleep the human cycle in a unified field at all that all we know of is earth requires for the person to perform with situational awareness for 940 minutes of the waking day of that person's life. So it may or not be attributed to it can't be attributed to Albert, but it is the minutes of the day for everyone, and it does actually comply with the magnetic field of the planet Earth too, which isn't times by the universal time coordinate system, but it's sync, it's synchronized with that it's a natural process. The other thing I wanted to talk about was, so I have 38 seconds left, the Paperwork Reduction Act since 1980 has cost Americans three billion dollars just for employees at the OMB every year. This year it's 144 million for about 100 people or so in that office, probably less. The Epstein files have cost people $6 billion in that same time period. So it's like taking out of 340 million people's pockets every day $28 that nobody has. It's 900 bucks a month. Clear both of them. Get rid of both of them. Thank you very much. Thank you. [20:26] Scott Pardee: Good evening, counselors. My name is Scott Pardee, and I'm a citizen of Bangor. And I'm here today to offer a brief but necessary reminder regarding our upcoming budget discussions. We must hold the line on property taxes. While it is tempting to view a small increase as a simple solution to complex municipal needs for the people in this community, there is no such thing as a small increase. The reality for residents, every dollar added to a tax bill is a dollar taken from a family's grocery budget, a senior's medication education fund or a small business's ability to keep their doors open. We are currently living through a period where the cost of living remains at a historic high. Housing affordability is the primary crisis facing our city. Fixed incomes aren't stretching to meet the rising cost of utilities and insurances. Stability over expansion. Raising taxes in any form is a signal that the government's appetite for spending has outpaced the community's ability to pay. It's easy to find to find and fund a new project, it's much harder and more vital to audit our existing spending and find efficiencies. Holding the line isn't about being anti-growth, it's about being pro stability, it's about ensuring that the people who live here can afford to stay here. I have handed out a fact sheet on the upcoming water bill hike to be blunt, this 10 and A half in 10.5 increase doesn't hold water. I ask you to use your seats of influence to contact the PUC and tell them our community can't afford to be tapped out any further. And I also want to talk briefly to while I have one minute left regarding staying focused on community needs. I know that I watched tonight and I watched what goes on pretty closely and we're spending an awful lot of time on issues that are above what we're supposed to be spending time on. I'd really love to see you spend time on taxes, the water bill, the homeless. I don't hear anything about it lately. It's all about national things that are definitely important, definitely important. And we should pay attention to our government, our local government first, state government second, and of course, the federal government third. But it would be very, helpful if you kept to your positions and helped the citizens of Bangor and leave the smaller, leave the big picture. You know, you can discuss it amongst yourselves and you can call me up too I'll talk about it too so thank you very much [23:11] Susan Hawes: thank you my [23:17] Mike Furrow: name is Mike Furrow I'm a resident of Bangor I do not work for a non-profit and have nothing to gain financially by speaking here. I want to talk about the city of Bangor being overrun with non-profits. A researcher recently discovered there are approximately 1 300 non-profits operating in the Bangor area. What have the non-profits done for Bangor? We have the highest number of HIV cases, the highest crime rates in the state, we have a drug problem, we have a homeless problem. Is there a non-profit that has helped to reduce any of these previously mentioned problems? What are the salaries of the people who work for these non-profits? Where is the money coming from? The incentive of structure of nonprofits is to maximize the number of homeless and drug addicts. If this was not the case, then the number would be decreasing. The counselors should demand a list of all nonprofits operating in the City of Bangor, what service they provide, and the salaries of the employees and administrators. Some of the nonprofits seem to have a rotating door of administrators that have political aspirations or connections. When people come to the podium to speak during public comment, I ask any of the council members to ask them if they work for a nonprofit and if they have anything financially to gain from speaking here. Thank you very much. [24:56] Suzette Furrow: My name is Suzette Furrow. I'm a resident of Bangor. The views I represent are my own personal opinion and do not reflect those of any committee. Councillor Joe Leonard has been expressing his political views and has become partisan and dictatorial in his statements at Bangor City Council meetings. Councillor Leonard has been censored three times in less than three years. He has publicly humiliated a municipal employee and caused the employee to resign, which led to a lawsuit and payment of over $100,000. Councillor Leonard has had angry outbursts. He has thrown a pen, used profanity and inappropriate appropriate gestures toward the resident. He has acted as a dictator and told public commenters that they are not welcome in Bangor. I thought that Bangor City Council passed a proclamation last year that we are a welcoming community. He has also called residents the enemy and he has called them Nazis. Councillor Leonard has said that homelessness is expensive and that he doesn't care if it costs one million dollars to keep one person off the streets. Recently at a government operations committee meeting Councillor Leonard said that the city is not run like a business. We are sovereign citizens. We are not sovereign citizens. A sovereign citizen does not have a social security number or a birth certificate. Unfortunately some of the new councillor members are also becoming increasingly political, even talking about protests, most of which have paid protesters funded by the Main People's Alliance or some other organization. The ties between these council members and radical left-wing non-profits to becoming increasingly clear. I urge the manager and the councillors to expose their connections with some of these radical groups which call themselves non-profits and recuse themselves from voting on issues in which they have a conflict of interest. Too many of the members of the city council subscribe to communist ideologies creating chaos to create division. Stop the show. Stop the theater. Stop the divide and conquer. Bangor has a lot of problems. Councilors need to stop the political rhetoric and start working for all of the residents of Bangor. Thank you. Thank you. [27:18] Hillary Simmons: Hillary Simmons, resident of Bangor. Thank you, Chair Haas, for making sure that Black History Month proclamation was brought forward and recognized this year. Taking the time to acknowledge Black History Month and the contributions is meaningful to our community,, and I appreciate your commitment to ensuring this recognition took place this year. Moments like this matter. They help foster understanding, reflection, and a stronger sense of inclusion for everyone who calls our community home. Your leadership in supporting this proclamation sends an important message, and it is truly appreciated. Thank you again for your efforts and for helping our community move forward together. In addition, I am requesting clarification on how the advisory committee on racial equity inclusion and human rights is currently fulfilling its responsibilities as outlined in 23 dash all the way to 45 of the city code the committee's mission and goals clearly identify a broad scope of responsibility including education policy review workforce practices and community engagement related to age, race, religion, ability, language, family circumstances, and cultural backgrounds. This explicitly includes older adults, individuals with disabilities, and faith-based communities, such as the Christian community, among others. At present, the community's focus is work, visibly work appears to be primarily focused on LGBTQ+, plus issues homelessness and immigrant population. While these are important areas, they represent only a portion of the population and the responsibilities identified in the ordinance. I am therefore seeking civic information on what initiatives, programs, or educational efforts are currently addressing the needs and inclusion of elderly residents, what work is being done to engage and support individuals with disabilities, how religious communities, including the Christian community are being considered or engaged, how the community is ensuring balance attention across all groups named in its mission. Providing clarity on these points would help demonstrate that the committee's work is aligned with its full charge and that all communities identified in the city code are being meaningfully considered. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter. [29:49] Susan Hawes: matter thank you good [29:52] Richard Chaucer: Evening representatives. My name is Richard Chaucer. I'm a resident of Bangor, Maine. I am representing myself. Some few issues have been brought up. I've been brought, I've been actively involved with this community for a few years. I used to be actively involved with the SIM grant system innovation model, which was formed for value-based purchasing with the health care. At the time I sat on the, I sat on the voting member of the advisory committee, so I pretty will have a little bit of idea. First thing I'd like to bring up is a housing advisory committee council. We have Bruce, I believe Bruce Hughes is in charge of that. What I'd like to bring up is that when he receives these proposals that we include everybody. Not every single person on house is addicted to drugs or has a chemical abuse problems. A lot of our individuals are coming from being behind under mortgages, lost jobs, coming with disabilities, people coming out of these adoptive instabilities all of a sudden thrown to the streets. We need to have a program which will have proposed some solutions to what's in these proposals to have a successful outcome. Another incident is this bathroom across the street from the library. We understand that was put up in a makeshift quick idea that need to be there. Well truth is it's not serving its proper purpose. I go by there in residence in my bill in our building where we live, and we see constantly three and four people usually going in there at a time just spending time in there, leaving their needles and debris, walking across our property into our garbage area, which is private property owned by the community. All the taxpayers pay, we put this together. Some of you guys went to school there, some of us bust our butt to keep it that way, and they trash it. We don't understand how come some of these are not being enforced. Other issue we're retooling is, yeah, retooling what a service provider does and mental health services. What I mean by retooling, we have organizations like CHCS, we have one that's called OHI, which I believe is one of the most, it's a, I don't want to go into it, OHI. What services are these people supposed to mandate? They provided what are the outcomes? How are they measuring these outcomes? How does the public know where this money is going? How do we know who they've helped? And also on these advertisements there's an organization which I know of, a consistent, I won't mention names, he came on to a person and he said to the person, okay, it's time for your six-month Evaluation, I said okay, they did their mouth evaluation. The person said to this person again, well, where's this? When I first came into your service, you're supposed to help provide business an avenue to help with something with the electronics. Some people have basic knowledge like electronics, they don't need all the bells and whistles. They don't need someone to come in their house every six weeks to make sure they're doing a laundry. They don't need someone coming to their house every six weeks to make sure they're cooking. Some people are high functioning. Anyway, I have some more one to get into darn it and yes now also enough to do. We have a value based purchasing, we have the hope house. Okay, hope house is supposed to be provided as a service provider. They have what's called on there a person gave me their card and it says her name is Jasleen Broadway. She's a practice, a PCP. When the person went out to that PCP, the person said they're not a practitioner, they're a nurse. Well, how could that person be on here as a nurse practitioner? And number two, as a MD health care provider, when a person asked that person, they wanted to see the service manager. The service manager came down and she... Mr. Chaucer. Adam [33:46] Baker: Baker, Bangor resident. I'm here kind of in a more tame position, as I more really am. I'm just here to advocate for all of you just to be more involved with our committees, especially our school committee. I think that is a very prevalent thing, especially with budget season coming up. I mean, I think like at least school committee is at least half, we're like a very good majority of the budget. So I think having clear communication and just working with not just them, but like all committees that advise you and whatnot, I think that is very prevalent and I think it's something you should look into and I encourage you to do. So thank you. [34:40] Susan Hawes: Anybody else? Okay. Okay, we have four people on remote. [34:56] Jamie Beck: Jamie Beck. Yes, hello, can you hear me? What name did you use? [35:12] Susan Hawes: Hello? Jamie, can you hear us? [35:16] Jamie Beck: Yes, I can hear you, can you hear me? Yes. [35:19] Susan Hawes: Go ahead, I think there was a mix up in, there were two people that were tapped to speak at the same time, but go ahead. [35:28] Jamie Beck: Good evening, counselors, my name is Jamie Beck and I am still a resident of Bangor. I'm speaking tonight because of the increasing conflict distracting from your work as our city's legislative body, namely the timing of the release of council meeting agendas. Lately, the council and public have been caught in a cycle of avoidable turmoil because council doesn't receive their full packets until Friday afternoon at the same time as the public. Less than 72 hours is a very short amount of time, particularly when 48 of those hours are the weekend. For anyone, counselors or residents, to actually process the information and communicate support or opposition to anything on the agenda. It creates an artificial crunch that serves as a distraction from the actual work you need to do. Instead of debating the merits of a policy, you spend your energy on feeling blindsided. You're receiving influxes of emails from concerned constituents about specific agenda items before you've even had a reasonable window to review the materials yourself. This puts you in the challenging position of defending or explaining policies you haven't yet had the chance to fully digest. It also has you spending energy on calming frantic constituents. Calming frantic constituents. For those segments of the community who feel strongly about any items on the agenda or those who simply want to be responsible informed neighbors, a Friday late afternoon release for a Monday evening meeting is a barrier. It does not provide an equitable window of time for the average person to analyze complex documents and prepare thoughtful testimony. It also has you spending energy on increasing friction. When the timeline is this compressed, the public feels rushed and the council feels defensive. We end up with a climate of reaction rather than reflection, where the council and community are more upset about the timing of communication and the perceived lack of transparency than the actual substance of the city's business. I want to be clear that this isn't pointing fingers at staff. The current process and timing has been business as usual for a very long time. However, our community becomes more engaged as of late in the legislative process and our administrative habits need to also evolve to match that energy. Engaged residents should result in a more democratically run municipality, not defensive legislative bodies. By moving the release date of these materials earlier in the week and ensuring the council has at least 24 hours to review them before they go live to the public, we can move away from a culture of reaction and get back to the substance of the work. I urge you to update this process so transparency can actually work for everyone involved. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. [38:15] Susan Hawes: Hassler. Yes. [38:24] Phil Pastor: Good evening. Am I coming through all right? Yes, fine, go ahead. Yes, Phil Pastor, resident, Begor. I would like to ask the council tonight to make a proclamation, a future proclamation, maybe it could be as early as March, for what you could call something like Main Heritage Month. Because just in the same way that this month you guys dedicated to the Black History Month, you know, that's so the young black kids can learn about their history. The white children don't have that opportunity. They are told that they're colonizers. Meanwhile, everybody that's anywhere on this planet is there because they fought for that land. And the reason I would like for us to have a month to recognize the actual true heritage of the pioneers and the people that formed our great state is because of this. We would so like to have peace. The fact is there is no peace without victory, and everything that is won here must unfortunately be fought for. That the providence sets the living beings on the world and then gives them the way free with a simple commandment, bird, eat, or die. Assert yourself or be destroyed. Preserve your life or give it for others. This providence knows no empty space. That also knows no standstill. It is not merciful, but it is determined, and it is with it nevertheless eternally wise. It proclaims that this earth shall only belong to the one that deserves it, who is brave, who is courageous, and that the other has got to go. She knows no empty space. If a people becomes weak, then another just steps in its place. Let no one think that the world would not be without him. Another life comes and he passes away. And if the people declares is not to want to fight anymore then it does not eliminate the wars, but only itself. The fight will remain, only it will be fought by others. It is hard, but we did not create the world. It is like this. It is our task to confront it and then to assert ourselves in this world. Thank you for my time. [40:35] Susan Hawes: Thank you, Mr. Ward. Yes. [40:44] Jamie Beck: Thank you for giving the opportunity to speak tonight. Night Bangor resident, and I have a small speech here I wanted to read. I'm speaking tonight to shed light on a critical issue facing our community, our nation, in the western world, the clergy plan and its role in the democratic shifts we're witnessing. While some dismiss this as mere theory, I believe it's essential to examine the evidence and connect the dots to protect our heritage in our future. Richard Vaughn clergy, the Australian Japanese founder of the pan-European union in the 1920s, laid out his book Practical Idealism a new Eurasian negroid population. He predicted the man of the future would be a mixed race resembling ancient Egyptians and suggested that blending would create a more controllable society under elite rule. Who are these elites? Cholergy praised Jewish intellectuals as natural leaders of the new order, drawing from historical resilience and influence that ties directly to the Bolshevik Jewish connection. The Russian revolution of 1917 was disproportionately influenced by Jewish revolutionaries, as acknowledged by figures like Winston Churchill in his 1920 article, where he described a worldwide conspiracy for the overthrow of a civilization. Many Bolshevik leaders, including Trotsky, Warren Bronstein, were Jewish, and their ideologies of internationalism and class warfare aimed to erode national identities and traditional societies. The spirit of globalism, critics argue, evolved into modern politics promoting mass immigration, echoing Kalergi's blueprint. Today, we are seeing this unfold before our very eyes. In Bangor, where we experienced influxes of immigrants from Somalia and other regions. Under the guise of humanitarian aid or economic necessity, we'll look closer. Federal programs, NGO funding, and politics like diversity quotas are excelling demographic changes. Census data shows that white populations are declining in many states while non-white immigration surges. In Europe, built on clergy's plan, they've facilitated open borders leading to what some calls break replacement. Events like the 2015 migrant crisis were accidents. Accidents. Weren't accidents, they align with long-term plans to dilute national cultures. Fellow council members, this isn't about hate, it's about preservation. We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children, global elites who profit from cheap labor and divided populations. As Mainers, let's support local heritage initiatives and resist forces eroding our way of life. Bangor can lead by example, protecting our community's identity for generations to come. Thank you. Jesus Christ is King. Thank you. Mr. Lance. [43:15] Speaker Q (unidentified): You hear me? Yes, okay, hello. Thank you for allowing me the time to speak, and I am waiting for the apology from your city council about restricting my free speech on January 12th when I was going to address some of the crimes of one of your council members past. It is silencing speech that I am holding you accountable for, and I am proud of you that you're restraining your authoritarian impulses to cut people off. That is obviously viewpoint discrimination. Seems like you guys are learning a little Bit from your restraint that we're seeing. I'd like to ask where's the January 28th video? I don't expect an answer now, but please produce that video. It's not online yet. We would like to see that, and I'm waiting for you guys to put your proclamation out to apologize for restricting the public from criticizing Angela Squawker for the her part in manslaughter. Silencing free speech is a way to protect criminals and enable genocide and rape. So when your bodies protect people criticizing Zionism or Israel or when you stick up for the Anti-Defamation League and you use talking points that you shut down or you use some sort of viewpoint discrimination to protect the poor Jews because of their victim story of the Holocaust. But what you're doing is enabling, you're enabling crimes like genocide, you're enabling the crimes that we've seen in these Epstein files that have come out, where these world leaders discuss people in terms like goyim, which is a derogatory term that the Jews use for non-Jews. Now that is a form of Jewish supremacy that the world now is getting very familiar with, and your board may get uncomfortable with people criticizing Jewish supremacy, but a big problem for our country is that free speech of citizens has been restrained by boards like yours out of this pity party for the for the Jews and their Holocaust that's used as a political tool to enable them and to give them the confidence to commit brazen murder and rape, child trafficking. This is what people like Epsine do, and people aren't saying every Epstein is the same, but there's a lot of people that are putting some connections together between a group of world elite calling people goyim 3 000 times in the released emails from the federal government. So as your board continues to look for ways to silence free speech, you will see more of the public alerting and informing their fellow citizens about this threat that we are under, we have our boards and our politicians that are paid off by the Anti-Defamation League who silence criticism of Zionism, Israel, and Jews as they commit genocide, rape, and murder. So I wanna know if the board and other government officials, if the public believes that we should hold these boards accountable for their role in these crimes. You are defending people blindly [46:23] Michael Beck: and then you're calling Mr. Lance, I'm sorry, time is up, the [46:38] Susan Hawes: list that's here, I don't know if these people are just watching in or because they're not, who's on my list, okay, great, all right, that will end the public comment for this evening. We will be moving on to the consent agenda, and I believe be a counselor that will be leaving the room [47:06] Michael Beck: but really now or do I wait till for the motion, I think he's bottom [47:19] Susan Hawes: clerk, the consent agenda please [47:21] Lisa Goodwin: minutes of Bangor City Council regular meeting of January 28th 2026, business and economic development committee meetings of November 17th 2025 and December 1st 2025, and Finance committee meeting of February 2nd 2026, 26-075 order authorizing the execution of a municipal quick claim deed for real estate located at 15 Charles Street, 26-076 order authorizing the execution of a municipal quick claim deed for real estate located at 63 Walter Street, 26-077 order authorizing the city manager to accept ten thousand dollars in funds as a result of a state criminal forfeiture. 26-078 order authorizing the city manager to accept one thousand five hundred fifty seven dollars in funds and one firearm as a result of state criminal forfeiture. 26-079 order authorizing the city manager to accept two firearms as a result of a state criminal forfeiture. 26-080 order accepting the 2025 annual report from the advisory committee on racial equity inclusion and human rights. 26-081 order authorizing the purchase of a 2026 snow mauler plow truck for the airport from airport technologies inc for 542 716 dollars. 26-082 order, authorizing the City Manager to execute a subcontract with Maine Mental Health Connections Together Place Peer Run Recovery Center to receive up to $50,000 from the State of Maine Overdose Response Pilot Grant. 26-083 Order, awarding contract to Stantec Consulting, Inc. to provide fuel and storage facility engineering services for Bangor International Airport. 26-084 order authorizing the city manager to enter into a contract with sergeant corporation to install a stormwater trunk line at the sanford brook drainage area in the amount of 436 982. 26-085 order authorizing an update to policy governing public use of city hall [49:35] Susan Hawes: do i have a motion? so moved. second. it has been moved and the consent agenda has been moved and seconded. is there any discussion? any objection? seeing none the consent agenda has passage. we need to have a roll call because oh that's right i forgot sorry angela i didn't forget you looking right at you. Okay, we are going to have a roll call [50:03] Lisa Goodwin: vote. Council Carson. Oh, yes. Council of Dean. Yes. Council of Falloon. Yes. Council of fish. Yes. Council of Leonard. Yes. Council of Malheur. Yes. Council of Walker. Yes. Council of Haas. Yes. Yes. Zero. No. [50:25] Susan Hawes: The consent agenda has passage. 8 yes 0 no referrals [50:34] Lisa Goodwin: to committee and first reading madam clerk 26-086 ordinance amending the land development code section 165-73 parking area location and screening to remove the buffer requirement for parking lots adjacent to properties zoned gnisd except where the adjacent property contains a residential cemetery or school use first reading and referral to planning board meeting on february 17th 2026. 26-087 ordinance amending the land development code section 165-13 definitions to remove state street from the Minor arterial street definition first reading and referral to planning board meeting on February 17th, 2026. 26-088 ordinance amending chapter 165 land development code district map to rezone a property located at r23-003-b from rural residents and agricultural district rrna to government and institutional service district gnisd first reading and referral to planning board meeting on February 17th, 2026. 26-089 ordinance amending the code of the city of Bangor to create a standing legislative committee first reading. 26-090 resolve making an appropriation from undesignated fund balance in the amount of up to $50,000 to fund a director of human resources first reading and referral to government operations committee meeting on March 2nd, 2026. Is there a motion? [52:08] Joseph Leonard: So moved. It's [52:12] Susan Hawes: been moved and seconded that these items be referred to committee and first reading. [52:16] Lisa Goodwin: We'll do a roll call. Councillor Beck yes, Councillor Carson yes, Councillor Deane yes, Councillor Faloon yes, Councillor Fish yes, Councillor Leonard yes, Councillor Mallar yes, Councillor Walker yes, Councillor Haas yes, nine yes, zero no. These [52:41] Susan Hawes: items will be referred nine 0. [52:46] Lisa Goodwin: Unfinished business madam clerk 26-073 ordinance amending the code of the city of Bangor by changing the restrictions on short-term rentals in tiny home parks and manufactured home [52:58] Carolyn Fish: parks. Council of Fish. Thank you madam clerk. This order in October of 2022 the city adopted an ordinance establishing a new and a new use and regulations for tiny home parks. At that time the city did not have short-time rental regulations therefore short-term rentals were expressively disallowed in tiny home parks. The city's short-term rental ordinance was adopted in October of 2023. This ordinance allowed short-term rentals in most places but the home the tiny home park ordinance was not amended to allow this use. However, no such restriction was ever created for manufactured home parks. Therefore, a disparity now exists between short-term rental regulations for two similar development types. This proposed changes included in this amendment would update the City Code Ordinance to remove the prohibition on short-term rentals in tiny home parks and provide a cap on this use in both home parks and manufactured home parks providing the parks are under a single owner for all the homes. This item was reviewed and unanimously recommended for passage on the planning board on February 3rd, 2026. I move ordinance 26-073. [54:27] Susan Hawes: Second. Ordinance 26-073 has been moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Council Leonard? [54:38] Joseph Leonard: Rarely do I disagree with the planning board that has unanimously motion for something to come to council. I personally am not at all an advocate nor do I believe in short-term rentals as a viable option. We are, when we are in the middle of a housing crisis right now, my personal opinion is just that these are not helpful to our city. So I'm going to vote no on this ordinance. [55:12] Susan Hawes: And so, Beck? [55:15] Michael Beck: I share Councilor Leonard's perspective on short-term rentals, especially in the middle of a housing crisis. However, in this case, because it already exists, not doing this would unfairly single out tiny home park owners when we already have it for mobile home parks. But what I would like to see going forward is perhaps some regular updates on how we're doing with enforcement, maybe similar to what we received from the city solicitor with abandoned properties, you know, a spreadsheet that shows, hey, here's the progress we're making, here's where we stand, we have this many that are registered, this many that are suspected, just so we have a handle on enforcement. Because as I mentioned during first reading, I think it's an inherently unfair to the people who did it the right way and took the time to register, went through the Inspections, you know, and paid the money. To have another subset of the city who then can have their short-term rentals without having to adhere to the law. And I just want to make sure we're bringing parity back to that, because, you know, We do want everyone to comply and we don't want anyone to feel like this is an unfair system. And it's not a voluntary system. It's, it's the law. Thank you [56:37] Susan Hawes: Any other questions, comments, Councillor [56:42] Daniel Carson: Carson? Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I'll just comment for people following along at home that the short-term rental ordinance that was adopted in October of 2023 includes a citywide cap of 1% of the total housing stock across Bangor. And so, for that reason, and because I do know working people who are in need of short-term housing in this economic crisis, I will be supporting this change. [57:11] Susan Hawes: Any other comments? Seeing none, we'll do our roll call vote. Councilor Beck? Yes. Councilor Carson? Yes. Councilor Deane? Yes. Councilor Faloon? Yes. [57:26] Lisa Goodwin: Councilor Fish? Yes. Councilor Leonard? No. Councilor Malheur? Yes. council walker yes council hawes yes eight yes one no ordinance [57:41] Susan Hawes: 26-073 has passage eight one [57:47] Lisa Goodwin: Next item 26-074, resolve authorizing 450,000 from the stormwater unassigned fund account for construction of a stormwater trunk line for the Sanford Brook drainage area, Council. [58:00] Michael Beck: Thank you, Madam Clerk. The City of Bangor has been working to reduce combined sewer overflows, known as CSOs, for many decades. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administer a consent decree to the City to reduce CSOs. Sewer separation, the process of discharging stormwater to a nearby water body instead of to the sanitary sewer system, has always been a prevalent method to reduce CSOs in the city. The city has the opportunity to make progress on sewer separation with the YMCA development project on Main Street, which would allow for future separation in the Sanford Brook drainage area. The cost to construct this stormwater line will be greatly reduced because the site is being totally redeveloped, and that allows for significantly cheaper construction as compared to disturbing serving a fully developed site that also requires site restoration. This work will be completed on an active construction site on private property that is being managed by an existing contractor. The existing project contractor has provided a pre-authorized list of contractors that is willing to work with for the completion of the City's portion of the storm drain construction project. As a result, the City's sole source procurement policies are applicable to this project. project. The Director of Engineering requested and received bids from contractors that are pre-authorized by the site owner and contractor to complete this work ranging from $436,982 to $486,270. The City intends to work with the low bidder, Sargent Corporation of Stillwater, Maine, and requests Council to designate $450,000 of unassigned Stormwater Utility Fund balance to construct this project. Madam Chair, I move passage of Resolve 26074. [1:00:01] Susan Hawes: Second. That's been moved and seconded. Is there any questions, comments? Council Fish. I would like to make a comment. [1:00:10] Carolyn Fish: I know that we partnered with the YMCA because of the opportunity of them sharing in the expense. I also want to acknowledge we have a developer in the audience that paid a great deal of money under previous administration, and I'm not sure exactly what happened, but I'm sure it doesn't feel very good to see we're using funds out of an unassigned account. And I just would like to see in the future that we do, like we're doing today, look at our developers more in partnership to see what we can do for housing and be more creative like we have this time moving forward. And just wanted to make that point where we have someone who has made great investment and has suffered great expense when we didn't offer the same opportunity. So I just wanted to clarify and acknowledge that. Thank you. Any other questions, comments? [1:01:06] Lisa Goodwin: seeing none we'll do a roll call counselor beck yes council carson yes councillor dean yes Council of Falloon. Yes. Council of Fish. Yes. Council of Leonard. Yes. Council of Malheur. Yes. Council of Walker. Yes. Council of Haas. Yes. Nine yes, zero no. [1:01:29] Susan Hawes: Resolved 26-074 has passage, nine zero. [1:01:38] Lisa Goodwin: New business. Public hearing, application for special amusement license renewal of Penobscot Theatre Company, doing business as Penobscot Theatre Company, 131 Main Street. [1:01:48] Michael Beck: Councilor Beck. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Madam Chair, I move that we open the public hearing for the application for a special amusement license renewal of Penobscot Theatre, doing business as Penobscot Theatre Company, 131 Main Street. Second. [1:02:04] Susan Hawes: It has been moved and seconded to open the public hearing for the license renewal of Penobscot Theatre. Is there any objection? Public hearing is open. [1:02:17] Lisa Goodwin: need a roll call vote oh yes we're still going to do that councillor beck yes councillor carson yes councillor dean yes councillor falloon yes councillor fish yes councillor leonard yes councillor maller yes council walker yes council hawes yes nine yes zero no [1:02:37] Susan Hawes: Okay, the public hearing is open. Seeing [1:02:45] Michael Beck: no one approach, I move that we close the public hearing. [1:02:49] Susan Hawes: Second. This is, I moved and seconded to close the public hearing. Roll [1:02:56] Lisa Goodwin: call. Council of Beck? Yes. Council Carson? Yes. Council of Dean? Yes. Council of Falloon? Yes. Council of Fish? Yes. Council of Leonard? [Joseph Leonard: No. Council] of Mallorca? Yes. Council of Walker? Yes. Council Hawes? Yes. Eight yes, one no. [1:03:20] Michael Beck: Public hearing is closed, eight yes and one no. Madam Chair, I move passage of the application for special amusement license renewal of Penobscot Theater Company, doing business as Penobscot Theater Company, 131 Main Street. Second. It's been moved and seconded to approve the application for [1:03:42] Susan Hawes: Special amusement license renewal of Penobscot Theater, doing business as Penobscot Theater Company, 131 Main Street. Roll. [1:03:52] Lisa Goodwin: Call Councillor Beck. Yes. Carson. Yes. Councillor Deane. Yes. Councillor Faloon. Yes. Councillor Fish. Yes. Councillor Leonard. Yes. Councillor Mallar. Yes. Councillor Walker. Yes. Councillor Haas. Yes. Nine yes, zero no. [1:04:11] Susan Hawes: The application for special amusement license renewal of Penobscot Theater Company doing [1:04:16] Lisa Goodwin: business as Penobscot Theater has passage nine zero. Next item 26-091, order establishing the City Council's priorities for 2026. Councillor Carson. Thank you, Madam Clerk. This order would [1:04:33] Daniel Carson: establish the City Council's priorities for 2026. During City Council's annual priority setting session and subsequent workshops, City Council established the following 2026 priorities. One, establish a comprehensive plan to address homelessness. Council will spearhead the creation of a comprehensive strategy that leverages both outside regional and nationwide experts alongside local stakeholders to craft a comprehensive plan for how the city supports organizations addressing homelessness in the city, and considers the effectiveness of past strategies and recommends new strategies to decrease the incidence and impact of homelessness in Bangor. Two, to continue to address housing needs. Several housing projects are in various stages of completion around the city, including the completed Teresa's Place project and in-progress projects such as the Sunrise Senior Living, a recently approved tiny home project, and a supportive housing project led by Bangor Housing. Council intends to continue to focus on housing gaps and unmet needs. Ideas considered include a standing committee focused on housing and or housing bonds. Three, advocate for a fairer share of regional costs and regional participation in the resolution of regional challenges. As a service center, Bangor proudly hosts a number of businesses, non-profits, educational organizations, and medical service providers that are of broad regional importance. However, there are attendant costs associated with being a service center that are borne by Bangor alone. At the same time, many of these institutions are exempt from property tax, and Bangor shoulders a disproportionate impact from those property tax exemptions. City Council will explore creative and innovative ways to encourage broader regional participation and cost sharing. City Council believes that prioritizing these three items in the following year is a strong investment in the continued vitality of the City of Bangor and the well-being of the city's residents. Madam Chair, I move passage of Council Order 26-091. [1:06:56] Mike Furrow: second the [1:06:58] Susan Hawes: order has been moved and seconded is there any discussion [1:07:05] Lisa Goodwin: saying none we'll do a roll call castle beck yes castle carson yes castle dean yes castle faloon yes council fish yes council leonard yes councilor mallor yes council walker [1:07:21] Susan Hawes: yes council has yes nine yes zero no order two six zero nine one has passage nine zero that brings us to the end of the agenda for this meeting any closing comments from staff they're spattered around the room lots of this okay nobody behind has any comments okay council flew thank you earlier today during our [1:08:01] Susan Faloon: workshop i shared 11 stories i think of members of our community who are living in fear i'm not going to repeat those if anyone wants they can go back and listen to our meeting from earlier but there have been remarks made here tonight and from past council meetings that some of these things are partisan or political the city of bangor's code of ethics speaks to avoiding partisan activity in the misuse of one's official position for political purposes None of the comments that I have made at any of these meetings have been in support of any political party, candidate, or campaign, nor were they intended to influence an election. Speaking out about the safety of our residents, the protection of basic legal rights, and concerns about the treatment of people in our community does not, in my view, fall into this category. These are core governance concerns and long-standing principles of public service, and I believe what a lot of the people who voted for me expected me to do as a city councilor. Just wanted to say that, and thank you, everyone, and good night, Bangor. [1:09:20] Justin Cartier: Council Miller. Good night, Bangor. [1:09:26] Carolyn Fish: Good night, Bangor. You can call your name. Oh, I'm sorry. [1:09:38] Daniel Carson: thank you madam chair i just wanted to again lift up the victims and the families of from the crash at bangor international airport and of course again the first responders who rushed in to that difficult circumstance and just that my thoughts are continued to be with all of them thank you and good night Bangor that's a bit I would reflect those [1:10:07] Michael Beck: Sentiments and also just to reflect on the fact that how wonderful tonight that we got a chance to take a moment just to recognize some heroes in this city. There's a lot of things in Bangor to celebrate, and moments like that really make this opportunity that I have as an individual counselor special. And so I would look forward to the opportunity to continue to recognize our stellar employees any way possible, because they're what make our city run and deserve to be recognized. So I appreciated what was done tonight and everyone involved in making that happen, but most of all the first responders who showed up and dealt with something that, and I think I mentioned this before, that I think that you know I would spend a lifetime trying to forget. And so again my thoughts are with everybody involved in that they're getting the help and counseling everything they need to work through such a terrible thing. Thank you, good night. [1:11:06] Joseph Leonard: That's our dean. Good night, Bangor. Also, Leonard, I do want to echo those sentiments that counselors Carson and Beck raised regarding our emergency responders. I'm not going to repeat those, but I do want to go back in history a bit. There was a time when this council was not supportive of our men in red. When they came to this dais during the time when we were divvying out ARPA applications, part of that funding, the National Firefighters Union was part of those negotiations talking with the Biden administration for emergency funding to go to those emergency response workers. And we voted as a council to not give those funds to those firefighters who weren't able to see their family members, were broken, and suffered a lot during those times. And when they came to us asking for help, we told them no. No. And I think it's important to recognize that they're here for us when, and I apologize, when shit hits the fan, when people's lives are on the lines, they will always be here for us. And I hope that this council in the future takes that into consideration, because I commend them for the hard work and immeasurable sacrifices that they did that day. But all I could think about was how we failed them that year. [1:13:00] Susan Hawes: Have a good night. Thank you all for attending. And good night. We are adjourned.