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Councilor Hawes leads Bangor City Council to enter executive session 9-0 on solicitor consultation and manager evaluation
Summary
At a July 20, 2026 workshop, the Bangor City Council voted 9-0 to enter two executive sessions: one to consult the city solicitor about the council's rights and duties related to the June 22, 2026 meeting, and one for the city manager's evaluation.
Bangor City Council convened a workshop on July 20, 2026, and voted unanimously to move into two executive sessions: one to consult with the city solicitor about the council's rights and duties connected to the June 22, 2026 council meeting, and a second concerning the city manager's evaluation. Councilor Hawes opened the meeting and asked for motions to go into executive session.
A councilor recited statutory authority and moved that the council enter executive session "pursuant 1 MRSA section 4 0 5 6 e" for consultation with the city solicitor regarding rights and duties tied to the June 22 meeting and pursuant to "1 MRSA section 4056 a" for the city manager evaluation; another councilor seconded the motion. In the roll-call that followed, Hawes called each member and the body recorded nine yes votes and zero no votes; Hawes noted, "That is 9, yes and 0, no." The motion was approved.
During a brief follow-up exchange, one councilor sought confirmation that notes and items from the June 22 session relevant to his prior remarks would be included in executive-session discussion while unrelated items could remain private. The city solicitor — who in the transcript self-identifies as "Abjek, City solicitor" but whom the opening attendance list names as David Sevcheck — said he was "not sure what you were referring to about notes" but confirmed the council could discuss the council's rights and duties in executive session "that don't involve councilor Leonard's remarks." The record contains this conflicting identification of the solicitor.
The council moved into executive session immediately after the vote; no further public deliberations on the two listed subjects occurred on the public record.
The stated legal bases recorded on the public motion were 1 M.R.S.A. §405(6)(E) (consultation with legal counsel about the council's rights and duties) and 1 M.R.S.A. §405(6)(A) (personnel evaluation). The council did not record any public action or decision on the city manager evaluation in open session; outcomes of the executive sessions, if any, were not announced publicly at the workshop's close.
