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Election Day: Tuesday, Nov. 3 Polls 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Cross Insurance Center
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Candidate for Bangor City Council · Nov. 3, 2026

Joe Leonard Incumbent

Answered our survey

Top priority: Change Bangor's form of government by creating voting wards and an elected, full-time mayor with executive authority. BDN, Sept. 30

About Joe

Leonard has served on the City Council since winning a 2022 special election, after two earlier unsuccessful runs, and was reelected in 2023. He is a former Army National Guard officer and serves on the boards of Penquis CAP and the Maine Rail Group. BDN, Sept. 30LWV forum, Oct. 7

On the ballot as
Leonard, Joseph A.
Ballot position
1 of 12
Age
36
Work
Enrollment specialist at clean energy company Ampion; also substitute teaches and tutors
Ties to Bangor
Has lived in Bangor for nearly 10 years
Party
Democrat
Council meetings attended
Sitting councilor
Public record
City councilor since 2022. The council has censured Leonard three times, including over comments about a former finance director and remarks about colleagues; Leonard has said he does not regret his actions. Took part in the League of Women Voters candidate forum, Oct. 7, 2026.

Where Leonard stands

Summaries of what the candidate has said publicly, in our words. Follow the source links for full context.

Homelessness

Wants more regional and state collaboration. Supported the Yellen Pines tax agreement, arguing it saves money given public safety and emergency costs tied to homelessness. BDN, Sept. 30 1:35:39 0:08

Drug use and syringe programs

Opposes new restrictions on syringe service providers. Wants more syringe disposal boxes around the city to address needle litter. BDN, Sept. 30 0:05

Public safety and policing

Says police work is not social work, with about half of officers' time going to poverty-related calls. Would invest in health and human services and turn the Street Plus program into a city-run ambassador program. LWV forum, Oct. 7 2:38:05

Housing and rent

Wants the city to invest in housing. BDN, Sept. 30

Property taxes and the city budget

Called the June 2026 budget the strongest in years, citing new positions including eight firefighters. Wants more positions and new revenue such as enterprise funds. Says he would not cut city services without a full public discussion of what would be lost. Points residents to existing city hardship tax abatements, and says the economy is in a recession. BDN, Sept. 30BDN, Oct. 5LWV forum, Oct. 7 2:16:53 0:05

Jobs, business and the economy

Interested in new city revenue sources and in exploring municipally controlled energy. Wants to turn the Street Plus program into an in-house downtown ambassador program. Wants an airport commission and more investment in the Community Connector bus. BDN, Sept. 30LWV forum, Oct. 7 1:25:54 2:05:45

How the council works

Top priority is voting wards and an elected, full-time mayor with executive authority, which Leonard says would improve representation and speed up decisions. BDN, Sept. 30 2:22:41 0:05

Data centers and license plate cameras

Supports banning automatic license plate readers and says he and colleagues are working on an ordinance to do so. BDN, Sept. 30

Key council decisions

The Bangor Daily News asked all 12 candidates how they would have voted on measures that came before the council in the past year; six are shown here. Answers are summarized in our words; the BDN's chart has their full comments.

Measure and outcomePosition
180-day pause on data center constructionPassed 9-0 in April 2026; later extended for another 180 days.Yes Does not want a data center in Bangor, citing water pollution and residents' opposition. Voted for the pause, which passed 9-0. BDN, Oct. 7WABI, April 14
Proposed 180-day ban on new syringe programs and treatment facilitiesRejected 2-3 in the Business and Economic Development Committee, June 2026.No Uncomfortable pausing a type of program already operating under regulations. BDN, Oct. 7
Funding for the public health department's homeless response coordinatorRequested by the public health department in the 2026 budget; the position was previously paid for with federal pandemic relief money.Yes Says the city needs more public health staff. BDN, Oct. 7
Increased school budgetThe School Committee proposed a $65.8 million budget, up 5.6% from the year before.Yes Says education is in crisis and wants the council to work with the School Committee on technology and literacy. BDN, Oct. 7
Ordinance limiting how much city staff, including police, help federal immigration agents (ICE)Would have barred city employees from helping enforce federal civil immigration law. Failed 3-5 on June 22, 2026.Yes Calls ICE an economic threat to Bangor and says the city needs more people to come live and work here. BDN, Oct. 7
Tax reimbursement (TIF) for the Yellen Pines supportive housing projectApproved 6-3 in August 2026; a move to reconsider failed 7-2. The city reimburses 75% of the building's property taxes for 30 years. Residents are not required to be sober or in treatment: the developer has said some may use drugs in their apartments, with round-the-clock on-site staff from Preble Street there to encourage them not to. Residents sign a lease with rules, and continued rule-breaking or illegal drug use leads to eviction.Yes Sees the project as fiscally responsible in the long term. BDN, Oct. 7

Other positions

Questions put to the candidates that were not council votes. "No position" means we found no public statement; we never infer one.

QuestionPosition
Rent control or a rent freezeYes Supports rent control. VoteBangor, Oct. 13

Voting record on the council

How Leonard actually voted, from the official City Council minutes, January to September 2026. Listed: votes on the issues in this race, divided votes, and any vote where Leonard was the only no. Routine unanimous items are left out.

DateMeasureVoteResult
Reopen the Yellen Pines tax deal for a new voteItem Motion to reconsider 26-242 and 26-243 · HomelessnessNoFailed 2-7 Only Fish and Mallar voted to reconsider. City of Bangor, Aug. 17
Yellen Pines tax deal: a 30-year credit enhancement agreement and tax increment financing district for supportive housingItem 26-242, 26-243 · HomelessnessYesPassed 6-3 No: Fish, Mallar, Hawes. City of Bangor, Aug. 10
Limit city cooperation with ICE ("Employee Authority in Immigration Matters" ordinance), final passageItem 26-095 · Council conductYesFailed 3-5 Yes: Beck, Faloon, Leonard. No: Carson, Deane, Mallar, Walker, Hawes. Fish had left the meeting. Leonard also voted against postponing it indefinitely (that motion failed 4-5). City of Bangor, June 22
City budget for fiscal year 2027Item 26-204 · Taxes and budgetYesPassed 5-3 No: Faloon, Mallar, Hawes. City of Bangor, June 22
Total school budget appropriationItem 26-195 · Taxes and budgetYesPassed 7-1 No: Mallar. City of Bangor, June 22
Changes to the historic preservation code for certain alterations to historic buildings (Leonard was the sponsor)Item 26-191 · EconomyYesPassed 5-3 No: Carson, Mallar, Hawes. City of Bangor, June 22
180-day moratorium on data centersItem 26-138 · Data centers and camerasYesPassed 9-0 Unanimous. City of Bangor, April 13
$75 million bond for a consolidated parks and recreation center, to go to votersItem 26-108 · Taxes and budgetNoFailed 0-9 Unanimous against. City of Bangor, March 23
Order to comply immediately with the new state immigration law and set written rules for law-enforcement requests for confidential information and nonpublic spacesItem 26-110 · Council conductYesPassed 6-3 No: Fish, Mallar, Hawes. City of Bangor, March 9
Award $641,297 in opioid settlement funds as recommended by the advisory committeeItem 26-109 · Drugs and syringesYesPassed 8-1 No: Mallar. City of Bangor, March 9
Apply for a NASTAD grant for a two-year program supporting care for people living with HIVItem 26-106 · Drugs and syringesYesPassed 8-1 No: Mallar. City of Bangor, March 9
Change the restrictions on short-term rentals in tiny home parks and manufactured home parksItem 26-073 · HousingNoPassed 8-1 Leonard was the only no vote. City of Bangor, Feb. 9

In their own words

Word for word from each video's captions, with filler words (uh, um) and false starts taken out. [Brackets] mark our corrections of caption errors and ... marks words left out. Every candidate gets the same picks: from the Oct. 7 forum, an opening or closing statement and the answers on downtown policing and on property taxes; from the BDN video interviews, the answers on homelessness, syringes and city spending; and up to four remarks from 2026 City Council meeting videos (public comment, or remarks from the council table for a sitting councilor). Tap the time to hear it yourself. All candidates' quotes

I really think Bangor needs to move toward a mayor system and a ward system, and regardless of who gets elected, that's what I want to work toward.

League of Women Voters forum, Oct. 7, 2026Why I'm running 1:07:54

We do need to broaden the tax base. That's really the only way to actually solve the issue at the end of the day... We are currently living in a recession right now and it's only going to get worse.

League of Women Voters forum, Oct. 7, 2026Keeping seniors in their homes 2:16:53

The first thing that we need to acknowledge is that police work is not social work... I want to actually take that program [Street Plus], turn it into a city-owned asset, and to create Bangor's own ambassador program so that we have our own city-owned social services.

League of Women Voters forum, Oct. 7, 2026Downtown, homelessness and the police 2:38:05

We need more syringe disposal systems throughout the city. I mean, that's literally the number one thing that we can do to help with the syringe disposal.

BDN video interview, Oct. 5, 2026Syringes 0:05

I am not comfortable cutting anything in the city budget at this point in time unless we have a robust discussion about what those services are that we are cutting.

BDN video interview, Oct. 5, 2026City spending 0:05

In order for us to do better as a city, we have to reduce the amount of 911 calls that go out to these individuals. And really, the only way to actually do that is we have to invest more into housing.

BDN video interview, Oct. 5, 2026Homelessness 0:23

I personally am not at all an advocate, nor do I believe in short-term rentals as a viable option. We are in the middle of a housing crisis right now... So, I'm going to vote no on this ordinance.

At the council table, Feb. 9, 2026Short-term rentals in tiny home parks 54:39

This war that we have illegally entered into with Iran is not only illegal, it's going to be a complete and utter disaster... It's because of a delusional [president] that we have. This [president] is only good at two things. Bombing little girls and raping little girls.

At the council table, March 9, 2026Closing remarks, on the war with Iran 1:41:50

Someone at the council table asked that the statement be stopped, and Councilor Carolyn Fish said she was offended and that this was not the place for it.

ICE is an organization right now that has a written memorandum of understanding where the now previous director told his ICE officers, you can just ignore the Fourth Amendment. That's unacceptable to me... This is a criminal organization, but I don't expect our rapist, pedophile, fascist president to take any consideration to this whatsoever. So, I will proudly vote in favor of this ordinance.

At the council table, June 22, 2026Before his vote for the city immigration ordinance 1:18:28

Please, before you use words like that, make sure you are able to educate people on the mathematics as to why that is a scam, because this is very much a sound policy for voting... I really want to encourage caution when people accuse our election system as a scam. It just causes a lot of unnecessary division.

At the council table, June 22, 2026Closing remarks, on ranked-choice voting 2:46:33

Watch them answer

Links open YouTube at the moment the candidate starts answering. Our summaries are above; the video is their own words.

LWV forum, Oct. 7, 2026: League of Women Voters candidate forum, Bangor City Council

Bangor Daily News, Oct. 5, 2026: What Bangor City Council candidates say they'd do to limit drug use and syringe litter

Bangor Daily News, Oct. 5, 2026: The changes City Council candidates say they'd make to Bangor's budget

Bangor Daily News, Oct. 5, 2026: How Bangor City Council candidates say they'd work together as a team

Bangor Daily News, Oct. 5, 2026: How City Council candidates say they'll reduce homelessness in Bangor

Endorsements

Endorsements by groups and public figures, as reported in news coverage or listed on a candidate's own campaign website. Endorsements are listed for information only; VoteBangor does not endorse.

None reported in the coverage or campaign websites we reviewed.

Sources

Last checked Oct. 13, 2026.