Bangor city councilors voted Monday to send two issues to the city’s Board of Ethics.
One order, initiated by Councilor Dan Tremble and approved unanimously, asks the board to investigate whether Councilor Wayne Mallar violated the city’s ethics code at a Historic Preservation Commission Meeting.
The other, initiated by Mallar and targeting Tremble’s behavior, asks the board to determine whether someone can take out and circulate City Council nomination papers on someone else’s behalf. The order was approved with a 4-2 vote.
This is the third question sent to the Board of Ethics in what has been a tumultuous month for City Council, which is currently short one member after former Council Chair Cara Pelletier resigned Sept. 9, citing “personal attacks.”
Councilor Joe Leonard previously initiated an ethics investigation Sept. 8 into fellow councilors’ text communications about him.
Members of the public and councilors alike characterized the set of ethics complaints as part of a larger picture of “bickering” among councilors.
“The appearance of this is really kind of disturbing,” Scott Pardy said during public comment.
Mallar agreed that there was bickering going on and accused Tremble of bringing forward his question in retaliation for Mallar’s question, which Tremble disputed.
The investigation into Mallar’s actions will examine whether he violated the city’s ethics code by talking to members of the Historic Preservation Commission during a break in its Aug. 14 meeting and whether he failed to “maintain a standard of conduct that will inspire public confidence in the integrity of the City’s government,” according to the order.
Edythe Dyer raised concerns at an Aug. 25 City Council meeting about Mallar’s behavior, alleging that he approached commission members during a break in their meeting and tried to convince them to reconsider hearing a case brought forward by Steven Farren, Dyer’s husband.
“He made it very clear he was there on behalf of the City Council and was there as a representative of the City,” Dyer said.
Farren is currently running for City Council. Mallar was elected to the council in November 2024.
Tremble said he wanted to send the question to the ethics board because of Dyer’s comments, noting that it was his first time in 15 years as a councilor to bring forward a request for an ethics investigation.
“I can’t remember a time where I felt that somebody really needed to be looked into for a clear violation of ethics. I wish we didn’t have to bring this, but unfortunately, I think it rises to that level,” he said.
The second order, regarding circulating election nomination papers for someone else, does not name a particular councilor who may have violated the code of ethics.
However, the issue was raised previously during public comment at a Sept. 8 meeting when Hilari Simmons, who is Mallar’s daughter, accused Tremble of circulating papers for Pelletier.
The section of the city’s charter dealing with nomination papers does not address whether someone is allowed to circulate petitions on behalf of someone else.
Tremble described the question about nomination papers as a “non-issue,” saying, “it’s perfectly fine for somebody to take somebody’s papers around … it’s been done for years, and if you read the code, this is not a gray area.”
Pelletier took out nomination papers and considered running for reelection this year but ultimately withdrew before she resigned from the council ahead of her term’s end.
Simmons said in Monday’s meeting that Tremble’s actions created “the appearance of collusion among elected officials and calls into question whether all candidates are being treated equally.”
The council voted 4-2 to send the question to the ethics board, with Tremble and Council Chair Rick Fournier voting against.
Councilors Carolyn Fish and Susan Deane both said their votes should not be interpreted as agreement that a violation had occurred.
“Whenever there’s a question about ethics, I think it’s good to have a third party, an ethics committee, look at it,” Fish said. “It’s not that I believe either one or all of us are corrupt.”
Councilors Susan Hawes and Joe Leonard were not present Monday.
The city’s Board of Ethics will investigate each question and issue advisory opinions to the council. The board has five members and two associate members, although one associate seat is currently vacant.
