Bangor council picks 103rd mayor Nichi Farnham unanimously chosen to be city’s 3rd woman with title

BANGOR – City Councilor Nichi Farnham became the city’s 103rd mayor Wednesday, after her fellow councilors unanimously selected her for the post.

Farnham, 39, becomes only the third woman – Mary Sullivan and Pat Blanchette being the others – in the city’s 168-year history to ascend to the mayoralty, a ceremonial title for the City Council chairperson.

In her first address as the city’s most visible elected official, Farnham said she would work to continue the council’s practice of promoting development, but would do so mindful of the daunting budget challenges ahead.

“Expanding our tax base is the only way we can maintain existing services and funding for education without large increases in property tax rates,” Farnham said, noting the looming state budget shortfall and its likely impact on city coffers. “For major projects, we will have to look to the private sector and coordinate with county, state and federal government. This is the key to several future projects that are critical to Bangor.”

Farnham counted among the city’s most pressing projects the revamping of its once-industrial waterfront and the drive for a new auditorium and civic center.

To encourage development, the Fairmount Park resident said the council should focus its efforts on maintaining and improving the city’s infrastructure – including neighborhoods, sidewalks, parks, trails and the waterfront.

The cordial Wednesday morning session – where two of Farnham’s three young sons snapped photos and gave flowers to the new mayor – was a far cry from last year’s political standoff over the position between the council’s Democratic and Republican factions.

Although the council is technically nonpartisan, last year’s glaring split along party lines resulted in the council’s four registered Democrats selecting City Councilor Michael Crowley, the only member unaffiliated with a political party. Crowley voted for himself.

That year the council’s four registered Republicans voted for Farnham.

Last year’s public showing of the council’s political undertones was unusual, with the panel rarely, if ever, splitting votes along party lines and, in recent years, almost always choosing a mayor in unanimous fashion.

In nominating Farnham, City Councilor Dan Tremble – the top vote-getter in last week’s elections – said it was important to show a “unifying, nonpartisan voice for the people of Bangor.”

Tremble credited Farnham with playing a major role in building consensus on one of the city’s most divisive issues – the arrival of a methadone clinic in the city more than a year ago.

“It’s that kind of leadership that will serve us well in the next year,” he said of Farnham, who served as chairwoman of a special committee charged with advising the drug treatment clinic at Acadia Hospital.

Farnham moved with her husband to the city from the Fargo, N.D., area in May 1991.

She is in the final year of her second three-year council term. She most recently has served on the finance, infrastructure and parks and recreation advisory committees.

Also at Wednesday’s meeting, newly elected City Councilor Richard Greene began his first three-year term on the council. Incumbent City Councilors Dan Tremble and Frank Farrington also took the oath of office.