UPDATED: Bar Harbor Town Council Appoints Meagan Kelly and Randy Sprague to Finish Friedmann and Shank's Terms
Four spots on seven-person council will be available this June
BAR HARBOR—The Bar Harbor Town Council Tuesday night appointed two new councilors to replace outgoing Vice Chair Gary Friedmann and Councilor Kyle Shank.
The remaining members of the council approved the appointment of Warrant Committee Vice Chair Meagan Kelly and past-warrant committee member Randy Sprague. Both were born in Bar Harbor. Both are business owners. Kelly is co-owner of the Lompoc Cafe. Sprague owns Randy Sprague Heating and Plumbing. He was in the graduating class of MDI High School in 1973. He was the vice chair of the town’s warrant committee in the 1990s.
“I am quite excited to serve on the council,” Sprague said after the meeting. “I was born in small town Bar Harbor and have seen it evolve into tourist town Bar Harbor. It was inevitable as more people learned of our beautiful island. I enjoy the many visitors to our town. I also have a deep desire to see the townspeople benefit from our visitors, and not be hurt by the influx.”
Kelly was re-elected to the warrant committee in June 2024. She was originally appointed to the warrant committee in 2018. She cannot serve on both committees.
According to the warrant committee’s bylaws, a special committee, which includes the committee’s chair, vice-chair, secretary and “chair of the subcommittee with the vacancy” asks for and reviews nominations for the vacancy. Then, via a majority vote, they select a nominee for the entire warrant committee to consider.
The entire warrant committee then appoints a person to fill Kelly’s vacancy until the “person elected to serve the remainder of the unexpired term takes office.” Her term expires in 2027.
“The experience has been rewarding and educational,” Kelly said last year of her time on the committee. “Now, as a business owner in this town, I am fully committed to Bar Harbor and our community. I would like to be a voice for the service industry workers in this town, and the residents who live here year round.”
No other potential candidates were brought forward during the meeting. At least one resident who said that they expressed an interest said he was never contacted. It is unknown how many potential candidates were considered.
According to Council Chair Val Peacock, Tuesday. morning, there wasn't a formal process for soliciting interest in the council vacancies. She said, “There were a few emails and folks who reached out individually to councilors.” She was unsure of the exact number.
After more than a decade on the Bar Harbor Town Council, current Vice Chair Gary Friedmann announced his resignation to focus on his new position in the state legislature via a January 15 press release from the Maine Legislature’s House Democratic Office.
Friedmann’s departure came on the heels of Shank’s resignation. Shank announced during the January 7 council meeting that he is stepping down from his position on the council, February 4. He and his family are moving to Pennsylvania for work and family reasons.
Friedmann’s council term ends in 2027. Shank’s term ends in 2026. In June, voters will elect councilors to finish those terms. Both Kelly and Sprague can run for those seats if they choose to. Shank’s term is for one more year; Friedmann’s is for two years. Both Earl Brechlin’s and Matt Hochman’s terms are done in June. They can also choose to run again. There will be four seats up for grabs in June.
Friedmann has run a local consulting business that helps nonprofits succeed and develop strategic plans, build capacity, and raise over $100 million to strengthen communities, he wrote in a bio when he last ran for office. He currently serves on the taxation committee in the Maine legislature.
Shank is the head of media technology, analytics, and operations at The Hershey Company. Shank was elected to the council in 2023. His bio at the time said that he was a visiting faculty member at the College of the Atlantic “where he has focused on applied data science. He has previously worked at Facebook/Meta, MDI Biological Laboratory, CLEAResult, and as a bartender at both Side Street Cafe in Bar Harbor and Hearth & Harbor in Southwest Harbor.”
Despite Shank’s earlier stated end date of February 2, the vote was for both newly appointed councilors to take the men’s places beginning January 22.
This is the first of multiple articles about the Bar Harbor Town Council meeting. The Bar Harbor Story has reached out to both Kelly and Peacock for statements. Neither has responded by press time.
Disclosure: Shaun Farrar is on the town’s warrant committee
This story was updated at 9 a.m., January 22, to include comments from Val Peacock.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
To read the resolve:
https://www.barharbormaine.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_01212025-3533
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