The Town Council elected Paul Schumacher as council chair and Joel Martin as vice chair at Tuesday’s meeting.
Both were nominated for chair – Schumacher by newly elected Councilor Tony Palazzetti, and Martin by Councilor Sam Flinkstrom – with Schumacher prevailing unanimously in the Nov. 10 vote. Martin was then unanimously elected vice chair.
Interim Town Manager Jennifer Janelle noted she could not remember a time when more than one candidate had been nominated for the council’s chair position.
Each candidate for chair gave a statement outlining their experience, priorities, and reasons for seeking the leadership position.
Schumacher highlighted his experience as South Berwick’s town planner in the 1990s, as interim town manager, and as executive director of the Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission, where he managed a staff of 15 and a $5 million budget. He said the role helped him build contacts at the local, regional, county, state and federal levels.
“I still retain many of those contacts, which I think can truly benefit the town and this council as we continue our work,” he said.
Martin said the Town needs to establish a clear strategic direction, and said that during the past year on the council, “I’ve worked to encourage greater public participation, bring residents into conversations about our budget, and challenge us to think more strategically about our financial future.”
“We navigated major financial challenges involving the Town Hall, property tax valuation, and adding emergency medical services to the (Fire Department) budget,” said Martin. “All of this at once was a large blow to our taxpayer base. We cannot continue making major decisions without an understanding of how those fit into our long-term priorities and financial capacity.”
Both candidates called for greater public participation in the budget process and both urged the council to move past the acrimony that has marked its deliberations over the past year.
Newly elected Councilors Palazzetti and Jane Brekke were sworn in by Town Clerk Monique Ward, pledging to “support the Constitution and to obey the laws of the United States and the State of Maine; and to respect and observe the provisions of the Charter and ordinances of the town of South Berwick, and to faithfully discharge the duties of the office of the Town Councilor, Tax Assessor and Overseer of the Poor.”
Brekke and Palazzetti were elected Nov. 3 to three-year terms ending in 2029. Both councilors will attend a Dec. 1 training session with the Town’s attorney, Ben McCall of Drummond and Woodsum.
