Bangor taxpayers start recall effort

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BANGOR – The City Council’s controversial decision last month to contribute $381,000 toward improvements to the baseball complex at Husson College has sparked a movement aimed at ousting the seven city councilors who voted in favor of it.

A councilor who voted against it and a councilor who was absent when the vote was taken are not among those targeted.

Spearheaded by Bangor resident Arvilla Verceles, the recall initiative was launched officially during a news conference Wednesday in the Brewer offices of Bangor resident Arthur Tilley. He was one of 10 city taxpayers who met there to sign the seven affidavits required to initiate the recall process set forth in the city charter. A citywide signature drive is the group’s next step.

On Wednesday, the taxpayers outlined the reasons for their recall effort.

“The idea is to [recall] those councilors who have been using taxpayer dollars in a fashion that is not illegal but [rather] loose and fast,” said Frank S. Knight, who served as the group’s spokesman. “For me, I get very, very angry when I see public money used for private concerns.” He and others involved in the effort said the recall attempt was meant to serve as a “wake-up call” for city councilors.

The signatories were Verceles, Tilley, Knight, Richard Averill, Rita Dulany, Lawrence Brewster, Martha and Royce Day and Charles and Rita Hefflin. Fred Thibodeau notarized the documents, which Verceles said she would deliver to City Hall later Wednesday. Most members of the taxpayers’ group are retired. All are Bangor taxpayers and registered voters.

“I am the instigator,” Verceles said Wednesday. “If that’s good or bad, I don’t know, but I’m proud of it.”

Asked if she thought she could gather the necessary signatures and meet the various deadlines to get the recall matter on November’s election ballot, Verceles said, “I have no doubt about it.” She said she’d already received several offers of assistance to that end.

At issue is the city’s six-figure contribution toward improvements to Husson College’s John Winkin Baseball Complex, expected to become the home of the Bangor Lumberjacks by the start of next year’s baseball season. The contribution was the only budget issue that generated debate when the city’s $68.8 million budget was adopted on June 23.

Knight noted that Husson had received some substantial donations for the project from private individuals but that the city’s contribution was different.

“This is tax money,” he said. “It’s not like you can go out and pick it from trees. I’m not a tree and neither are any of these folks.”

A council majority saw the project as good economic development, as it would draw baseball fans to the city, where many would spend money on meals, gasoline and other purchases.

Most noted that the baseball complex also would serve as a community gathering place offering opportunities for wholesome, family-oriented recreational activities. Having the team in Bangor also could create jobs on and off the field, they said.

Affidavit signer Charles Hefflin disagreed. He said the only ones who would benefit from the team’s being in Bangor are the city’s business owners. “I as an individual feel that it doesn’t benefit me,” he said.

The team, owned by Bangor businessman Charles “Chip” Hutchins, embarked on its first season in May. For lack of a suitable place to play in Bangor, however, the team currently is using University of Maine facilities.

Marked for recall are Mayor Nichi Farnham and Councilors Anne Allen, Michael Crowley, Richard Greene, Gerry Palmer, John Rohman and Daniel Tremble. Farnham, Crowley and Rohman will complete their second-consecutive three-year terms this fall and as such are subject to the city’s term limits provision, which requires that councilors who have reached the limit take a year off before running again.

Escaping the group’s crosshairs were Frank Farrington and David Nealley, the two councilors who did not vote in favor of the contribution to Husson.

Farrington cast the sole vote against the contribution last week because he did not consider it essential, given the city’s budgetary constraints. Though he found himself on the losing side of the vote, he did not fault his fellow councilors, who, he said, believed the contribution was in the city’s best interest, or Husson College, which he said was among the city’s most exemplary institutions.

“I think this council is a very good council in that we do differ, which leads to good, honest debate. That works very well for us,” he said.

Nealley, who couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday, was absent when the vote was taken. City officials said Nealley has been in New York since late June, working at Vernon Downs, the racetrack operated by Shawn Scott, the Nevada-based entrepreneur working to develop Maine’s first racetrack casino. Nealley is expected to return around the end of the month, City Manager Edward Barrett said.

The seven affidavits seeking recall of the councilors are the first step in a process that the group hopes will culminate in a recall election in November. The recall provision in the city charter gives recall advocates 60 business days to collect the signatures of 2,274 registered Bangor voters, or 20 percent of the total number of voters who participated in the most recent gubernatorial election.

If the group is able to gather the minimum number, the petitions will be forwarded to the City Council, which would then schedule an election.

City staff say that the recall initiative is the first since 1979, when Bangor voters approved the recall provision in a citywide referendum by more than 2 to 1.

Despite the recall effort, councilors who supported the aid to Husson did not regret their decision, because they saw it as a development tool.

“I think that what we did was a positive thing for the city,” said Councilor Allen. “We’re contributing to [community] infrastructure that just happens to be at Husson. I think that we have to look at every [economic development] opportunity that we can. That’s why I voted for it. The whole city is going to benefit from this.”

Councilor Palmer agreed, adding that he expected the teams’ move to Bangor to boost attendance at the team’s games. He was concerned, however, that the recall initiative might keep potential candidates from running.

Councilor Crowley was troubled that he did not hear from residents opposed to the Husson contribution before the vote or since. “The fact is, no one called, and it appears to be playing itself out in the media.”

As Crowley sees it, the Husson-city deal is part of a public-private partnership trend that is growing across the nation.

“I know that every time we make a decision, we are not going to please everyone in the community. I try to be as (financially) conservative as I can,” Crowley said.