SOUTH PORTLAND – The following is the text of South Portland Mayor Tom Blake’s inaugural address on Monday, Dec. 7:

Let me first thank everyone who is with us this afternoon, or viewing from home, for this fun and momentous event.

It is not every day that one has the privilege to serve as their Communities Mayor. To have that Honor for a third time truly humbles me.

I thank my peers for having the faith in me as we proceed to work as a team, continuing to make South Portland a place where all things are possible. I truly appreciate the citizen’s support and promise to work hard as your Councilor and Mayor.

I have always considered South Portland one of the finest places in America to live. Our people are talented, diverse, educated and involved. Our businesses, big and small, are successful and involved. This involvement has insured that our Municipal staff is top shelf in production, character and respect. We are a family here in SP, in so many ways.

Family has always been important to me and we will continue to foster that attitude as we grow. It is my family that has allowed me to be here today. My parents instilled in me a strong work ethic and they led by example. As elected officials, we must also lead by example. I would now like to introduce my family and perhaps ask each member to raise their hand as I say their name so the audience can put a name to a face. (Introduce and thank family)

For the upcoming year I envision no new major initatives. We have a lot happening right now in SP that we need to focus on to assure successful completions. In fact, we have a backlog of workshop items that need our attention. Councilors, we need to roll our sleeves up and work hard to reduce this list.

Our list is long, and while not comprehensive, includes:

• immediate establishment of a Waterfront Advisory Committee

• continued development of our new public services complex

• reclamation, use determination and development of our existing O’Neal Street property

• progress on Old Joe’s Pond, Dow’s Woods, Main Street Park, Greenbelt to Hinckley connector, the Greenbelt extension to Scarborough and access to Barberry Creek Woods

• affordability and homelessness

• regulations on pesticides, plastics and polystyrenes

• enhanced fiber optics and business development opportunities

• development of a middle school plan

• support of the new coalitions effort to reduce substance abuse in our community

• improved opportunities for pedestrians and bikers, and a potential Broadway/waterman overpass

• continued support of our Clear Skies Ordinance (which imposes a ban on the importation of tar sands oil) and financial assurance from departing companies

• support of the work our Economic Development Commissions has initiated

• exploration of the energy recommendations from our Conservation Commission

• and the list goes on

We must be as diligent as possible in keeping our tax rate down and strive for an increase that does not exceed the average from the past three years, 1.8%. This is much lower than the surrounding area and is a credit to our talented staff. It is my sense that our taxpayers cannot pay more.

This is a great challenge, doing more with less. We must continue working with residents and businesses alike, big and small, as we continue to work with our new economy. Our populace has asked us to continue on our sustainable path, a path were we are leaders in the state. Standing in our way is a conflict that continues to be an ongoing struggle, and a handicap, for our community.

Over 100 years ago, or forefathers decided the best future for South Portland was based on a retail, commercial and industrial path. Their vision was correct for the time. Today, we are seeing a revolving conflict between residents and industry. For twenty years we have seen one issue after another around this conflict. We simply cannot continue to be progressive without a greater attempt in conflict prevention. From the Irving Oil conflict in the 90’s to the Tar Sands issue, to the current Propane issue, these conflicts are extremely unhealthy for our community.

These conflicts are expensive, time consuming for staff and Council, and pit citizens against businesses and even citizens against citizens. I do not have the answer, but Councilors; we have got to do better. I challenge this council to think outside the box, to work with the entire community so that we may develop a long term solution to this reoccurring problem. As terrorism is a cancer in America, this conflict is a cancer in SP.

With this challenge, comes a great opportunity period. We now have a new Superintendent of Schools, giving us an excellent opportunity to continue the improved relationships between this Council and the School Board. We have a variety of initiatives that give me encouragement that our children will continue to receive a quality education in South Portland.

In my 35 year involvement with public education and over the past eight years as a local and regional planner, I have seen one area we are deficient. We are planning our future without the involvement of the people we are planning it for, our youth. I continue to observe as we work and plan and it is extremely noticeable to me that our youth are not involved in this process.

In the immediate future, I will be forming an ad-hoc committee to develop a proposal to enhance youth involvement in our community. I have reached out to SMCC, Kaplan University, the SPSD, our City Clerk, and our citizens. All are excited to tackle this charge and to bring a recommendation back to this council for possible action. You will be hearing more on this exciting and necessary initiative.

Continuing this opportunity period, we have a new City Clerk, a new Assistant City Manager, a new Sustainability Coordinator and a new Superintendent of School. We also are in a position to fill our ranks with a new and talented Tax Accesser and Fire Chief. These are great opportunities for our community. Let us continue to search wide and far for the best possible candidates so that we can remain ahead of the curve and keep SP on our current path.

I would be remiss this afternoon by not thanking Councilor Cohen for the great job she has done as Mayor and welcome her back for her second term. Her municipal experience is invaluable. Also, congratulations to newly elected Councilor Rose.

We will all miss Councilor Linscott and the common sense approach she brought to city government. Our hope is that she remains involved.

Councilors, I ask all of us to strive to work together as a team. We have a heavy task ahead of us and together we can achieve great accomplishments. Let us all work hard to accept the fact that we all are different, and it is these differences that make us unique. We must agree, and work hard at it, to respectfully disagree…and then move on. At all times we must continue to make decisions that are based upon our charter; to protect the health, safety and general welfare of our residents.

SP is on the correct path! Our economy is hot, our popularity is unprecedented, and our diversity is rich. One would be hard pressed to find a location anywhere in America that has the amenities and qualities of South Portland. As your Mayor and Councilor I promise to work hard for you, our 25,000 residents and our 1,000 plus businesses.

I look forward to working with all of you and thank you again for your continued support.

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