The Ellsworth City Council disciplined Councilor Steve O’Halloran on Monday evening, alleging their fellow councilor’s conduct violates the city’s ethics code.
The council formally censured O’Halloran for his alleged misconduct, which councilors equated to bullying, toward city employees. Councilor Patrick Shea voted against the motion, and O’Halloran abstained.
The sanction is the latest development in a yearslong dispute between the councilor and the city of Ellsworth. O’Halloran, an often confrontational figure who lobbies for less government spending on behalf of “Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth,” frequently casts the council’s lone contrarian vote.
In March, the city hired an outside investigator to produce a 176-page report on the councilor’s conduct, O’Halloran told the Bangor Daily News before the Monday evening meeting.
The report stemmed from city employees’ complaints about “repeated and inflammatory public communications and accusations” from O’Halloran that alleged the city “violated the charter and ordinances,” he said.
Most of the communications cited in the report center around the councilor criticizing city officials and processes, O’Halloran said. The report alleges he has harassed and “micro-managed” city staff, the councilor’s personal attorney said.
Among other comments, O’Halloran referred to City Hall as “shady” and suggested the city’s procurement process “lacked integrity.” The councilor also copied members of the media on various city exchanges, he added.
Council Chair Patrick Lyons said the report indicated employees felt bullied by O’Halloran and some were afraid of retaliation if they spoke with the investigator, who ultimately interviewed five staffers.
One individual cited in the report is “seeking no contact” with O’Halloran, Councilor Carol Patterson-Martineau said. Several city employees have considered escalating the matter to the court system, Councilor Tabatha White said.
O’Halloran acknowledged that he had written the statements but didn’t think his conduct had violated the city’s ethics code. The councilor has hired an attorney who is negotiating with the city attorney to release the report to the public, he said.
Monday’s meeting was packed with O’Halloran supporters: More than a dozen people spoke in support of him and most cheered when the councilor walked into the council chambers at the start of the meeting.
“He has been a voice for everyone in this room,” Ellsworth resident Tammy Walker said.
The majority of those who shared their support of O’Halloran also voiced concern about Ellsworth’s climbing tax bills.
Before the meeting’s public comment period, Lyons, who has publicly sparred with O’Halloran on numerous occasions, corrected social media rumors circulating that the councilor could be expelled from council during Monday’s meeting. O’Halloran did not face immediate expulsion, Lyons said.
City Manager Charlie Pearce declined to comment when contacted by the BDN.
Amy Kenney, the city’s communications director, did not immediately know how much the city spent on the investigation into O’Halloran.
Since the councilor was first elected in 2021, he has often been involved in heated exchanges between various councilors and city officials.
In 2023, O’Halloran and a group of commercial property owners filed an appeal of the city’s decision to lease a High Street building for a new police station, alleging the city hadn’t provided adequate public notice before the council voted on the decision. A judge later dismissed the appeal.
Last year, the councilor put up a banner criticizing the city’s decision to sell a property it had foreclosed on over unpaid property taxes. O’Halloran argued the city should have returned the profit they earned from selling the house to the property’s owners. The city ultimately changed its position and gave the funds to the former owner, Kerry Karst.
Most recently, the councilor parked a 53-foot trailer with a custom wrap saying “not my circus but I know all the clowns” at the intersection of High Street and Main Street. The trailer was circulating downtown Ellsworth on Monday afternoon, according to O’Halloran.
“If anyone in the city (Councilor or otherwise) wants to communicate through oversized roadside riddles, that is their choice,” Pearce said on March 30, when the trailer — which has since been removed from the High Street location — was first installed.
