Total ARPA to Food AND Medicine
$336,342
2 rounds · voted before Beck/Carson/Faloon seated
Councilors Endorsed by Food AND Medicine
4
Carson, Walker, Beck, Faloon
National JWJ Grants Received
$25,000+
DC funding pipeline since 2012
Conflict Scenarios Identified
8
Across 5 councilors · 1 confirmed recusal (Beck/Dignity First)
Event Categories
Chronological Record · 2012–2026
The Complete Timeline
Jobs With Justice Education Fund (DC) → Food AND Medicine: $10,000
The national DC-based labor nonprofit Jobs With Justice Education Fund grants $10,000 to Food AND Medicine for a 50% discount program for food stamp users at Bangor farmers markets. This establishes the national funding pipeline to the Bangor organization.
Jobs With Justice Education Fund (DC) → Food AND Medicine: $15,000
Jobs With Justice Education Fund grants an additional $15,000 to Food AND Medicine for delivering healthy, locally grown food to SNAP users. Food AND Medicine is formally listed as the Maine affiliate of Jobs With Justice on the national JWJ network directory.
Jack McKay becomes Executive Director of Food AND Medicine AND President of Eastern Maine Labor Council
Jack McKay assumes dual leadership roles: Executive Director of Food AND Medicine (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has received public grants from the City of Bangor) and President of the Eastern Maine Labor Council (a political endorsement body affiliated with AFL-CIO). Both organizations operate under his leadership simultaneously.
The same individual leads both the grant-receiving nonprofit and the political endorsement body. This structural overlap is a documented fact; whether it creates a conflict of interest is a question for the relevant ethics authorities and the public.
Melissa Smith joins Food AND Medicine leadership and Eastern Maine Labor Council
Melissa Smith takes a leadership role at both Food AND Medicine and the Eastern Maine Labor Council, further consolidating the overlap between the grant-receiving organization and the political endorsement apparatus.
The same two individuals — McKay and Smith — control both organizations simultaneously.
Food AND Medicine / Eastern Maine Labor Council endorses Joe Leonard for City Council
Food AND Medicine and the Eastern Maine Labor Council, both led by Jack McKay, actively campaign for Joe Leonard in his Bangor City Council race. Leonard wins a seat on the council.
Leonard was subsequently in a position to vote on ARPA funding allocations. Maine 30-A §2605 and Bangor Code of Ethics Ch. 33 set out the disclosure and recusal requirements for such situations; whether those requirements applied to Leonard's specific circumstances is a matter for the relevant authorities.
Councilor Leonard votes on ARPA fund allocations — does not recuse
Joe Leonard participates in City Council votes on ARPA funding distributions, including allocations to nonprofits in the Food AND Medicine network. He does not disclose his campaign relationship with Food AND Medicine leadership or recuse himself from any related votes.
Maine 30-A §2605 and Bangor Code of Ethics Ch. 33 set out disclosure and recusal requirements for councilors with organizational or financial relationships with funding beneficiaries. Leonard received an endorsement from Food AND Medicine leadership and subsequently voted on ARPA allocations to that organization. He did not file a recusal. Whether his specific circumstances triggered the statutory requirements is a matter for the relevant authorities.
City of Bangor ARPA Grant 1 — Community Gardens Program: $75,000 (Aug. 14, 2023)
The 2023 Bangor City Council votes to approve $75,000 in ARPA funds for Food AND Medicine's Community Gardens program on August 14, 2023. The council at the time consisted of Fournier, Tremble, Davitt, Sprague, Schaefer, Hawes, Yacoubagha, Leonard, and Pelletier. Carson, Walker, Faloon, and Beck were NOT on the council — they were not elected until November 2025. Joe Leonard was the only current (2026) councilor seated at this time.
Carson was not yet on the council for this vote. His current conflict is his ongoing Board Director role at Food AND Medicine while he votes on opioid settlement funds and future grants as a seated councilor (from November 2025).
Food AND Medicine / Eastern Maine Labor Council endorses and campaigns for Michael Beck (November 2024 election)
Food AND Medicine and the Eastern Maine Labor Council, both under Jack McKay's leadership, campaign for Michael Beck in the November 5, 2024 Bangor City Council election. Beck wins a seat and is sworn in on approximately November 13, 2024. Source: Ballotpedia (Beck elected Nov. 5, 2024); BDN (Nov. 6, 2024: 'newcomers Michael Beck and Wayne Mallar earned 7,109 and 6,027 votes').
Beck is seated in November 2024. Food AND Medicine had already received its ARPA grants ($75,000 on Aug. 14, 2023 and $261,342 on Sep. 25, 2023) before Beck joined the council. Beck filed a conflict of interest disclosure with the City Clerk upon taking office (November 2024) and recuses himself from all Dignity First matters — confirmed by Jamie Beck (May 2026). The remaining transparency question is whether Beck has disclosed and recused from votes on the broader Food AND Medicine / Peace and Justice Center network.
Source: Bangor Daily News, Nov. 6, 2024; Ballotpedia
Beck elected to Bangor City Council; sworn in ~November 13, 2024
Michael Beck, who was listed as Advocacy Team Lead for Dignity First at the time of his election (current status unknown as of May 2026), wins a seat on the Bangor City Council. He is sworn in approximately November 13, 2024. TIMELINE NOTE: All Food AND Medicine ARPA grants were voted on before Beck was seated — Gardens Program ($75,000) on August 14, 2023, and Workforce Navigator ($261,342) on September 25, 2023. Beck did NOT vote on any ARPA grants to Food AND Medicine.
Beck's conflict is not the ARPA votes (which predate his term). Beck filed a conflict of interest disclosure with the City Clerk upon taking office and recuses himself from all Dignity First matters (confirmed by Jamie Beck, May 2026). The remaining transparency question concerns his votes on housing, zoning, and homelessness matters that could benefit the broader Food AND Medicine / Peace and Justice Center network, and whether those ties have been similarly disclosed.
Source: Bangor Daily News, Nov. 6, 2024; Ballotpedia
Food AND Medicine / Eastern Maine Labor Council endorses and campaigns for Daniel Carson, Angela Walker, and Susan Faloon (November 2025 election)
Food AND Medicine and the Eastern Maine Labor Council, both under Jack McKay's leadership, run an active campaign operation supporting three candidates for the Bangor City Council: Daniel Carson, Angela Walker, and Susan Faloon. All three win seats on the council in November 2025 and are sworn in on approximately November 10, 2025. TIMELINE NOTE: All ARPA grants to Food AND Medicine ($336,342 total) and BARN ($415,600) were fully obligated by August 12, 2024 — more than 15 months before Carson, Walker, and Faloon were seated. They did not vote on any ARPA grants.
The conflict for these three councilors is not the ARPA votes (which predate their terms) but their ongoing votes on opioid settlement funds, future grants, and policy matters that benefit the organizations that campaigned for them — without recusal.
Carson, Walker, and Faloon elected to Bangor City Council; sworn in November 10, 2025
All three Food AND Medicine-endorsed candidates win their races and are sworn in on November 10, 2025. Daniel Carson — a sitting Food AND Medicine Board Director (self-disclosed in his official city bio) and Communist Party of Maine Political Director — wins his seat. Angela Walker, employed by BARN as Peer Services Coordinator (confirmed per BARN's own website as of May 2026; no documented start date), wins her seat. Susan Faloon wins her seat. IMPORTANT: All ARPA grants to Food AND Medicine and BARN were voted on by the previous council, before these three were seated.
Three councilors with direct ties to organizations that received city funding are now seated and voting on opioid settlement funds, future grants, and policy matters — without recusal.
Source: BDN, Nov. 4, 2025; WABI-TV, Nov. 10, 2025
Council votes to approve $250,000 ARPA funds for public restrooms (previous council — Walker NOT yet seated)
The City Council approves $250,000 in ARPA funds for permanent public restrooms in Bangor parks. TIMELINE NOTE: This vote occurred on January 22, 2024 — Angela Walker was NOT yet on the council (she was sworn in November 10, 2025). She did not vote on this item. The restrooms are subsequently documented as de facto injection sites. The relevance to Walker is that she was employed by BARN — which benefits from harm-reduction infrastructure — while the previous council made this decision, and she has since voted on related harm-reduction matters without disclosing her BARN employment.
Walker was NOT on the council for this vote. The conflict is her subsequent votes on harm-reduction and housing matters (2025–present) without disclosing her BARN employment.
City Council approves Food AND Medicine Workforce Navigator: $261,342 (previous council — Carson NOT yet seated)
The Bangor City Council approves $261,342 in ARPA funds for Food AND Medicine's Workforce Navigator program. Combined with the $75,000 Gardens Program approved August 14, 2023, Food AND Medicine's total ARPA award is $336,342. TIMELINE NOTE: Daniel Carson was NOT yet on the council (he was sworn in November 10, 2025). He did not vote on any ARPA grants to Food AND Medicine. The conflict is his ongoing Board Director role at Food AND Medicine while he now votes on opioid settlement funds and future grants where Food AND Medicine may be a recipient.
Carson was NOT on the council for this vote. Total Food AND Medicine ARPA award: $336,342. The current conflict is Carson's Board Director role at Food AND Medicine while he votes on opioid settlement funds and future city grants.
Finance Committee approves $34,000 opioid settlement funds to Needlepoint Sanctuary — Carson on committee, does not recuse
The City Council Finance Committee approves $34,000 in opioid settlement funds to the Needlepoint Sanctuary, a harm reduction nonprofit that lobbied for the funds from the Peace and Justice Center at 96 Harlow Street. Daniel Carson sits on the Finance Committee and participates in this allocation without recusal. Carson was seated in November 2025; this vote occurred in March 2026 while he was a sitting councilor. Note: Beck has documented proximity to the Peace and Justice Center (2018 member/attendee) but a director role has not been confirmed.
Carson's ties to the 96 Harlow Street / Peace and Justice Center network constitute a conflict of interest for this vote. This is a DIRECT conflict — Carson was seated and voted on this item.
Source: Spectrum News Maine, March 2026
Susan Hawes appointed to chair Bangor Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Committee
Councilor Susan Hawes is appointed to chair the City of Bangor's Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Committee, which will recommend how to allocate $641,000+ in opioid settlement funds. The committee's recommendations include grants to organizations in the Food AND Medicine / Peace and Justice Center network. Source: BDN, June 26, 2025.
Hawes then votes as a City Councilor to approve the committee's own recommendations — a direct conflict between her advisory role and her legislative role.
Councilor Hawes votes to approve opioid fund recommendations she helped create — does not recuse
Susan Hawes votes as a City Councilor to approve the opioid settlement fund allocations recommended by the advisory committee she chaired. This is a direct conflict between her role as committee chair (recommending) and her role as councilor (approving). She does not recuse herself.
Voting to approve your own committee's recommendations is a structural conflict of interest. Maine law requires recusal when a councilor has a personal involvement in the matter being voted on.
Councilor Beck drafts ICE cooperation ordinance (Feb.–Mar. 2026)
Michael Beck introduces an ordinance restricting Bangor city employees from cooperating with federal ICE immigration enforcement agents. The ordinance passes 6–3 on March 9, 2026, with Bangor preemptively complying with Maine's state law (effective Jan. 11, 2026) restricting ICE cooperation. Beck personally authored the ordinance.
Total documented public funds flowing through the Food AND Medicine network: $4.1M+
As of May 2026, the total documented public funds flowing to organizations in the Food AND Medicine / Peace and Justice Center / BARN / Needlepoint Sanctuary network include: $336,342 (Food AND Medicine ARPA), $641,000+ (Opioid Settlement Fund, including $34,000 to Needlepoint), $250,000 (public restrooms ARPA), $415,600 (BARN ARPA), plus $40,000+ in Jobs With Justice Education Fund national grants. Five sitting councilors have documented organizational, employment, or endorsement ties to organizations that received these funds. Councilor Beck has filed a conflict of interest disclosure with the City Clerk and recuses himself from all Dignity First matters (confirmed May 2026). No other councilor has filed a recusal in the remaining 7 identified scenarios. No conclusions regarding intent or wrongdoing are drawn by this report.
1 confirmed recusal: Beck recuses from all Dignity First matters (confirmed May 2026). Remaining 7 scenarios: no recusal on record.
About the Organization
Food AND Medicine
Food AND Medicine is a Brewer-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit and the official Maine affiliate of the national Jobs With Justice network (Washington, DC). It operates food assistance programs, labor organizing, and political advocacy.
The organization is led by Jack McKay, who simultaneously serves as President of the Eastern Maine Labor Council (AFL-CIO affiliate) — the body that endorses and campaigns for political candidates.
EIN: 01-0428619 · Registered: Maine · Status: Active 501(c)(3)
Councilors With Documented Food AND Medicine Ties
Self-disclosed Board Director of Food AND Medicine (official city bio). Food AND Medicine received $336,342 in ARPA funds (2023, before Carson was seated). Carson has participated in council deliberations on matters involving Food AND Medicine since being seated in November 2025.
Listed as Peer Services Coordinator at BARN on BARN's own website (as of May 2026; no documented start date). Food AND Medicine endorsed Walker and conducted campaign activities supporting her 2025 election. Voted on opioid settlement fund allocations in March 2026.
Filed a conflict of interest disclosure with the City Clerk upon taking office (November 2024) and recuses himself from all Dignity First matters — confirmed by Jamie Beck (May 2026). Food AND Medicine endorsed Beck in 2024 election cycle. Documented proximity to Peace and Justice Center (2018 member/attendee; director role unconfirmed). Authored ICE cooperation ordinance (Mar. 2026).
Food AND Medicine endorsed Faloon and conducted documented campaign activities supporting her 2025 election. Food AND Medicine received $336,342 in ARPA funds in 2023, before Faloon was seated. Faloon has voted on matters involving organizations in the network since being seated in November 2025.
Food AND Medicine endorsed Leonard and campaigned for his election. Leonard was seated and voted on both Food AND Medicine ARPA applications (Aug. 14 and Sep. 25, 2023) while having received their endorsement. He did not recuse himself.
The Funding Flow
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