Bangor council votes 6-2 to censure Councilor Joe Leonard over remarks about a city employee

The Bangor City Council voted 6-2 Monday to adopt an order censuring Councilor Joe Leonard for public remarks he made on May 7 during a council budget workshop about a city personnel matter.

The censure order, moved by Councilor Fournier, said Leonard’s remarks deprived a city employee of confidentiality guaranteed under state law and exceeded the scope of a councilor’s authority, which the order says is reserved to the city manager. The motion passed on a roll-call vote: Councilor Beck — no; Councilor Dean — yes; Councilor Fish — yes; Councilor Fournier — yes; Councilor Haas — yes; Councilor Mallor — no; Councilor Trumbo — yes; Councilor Pelletier — yes (6 yes, 2 no). Councilor Leonard did not cast a vote on the measure because it was brought against him.

The council debated whether the procedure satisfied the city code’s requirement for a hearing. Councilor Beck argued the action should have been noticed and handled as a separate quasi-judicial hearing, saying, “I wish this had come to us through a hearing,” and moved to postpone to the Sept. 8 meeting; that motion failed. The city solicitor told the council that notice of the meeting had been provided and that the hearing would occur as part of the current meeting.

Public commentators were sharply divided. Several speakers backed Leonard, saying he was performing oversight. Hillary Simmons, a resident, said, “Councilor Leonard did not do anything wrong. He made a statement that the finance department had lied.” Others, including members who cited staff confidentiality and state law, urged support for the censure. Councilor Trumbo summarized the concern about staff protection, saying the vote was intended to uphold employees’ rights and the law.

Leonard addressed the council before the vote, apologized for the tone of his earlier remarks and said he would have handled them differently but declined to retract the substantive issues he raised. He also said he had filed an ethics complaint alleging improper behind-the-scenes communications among council members.

The censure order references the city code of ethics (chapter 33) in describing standards of conduct for councilors and cites state confidentiality protections for personnel matters in explaining the rationale for sanctioning Leonard. The council did not impose a further penalty beyond the formal censure.

The measure concludes the scheduled business for the evening; the council reopened public comment for unrelated matters after the vote.

The council’s roll-call transcript and public comments reflecting both support for and opposition to the censure are on the record with the city clerk.