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Residents urge action on homelessness, needle exchange and downtown impacts at Bangor City Council
Summary
More than a dozen residents spoke during public comment urging both compassion and urgent solutions for unhoused neighbors, calling for sanctioned encampments, lived-experience seats on committees, enforcement of ordinances on public drug use, and more permanent housing options.
Public comment at the April 27 Bangor City Council meeting was dominated by concerns about homelessness, downtown encampments, and discarded needles.
Voices from across the community urged different but overlapping approaches. Brian Cattell (speaker 13) described personal experience with homelessness and addiction and urged clear boundaries combined with responsible harm-reduction measures. Kiri Peachnini (speaker 15) proposed a sanctioned encampment close to services rather than sweeps that discard people’s possessions.
Speakers repeatedly asked the council to include people with lived experience on the city’s homelessness committee; Katie Ko (speaker 9) noted the committee’s stated goal of having three members who have been unhoused and said those perspectives are essential to effective solutions. Service providers and outreach workers emphasized programs that have produced housing outcomes — Shay Mullaney (speaker 21) said she personally helped more than 40 people secure housing over three years.
Several residents raised public-safety and business impact concerns tied to needles and open public drug use. Tricia Quirk (speaker 16) said volunteers and a church recently collected thousands of needles and asked the council to enforce existing ordinances; Evangeline White (speaker 27), a small-business owner and former user, said the needle-exchange program saved her life and cautioned that turned-in syringes are preferable to used syringes on sidewalks.
Other commenters argued against short-term “sweeps” and for investing in longer-term housing and services. Multiple speakers criticized proposals to spend roughly $680 per day on police details to move people from one sidewalk to another, calling that approach a costly “shell game.”
The council did not take immediate policy action during public comment but later discussed related items on the consent agenda and in committee; several councilors thanked participants and acknowledged the need for further work on a long-term strategy.
Quotation: “I don't think sweeps are humane — throwing away someone's possessions is not only cruel, it further entrenches mistrust,” Kiri Peachnini said. “We need immediate and long-term solutions.”
