Brewer City Council meeting testy

BREWER – Though the city councilors’ meeting agenda was filled with important city business Tuesday night, the meeting was dominated by old feuds and bickering.

Some of the heated exchanges during Tuesday’s regular monthly meeting – the first since the Nov. 7 citywide elections – were reminiscent of the council’s contentious sessions of the past, a jarring reminder of an era of turmoil that predates some on the council and many members of the current City Hall administration, which has seen a great deal of turnover in recent years.

Despite the disharmony, however, the council took some significant steps toward the future, chief among them the adoption of a master plan for its most ambitious development venture to date, namely the revival of its long-neglected waterfront area. The plan was adopted in a unanimous vote, but not until after several hours of often contentious debate.

Tossing the first lob was Wayne Gifford, a 52-year resident who owns a business here and volunteers for several youth athletic programs. Gifford said he rarely attends council meetings but that his exasperation with the hostile tactics of former City Manager Harold Parks had driven him to attend Tuesday’s session. Gifford said he was fed up with what he saw as Parks’ harassment of the council, an ongoing siege that he said not only had cost the city money and time, but that he suspected had adversely affected economic development efforts.

“This council has accomplished more in the past two years than any other council that I can remember,” Gifford said, adding that Parks had been “dismissed” as city manager, “paid off” after settling a wrongful termination lawsuit and “defeated” when he ran for city council this month. “I think it’s time for him to stop.”Councilor Larry Doughty, returned to the council this month after unsuccessful re-election bids last year and the year before and the sole councilor who voted against Parks’ ouster in 1996, jumped to Parks’ defense. He pointed out that as a resident, Parks had every right to express concerns and ask questions about city matters.

Doughty said he took exception to Gifford’s statements. “I don’t think they were called for. … [Gifford] has a right to make them, but I don’t think they’re called for.”

Next up was Bruce Johnson, who narrowly lost his re-election bid this month. He called Doughty on the carpet for statements he made about the local fire department in his campaign literature, claiming among other things that Brewer’s refusal to call Bangor for help at fires put citizens’ lives at risk. Johnson said Doughty’s claim, which county mutual aid statistics proved was unfounded, was “irresponsible.” He called upon Doughty to apologize to firefighters and citizens for his “inaccurate political letter”

Johnson also took Doughty to task for revealing confidential information on the teacher contract negotiations during a candidates’ forum on Nov. 2, and asked him to enlighten residents about a rumored visit with public works personnel a day after the election, during which he allegedly promised he was going to push for the creation of five new jobs and new equipment. Doughty denied visiting with public works staff, but said he stood by his statements about the fire department. He further claimed that firefighters’ here were on the verge of “mutiny” and that he knew this to be true because he spent a lot of time at the fire house.

He attributed Johnson’s statements to sour grapes. “Bruce sounds like a bitter Al Gore to me,” he said. Doughty also said the community had a right to the financial figures he shared during the candidates’ forum. During that event, Doughty claimed that teachers were asking for an estimated $2 million in pay increases and new benefits. Attempts this month to verify Doughty’s claim through representatives of the School Committee and the Brewer Education Association, the local teachers union, were futile.

Though Parks acknowledged that many in the community had hoped he would quietly remove himself from the limelight after his settlement, he said he had no plans to do so. There are still a number of concerns he has about the way the council and staff are conducting business, citing several issues already laid to rest by city officials, issues he claimed go to the heart of a democracy. “I’m sorry if [Gifford] feels I should pack it in … but I’m a citizen,” Parks said.