{"id":13893,"date":"2026-10-06T16:57:30","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T16:57:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/preprod.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/?post_type=candidate&p=13893"},"modified":"2026-10-06T16:57:30","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T16:57:30","slug":"joe-m-pratt","status":"publish","type":"candidate","link":"https:\/\/preprod.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/joe-m-pratt\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe M. Pratt"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Previous Offices Held<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Did not respond.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Top Three Priorities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

1-Restore civility, decorum and effective governance
2-Address homeless challenge by enforcing existing state\/local law; ending tolerance for drug dealing, use, and possession; require accountability of individuals and service providers.
3-Promote economic development; provide local career opportunities for our hundreds of annual graduates; reestablish Bangor as a tourism, retail, economic destination for Maine and Canadian provinces.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Why are you running?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

The Bangor City Council is not functioning effectively. Without effective governance Bangor\u2019s challenges are not being addressed. Homeless challenges are getting worse (more drugs, more overdose deaths, more HIV\/Hepatitis C infections, needles littering neighborhoods, parks and playgrounds). Council disfunction and distraction prevent a focus on schools, economic development and tax issues. I have decades of financial, fiduciary and governing body experience that can help the Council.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

What is the biggest challenge facing your town\/county? The biggest opportunity?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

The immediate challenge is for the Bangor City Council to restore civility and effective governance. Only then can Bangor address the homeless challenge. Bangor can then focus on opportunities like economic development including: promote Bangor as a tourism crossroads plus a transportation hub with an international airport; freight rail access; highlight Bangor\u2019s quality labor force from excellent high schools, trade schools, colleges and universities; showcase Bangor as a destination.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

If you could change one thing about how the town\/county functions, what would it be and why?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

I would restore civility, decorum and proper function to the to the Bangor City Council. Only then can Bangor address our immediate and longer-term challenges and take full advantage of our numerous economic opportunities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Do you support more development \u2013 i.e. more housing construction and business building in your town\/county? Why or why not?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Economic development will attract business formation and relocation. The resulting revenue will help Bangor address many fiscal challenges including lessening the property tax burden, replacing or renovating schools and improving City infrastructure. With City support, more housing could be provided by developers seeking to meet the demand for affordable and expanded housing. The City Council can provide aspirational guidance to make it known that Bangor Is Open For Business.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":13894,"template":"","meta":{"voter_guide_candidate_first_name":"Joe","voter_guide_candidate_middle_name":"","voter_guide_candidate_last_name":"Pratt","voter_guide_candidate_suffix":"","voter_guide_candidate_race_id":13887,"voter_guide_candidate_age":64,"voter_guide_candidate_hometown":"","voter_guide_candidate_occupation":"Financial Advisor\/Trust Officer","voter_guide_candidate_bio":"","voter_guide_candidate_education":"Bachelor of Arts, University of Maine, International Affairs\/Political Science","voter_guide_candidate_years_in_state":0,"voter_guide_candidate_years_in_municipality":46,"voter_guide_candidate_time_in_area":"","voter_guide_candidate_website":"","voter_guide_candidate_headshot_url":"","voter_guide_candidate_date_filed":"","voter_guide_candidate_incumbent_years":"","voter_guide_candidate_is_clean_elections":false,"footnotes":""},"vg_party":[],"vg_residence_municipality":[343],"class_list":["post-13893","candidate","type-candidate","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","vg_residence_municipality-bangor"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/preprod.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/13893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/preprod.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/preprod.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/candidate"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/preprod.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/13893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preprod.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/preprod.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"vg_party","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preprod.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_party?post=13893"},{"taxonomy":"vg_residence_municipality","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preprod.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_residence_municipality?post=13893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}