VoteBangor Powered by MaineScanner
Election Day: Tuesday, Nov. 3 Polls 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Cross Insurance Center
06

Candidate for Bangor City Council · Nov. 3, 2026

Terry Dinkins

Answered our survey

Top priority: Get people off the streets, with resources for people with mental illness. BDN, Sept. 20

About Terry

Dinkins has been pastor of Mansion Church on Center Street since 2013 and has worked for an armored car company for nearly 30 years. He believes churches should have a voice in public affairs. BDN, Sept. 20LWV forum, Oct. 7

On the ballot as
Dinkins, Terry Lee
Ballot position
6 of 12
Age
65
Work
Pastor of Mansion Church; Penobscot County Jail chaplain; armored car company branch manager
Ties to Bangor
Has lived in the Bangor area since age 10; moved from Carmel into Bangor in 2025
Party
Unenrolled
Council meetings attended
About three meetings in person in the past year; often watches online
Public record
No prior elected office reported. Took part in the League of Women Voters candidate forum, Oct. 7, 2026.

Where Dinkins stands

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

Homelessness

Top priority. Wants more resources, especially for people with mental illness, including more treatment beds at Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center, with accountability alongside compassion. BDN, Sept. 20 1:44:20 5:22

Drug use and syringe programs

Wants syringe distribution cut drastically. Would prefer to end it but would accept a one-for-one exchange. Wants people using drugs in public held accountable, leaving it to police whether that means a summons or arrest. BDN, Sept. 20BDN, Oct. 5 4:31

Public safety and policing

Wants police to enforce laws equally and hold homeless residents accountable. Suggests borrowing sheriff's deputies or Brewer officers while Bangor police are about 20% short. LWV forum, Oct. 7 2:34:24

Housing and rent

Likes the idea of Yellen Pines but would not have supported it at its $11 million cost. Says Bangor does not have enough housing and needs more units. His church has run an overnight warming center for six years. Wants infrastructure funded so planned projects, such as 300 apartments on Stillwater Avenue and 200 condos at the Bangor Mall, can go ahead. BDN, Sept. 20Fox BangorLWV forum, Oct. 7

Property taxes and the city budget

Aims to stop tax increases and possibly cut taxes, though unsure where cuts would come from. Wants a line-by-line audit of the $145 million city budget. BDN, Sept. 20LWV forum, Oct. 7 2:08:24 7:46

Jobs, business and the economy

No public position found in the sources we reviewed.

How the council works

Wants an open period before meetings where residents can talk informally with councilors. BDN, Sept. 20 2:29:44 4:49

Data centers and license plate cameras

No public position found in the sources we reviewed.

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 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 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 Praises the current coordinator's work housing people. BDN, Oct. 7
Increased school budgetThe School Committee proposed a $65.8 million budget, up 5.6% from the year before.Yes Would want more detail on why the increase was needed. 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 Describes himself as pro law enforcement and wants local police able to work with federal agencies. 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 Says the city needs more housing units, but not at that price. 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

Maybe more of a serious audit, line by line audit... I'd really want to at least stop the taxes from going up. That would be my goal as a councilor.

League of Women Voters forum, Oct. 7, 2026Keeping seniors in their homes 2:08:24

I have a lot of compassion. I've been working with the homeless for over 15 years, but I'm at the point now that you have to keep them accountable. And I think that the police do need to enforce the laws, and it should be the same for all of us as citizens.

League of Women Voters forum, Oct. 7, 2026Downtown, homelessness and the police 2:34:24

We need to clean that up. We need to stop passing out crack pipes and meth pipes and needles, and we need to stop the prolonged suffering of these folks on our streets.

League of Women Voters forum, Oct. 7, 2026Closing statement 2:53:05

I would say that one dirty needle for one clean needle, where it was before 2020... I think I'd cut that back to one... I think anybody openly doing drugs should be accountable for that.

BDN video interview, Oct. 5, 2026Syringes 4:31

I would think that we need to look into the severe mentally ill on our streets to help them to get off the streets and to get the care that they need.

BDN video interview, Oct. 5, 2026Homelessness 5:22

I would do whatever I could to at least stop the taxes from going up and then even maybe cutting taxes.

BDN video interview, Oct. 5, 2026City spending 7:46

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.

  • Concerned Citizens of Bangor (political action committee) BDN, Oct. 9

Sources

Last checked Oct. 12, 2026.