Two Bangor city councilors are running for one seat on the Penobscot County Commission.
Joe Leonard and Dan Tremble are running as Democrats in the June 11 primary election. They are vying for the District One seat which covers Bangor, Brewer, Clifton, Eddington, Holden and Orrington, and is held by longtime Commissioner Peter Baldacci, who is not running for reelection.
Baldacci is retiring after decades as a county commissioner. Electing someone with institutional knowledge is what the county needs, Tremble said. He spent 12 years as the county treasurer and 14 years on city council.
“I’m really familiar with the situation with the city and the county,” Tremble said. “The big thing the county needs to do right now is to address the jail issue.”
The need for a new jail facility, and all the questions surrounding what it will look like, is the main reason Leonard said he is running for county commission. Leonard was first elected to city council in 2022.
“The facility is completely unacceptable,” Leonard said. “It’s not a place for rehabilitation. Even Sheriff [Troy] Morton has made it very clear that this facility is not a healthy environment for anyone involved.”
The county is trying to buy land to build a new jail facility. County officials say the Penobscot County Jail is in poor condition, and it is not worth making repairs to the building, which was constructed in 1869. The last substantial renovations to the jail, at 85 Hammond St., were in 1988, with a $5 million voter-approved bond.
In addition to the new jail, helping county departments find new ways to innovate and make things run more smoothly is something Leonard said he wants to help with. He pointed to Penobscot Regional Communications Center using artificial intelligence to answer its non-emergency line.
While there are kinks to work out, it’s a step toward reducing work for short staffed departments, he said. AI may also be helpful for police and filing reports, he said.
The county budget has been increasing at an unsustainable rate and more fiscal responsibility is needed, Tremble said. Some department heads received raises of around 25 percent, which were needed to bring salaries in line with what they should be paid; however, the amount should have been phased in over time, he said.
Leonard works as a consultant for some online AI organizations. Tremble owns the Fairmount Market at 662 Hammond St.
Maine law does not specifically prohibit people from holding a county commission and city council seat. Leonard was reelected for a three-year term in November, which will end in 2026. Tremble’s term expires in 2025.
However, rulings from the Maine attorney general’s office make it sound that holding both seats is likely incompatible, Tremble said. If elected, he said he would resign instead of challenging those rulings.
Leonard said he does not know if he would resign, but will respect the opinion of his constituents, while considering the gravity of being reelected to city council in November. He’s talked with the Maine Municipal Association about the situation.
The winner of the June 11 election will face Republican challenger Cary Weston, who served on the Bangor City Council from 2009 to 2012 and again from 2016 to 2019.
