Bangor residents urge censure, transparency after committee members'' remarks at council meeting

Members of the public urged the Advisory Committee on Racial Equity, Inclusion and Human Rights to apologize, censure members or be disbanded after what multiple speakers described as name-calling at a recent Bangor City Council meeting.

Ray DuBois, a Bangor resident who said he has lived in the city since 1982, told the committee he was "here to speak in reference to the outburst and name calling that was demonstrated by a couple of the members of your committee 2 weeks ago." DuBois said the conduct he described undermined the committee's stated goals and suggested formal remedies including apologies, censure or removal from the committee.

The remarks were echoed by other residents. Mike Furl, introduced himself as a "long time resident of Bangor," cited Robert's Rules of Order and called the committee's conduct "defamatory" and "harassment," urging the committee to censure members who had used derogatory language at the council meeting. Suzanne Burrow and Hillary Simmons likewise called for stronger adherence to the committee's mission and said they were concerned committee members had presented personal views while identified as committee members during the council discussion.

Committee leaders said they heard the concerns and would take them up in future meetings. Courtney O'Donnell, assistant city manager, told the meeting that missing minutes were a city staff issue and that the document-management problem should be resolved "within about a week or so." Chair Katie Bridal (recently elected at this meeting) said the committee would "take these notes into further meetings and discussion" and that members had learned from the recent events.

Several speakers asked whether police reports had been filed for alleged threats mentioned at the council meeting; DuBois said he hoped police reports had been filed and requested the dates or report numbers so he could verify. Committee leadership said they could not speak to every allegation of conduct at other public hearings but pledged to consider next steps.

The committee did not take formal action on censure during the Feb. 25 meeting; members said the matter and related process issues would be added to future agendas. Several residents asked for clearer records of committee activity; O'Donnell said staff were restoring meeting minutes to the public document system and would provide links to residents who requested them.

The session moved to a short recess after the public comments, and the committee resumed with other agenda items.

Ending: Committee leaders acknowledged the complaints and said they would place conduct, minutes accessibility and process clarifications on future agendas; no formal censure or personnel action was taken at the Feb. 25 meeting.