Noonan to Resign From Bar Harbor Town Council in October

Judie Noonan has announced that she will be resigning from the Bar Harbor Town Council, as she will be moving to Florida. Her last Council meeting will be October 15th.

I reached out to Judie and asked her a few questions

What are your biggest accomplishments on the Bar Harbor Town Council?

I think my proudest accomplishment- and of course this is a group accomplishment- is the increase in public input being allowed at council meetings. It used to be that you could only speak at a public hearing or if it was not on the agenda, at public comment. But now we recognize that if people take the time to attend a meeting because of a particular agenda item, they want to be heard and we need to listen to them because that's our job. I hope that shows the citizens that we are transparent and genuinely interested in what they have to say.

As far as a personal accomplishment, I am happy that people trust me enough to seek me out, ask questions and voice opinions. I have been told by many people that I am the voice of reason and common sense and that makes me very happy.

What do you wish that you could have accomplished on the Bar Harbor Town Council?

As far as what I wish I could have accomplished, well a couple of things. We have a vocal minority that does not trust the Council. I wish we could have won them over and convinced then that we are on their side. I would have preferred a cooperative effort between the Council and the authors and supporters of the Citizens initiatives. I think we would have ended up with a better and more legally sound product if we had worked together.

I am also sad about our housing issues, yet hopeful that we can find solutions to our housing woes. I want to see our community survive and thrive, but we are in danger of losing that community if we cannot provide affordable year round housing. Of course Council is actively working on that but it is a huge job that will take time.

Finally, I wish I could have convinced the rest of the Council to allow the Planning Board to develop guidelines for cannabis businesses instead of just continuing the moratorium. I think it is better to be prepared to implement the law once the State regulations are ready to launch, rather than wait and potentially lose out on good-paying, year round jobs.

Noonan also added that she had every intention of staying until her term was up in June, but opportunities arose sooner than expected and had to seize the moment, so to speak.

On the agenda of the August 20th Council Meeting is a discussion item on how to fill her seat. According to the Bar Harbor Charter "A vacancy in the Council shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term, if any, at the next regular election held more than 60 days after the occurrence of the vacancy. The Council by a majority of all of its remaining members shall appoint a qualified person to fill the vacancy until the person elected to serve the remainder of the unexpired term takes office".