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Election Day: Tuesday, Nov. 3 Polls 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Cross Insurance Center
02

Candidate for Bangor City Council · Nov. 3, 2026

Michael Furrow

Top priority: Address drug use, which Furrow sees as the root cause of homelessness and crime. BDN, Oct. 2

About Michael

Furrow is involved with the Penobscot County Conservation Association and Disabled American Veterans and is an archery range instructor. He says the party system divides people. BDN, Oct. 2LWV forum, Oct. 7

On the ballot as
Furrow, Michael Norris
Ballot position
2 of 12
Age
67
Work
Retired from the military and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Ties to Bangor
Has lived in Bangor for nearly 30 years
Party
Declined to say
Council meetings attended
Says he has attended nearly all council meetings this year
Public record
No prior elected office reported. Took part in the League of Women Voters candidate forum, Oct. 7, 2026.

Where Furrow stands

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

Homelessness

Says drug use drives homelessness. Would expand Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center and have judges refer people there for involuntary treatment, redirecting supportive housing money. Says housing-first approaches do not work. Favors treatment first over housing first. BDN, Oct. 2LWV forum, Oct. 7 1:43:18 1:29

Drug use and syringe programs

Would ban syringe exchange programs. Has proposed labeling needles and fining agencies whose syringes are found littered. BDN, Oct. 2 0:40

Public safety and policing

Says there cannot be two sets of laws, one for homeless people and one for taxpayers; police must enforce all laws and ordinances without exception. LWV forum, Oct. 7 2:35:37

Housing and rent

Opposes building new low-income housing and disputes the city-commissioned study's finding of a 700-unit housing gap. Opposes Yellen Pines. Says Bangor lacks high-paying jobs, not housing. BDN, Oct. 2LWV forum, Oct. 7

Property taxes and the city budget

Supports tax breaks for businesses and would prioritize heating assistance and property tax relief for older residents. Would eliminate the city public health department and have the state provide those services. Would tax nonprofits to broaden the tax base, and opposes tax deals like the one for Yellen Pines. BDN, Oct. 2LWV forum, Oct. 7 2:19:57 2:17

Jobs, business and the economy

Wants the city to attract jobs and industry so young people stay. Wants overlapping nonprofit services reviewed and cut. BDN, Oct. 2Fox Bangor, Sept. 22 1:29:27 2:02:50

How the council works

Says the council should be run like a business and that political activism does not belong on the council. BDN, Oct. 2 2:30:37 1:25

Data centers and license plate cameras

Would make the temporary data center ban permanent and ban automatic license plate readers such as Flock cameras. BDN, Oct. 2

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 Would make the ban permanent. BDN, Oct. 7
Proposed 180-day ban on new syringe programs and treatment facilitiesRejected 2-3 in the Business and Economic Development Committee, June 2026.Yes Wants to end syringe service programs in Bangor entirely. 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.No BDN, Oct. 7
Increased school budgetThe School Committee proposed a $65.8 million budget, up 5.6% from the year before.No Cites declining enrollment and wants vouchers for homeschooling families. 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.No Says immigration enforcement is not the council's business. 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.No 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 freezeNo Opposes rent control. VoteBangor, Oct. 12

Voting record on the council

Not a sitting councilor, so there is no council voting record. "Key council decisions" above shows how the candidate says they would have voted.

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

We got to cut taxes... We just gave a 75% tax cut for 30 years for an operation that's going to happen in [Bangor]. Yellen Pines. We just got to stop that... They talk about broadening the tax base. I'm looking at nonprofits and start taxing them.

League of Women Voters forum, Oct. 7, 2026Keeping seniors in their homes 2:19:57

We cannot have two sets of laws, one for the homeless and one for the taxpayer. Law enforcement must enforce [the] law and ordinances, no exceptions... Treatment first is the only thing that works. Not housing first, but treatment first.

League of Women Voters forum, Oct. 7, 2026Downtown, homelessness and the police 2:35:37

Number one problem facing [Bangor is] drugs. We have two sets of rules, one for the homeless, one for us. We do not have a lack of housing. We have a lack of high-paying jobs.

League of Women Voters forum, Oct. 7, 2026Closing statement 2:52:09

I would say stop all those programs. Shut them down because it's just doing nothing but costing us money and it's not working. Harm reduction kits, we call them suicide kits.

BDN video interview, Oct. 5, 2026Syringes 0:40

The first thing, we got to eliminate the drug problem. Drug problem is the number one issue we need to resolve.

BDN video interview, Oct. 5, 2026Homelessness 1:29

The senior citizens have made good decisions their whole lives. You know, the drug addicts and stuff like that have not made good decisions... We need to take care of our aging senior citizen population.

BDN video interview, Oct. 5, 2026City spending 2:43

I want to talk about the city of Bangor being overrun with nonprofits... Is there a nonprofit that has helped to reduce any of these previously mentioned problems?

Public comment, City Council, Feb. 9, 2026Public comment on nonprofits 23:17

I would like to talk about compassion. Is compassion giving drug needles to drug addicts, telling the police not to arrest anyone who is homeless, doing drugs in the open...?

Public comment, City Council, June 8, 2026Public comment on compassion 8:27

I want to talk about the 30 efficiency apartments, Yellen Pines, that I'm totally against... They want to take 30 of the hardest to house individuals, i.e. criminals with hundreds of convictions and long-term homeless, to be housed first. Basically, individuals who have no hope of recovery.

Public comment, City Council, Aug. 10, 2026Public hearing on Yellen Pines 6:45

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: 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

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

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. 12, 2026.