City Government Committees & Council Assignments Council Bios
Council Chair Gerry GM Palmer, Jr.
Term Expires 2011
Gerry Palmer was born and raised in Bangor Maine and attended Bangor Public Schools. He is a graduate of the University of Maine at Orono with a degree in Special Education. He also holds a Certificate in Human Resource Management.
Mr. Palmer has been employed as an educator by United Cerebral Palsy and Amicus. He was a Child Development Worker for the Bureau of Mental Retardation and the first Resource Developer in the State of Maine developing housing and day programs for adults and children served. He administered several group homes and managed the Therapeutic Foster Home program of Community Health and Counseling.
For the past 15 years Gerry has been the managing partner for Palmer Lee & Grace, an independent career management and outplacement agency and former Executive Director of Northeast CONTACT, the oldest grassroots consumer advocacy and mediation organization in America.
Gerry has been elected to the Bangor City Council four times beginning in 1998 and was appointed by the Governor as Treasurer of Penobscot County, 2000 to 2002. As a Bangor City Councilor, Gerry has chaired Business & Economic, Finance, Airport, Bass Park, Government Operations, and several other committees. He served on the Halifax Pre-clearance Committee, which negotiated a complex international agreement with the Halifax Airport. Gerry also represented the City of Bangor at the September 11th Memorial Service held in Saint John, New Brunswick in 2002. Mr. Palmer has been a Notary Public in Maine since 1977 and a Dedimus Justice since 2004.
Gerry serves on the board of directors of several agencies including the McTeague Biotechnology Center in Fairfield, Penquis CAP, and was appointed to the Pineland Consent Decree Consumer Advisory Board.
Mr. Palmer resides in Bangor and is married to Susan H. Palmer, RN. They have seven adult children and two grandchildren.
Councilor Chair Palmer serves on the Business & Economic Development Committee. His term as Councilor Chair ends in November, 2009
Telephone: 207-944-8000
Councilor Patricia Blanchette
Term Expires 2009
Councilor Blanchette is currently on the Finance Committee and Chairs the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.
Telephone: 207-942-8692
1-800-423-2900
Councilor Richard Bronson
Term Expires 2011
Richard B. (Rick) Bronson, Jr. was born in Portland, Maine in 1947. The Bronson family moved to Bangor in 1949 when Rick’s father along with others began to develop and then build WABI-TV. He attended The University of Maine and Husson University graduating from Husson with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Later he attended Eastern Maine Community College receiving an associate degree in fire science. Rick began a career operating a group of small business in Bangor in 1966. Primary among those businesses was Rick Bronson Productions a production services company which provided talent buying, personnel, equipment and consultation for event production in and around Bangor for more than 30 years. Late in the 1990s Rick successfully sold all elements of the production company to other interested parties with the exception of seasonal portable stage construction and rentals. That endeavor continues today as Bronson Stage Rentals, primarily operating from Portland. Simultaneous with operating the production company Rick entered the City of Brewer’s Fire Department in 1974 as a paid on-call firefighter. Over the years he advanced in that department through the ranks to become a lieutenant and then the department’s post fire investigator. In 1999 he became the Chief of the department, the position he still holds today.
His older daughter, Melanie, and her husband have four children living in Bangor. His younger daughter, Emilie, is a forth year student at Northeastern University in Boston. Rick is married to Angelia Levesque a Bangor real estate broker and owner and operator of the Subway Sandwich franchise at the corner of State and Essex Streets in Bangor.
Councilor Bronson currently serves on the Finance Committee and the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.
Telephone: 207-942-4531
Councilor Peter D'Errico
Term Expires 2009
Peter D'Errico, a resident of Bangor for forty-six years, was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. and is a graduate of New York University. Peter received a commission in the USAF and was assigned to Dow Air Force Base, and later served with the Maine Air National Guard. The D'Errico family chose to remain in Bangor where three children and now two grandchildren were raised and reside in Bangor. Peter was employed by the City as Economic Development Director, coordinator for the transition of Dow Air Force Base to civil uses, and Manager of Bangor International Airport.
Councilor D'Errico currently serves on the Business & Economic Development Committee, the Government Operations Committee and the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.
Telephone: 207-941-8075
Councilor Geoffrey Gratwick
Term Expires 2009
Geoff Gratwick is a physician who has practiced in Bangor for 25 years. Following his medical training in New York City, he taught at a medical school in Iran, and sailed for a year with his wife before moving here. He has been on the Executive Committee of Eastern Maine Medical Center and Chaired the Maine Humanities Council. His two children attended Bangor public schools. His interests include economic development, conserving our natural environment, and citizen participation in City government.
Councilor Gratwick currently serves on the Government Operations Committee and the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.
Telephone: 207-945-9442
Councilor Susan Hawes
Term Expires 2010
Susan was born in Bangor and resides on Buck Street with her husband Alan. She is currently employed with Penobscot Otolaryngology Associates as Clinic Manager and Certified Medical Assistant. Susan also has past experience as Director of the Medical Assisting Program at Husson College and as instructor of Medical Assisting at Beal College. She currently sits on the American Association of Medical Assistants Board of Trustees. Susan’s education includes an A.S. Degree in Medical Assisting from Beal College, B.S. Degree in Business Administration from Husson College, M.S. Degree Business Administration from Husson College. Susan is a Parliamentarian, a CPR Instructor Trainer/Instructor and a Master Trainer of the U.S. Army Family Program. Susan holds memberships in Medical Group Manager’s Association, Altrusa International, Eastern Star, Daughters of the Nile, AAMA and the Maine State Society of Medical Assistants, holding officer positions in most.
Councilor Hawes currently serves on the Finance Committee and Chairs the Business & Economic Development Committee
Telephone: 207-942-6830
Councilor David Nealley
Term Expires 2011 
David was born in Bangor in 1961 and graduated form Bangor High School and the University of Southern Maine, where he secured a Bachelors of Science degree in Business Administration. He then spent eight years in the financial services industry and another eight years as the general manger of a manufacturer of axes and garden tools. He then worked a referendum initiative for Bangor Historic Track.
Currently, he is employed by Webster Atlantic/Bangor Metro. David is a member of the YMCA Foundation, The Mainely Music Chorus, and he is a past member of the American Folk Festival Development Committee. This is his second term on the Bangor City Council. In his first term 2001-2004, he served on the Finance, Business and Economic Development, Transportation and Infrastructure and Regional Asset Committees.
Councilor Nealley currently serves on the Finance Committee and the Business & Economic Development Committee.
Telephone: 207-944-6888
Councilor Richard Stone
Term Expires 2010
Richard Stone was born and raised in Bangor, and received a degree in finance at Northeastern University. He is a Director for WESCO Distribution, the parent company of Standard Electric Company, and a father of four children. He served on the Bangor City Council for six years during the late 1980’s, and then was elected to the Maine House of Representatives.
Councilor Stone currently serves on the Business & Economic Development Committee and Chairs the Finance Committee.
Telephone: 207-990-2326
Councilor Harold A. (Hal) Wheeler
Term Expires 2010
Harold A. (Hal) Wheeler has been a Bangor resident since late 1945. He received his public school education from third grade through high school in the Bangor public school system, and earned a degree in History and Government at the University of Maine, Class of 1959. Hal's first chosen career was in broadcasting. He worked as an announcer and advertising sales representative for WLBZ Radio and as an announcer for WABI Radio from 1957 to 1968, when he moved full-time into the advertising business. Hal owned and operated an advertising/public relations and marketing firm from 1969 to 1987, when he accepted a contractual position as a marketing representative with the City of Bangor's Economic Development Department. In 1991, he returned to broadcasting as Program Director of WDEA in Ellsworth and in 1992 became General Sales Manager for WZON, Bangor. In 1993 he became Operations Manager of WSNV-FM (now WVOM) in Bangor and in 1995 was appointed as Station Manager. He also co-hosted the station's morning talk show for two years. In 1998, Hal became a substitute teacher at Penobscot Job Corps, where he worked with students of several nationalities until 2005. Since 1972, Hal served on a number of City Council appointed Committees, as a member of the City Council (1983-1986), and as Vice Chairman of the Planning Board (2000-2006). His interests outside of public life include music (trumpet player), photography, free-lance writing, reading American political and military history, and serving as a Licensed Lay Minister for St. John's Episcopal Church. He is also affiliated with the Congregation Beth Israel. He is married to Deborah Dorsky Wheeler and is the father of one daughter, Johanna Wheeler, a medical transcriptionist.
Coucilor Wheeler currently serves on the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee and Chairs the Government Operations Committee.
Telephone number: 207-942-8051
