SOUTH PORTLAND — Newly-appointed Mayor Katherine Lewis thanked the South Portland City Council at her inauguration on Dec. 2, addressing the goals and challenges she is prepared to tackle in the next year.
Lewis has served on the city council for the past two years and is replacing former Mayor Claude Morgan for the remainder of the 2019 and 2020 year.
Newly elected Councilors Susan Henderson and Katelyn Bruzgo were also sworn in at the meeting, and Councilor Maxine Beecher officially stepped down.
To the 2020 council members and audience, Lewis asked that each city meeting during the next year will be productive and everyone involved will be cooperative and respectful.
“South Portland faces many challenges, so the work of the policy makers is challenging,” said Lewis. “We know there is more than one right answer. And we also, I hope, know that we don’t have to settle for the easiest or the cheapest path. I ask that as we make policy decisions together, we try to envision how our choices will affect the city 50 or even 100 years from now. Let’s have quality discussions.”
Lewis said that during this month, she plans on meeting with the newly elected mayor of Portland as well as one of Maine’s delegates to the U.S. Congress.
“What about the times that the council is doing as much as they can and larger problems persist?” she said. “Because the major issues of the day don’t end in our city borders. I hope this is a year where we build more connections with other types of decision makers. As we know well from the citywide issues we have tackled as recently as last week, the policy decisions made outside of this body also affect us greatly.”
South Portland, being the most densely populated city in Maine, has many issues to face in the coming year, Lewis said, but she couldn’t be more confident in the policy makers chosen to lead the city.
“South Portland is a lot of things, and we really do strive to be all things to all people, living up to our visible tagline on the sign as you enter the city: ‘Making all things possible,'” Lewis said.
She noted climate change, sustainability, clean air, traffic flow and population density as being the biggest topics South Portland currently needs to work on.
“Issues that surprise us come up and scare us, make us angry, and let’s try to be a little forgiving and tough when we need to be tough,” Lewis said. “Let’s focus on the big goals even when we have differences on how we might get there. Let’s celebrate the things we have in common and listen to the words, listen to the intent.
“I’m truly blessed to be here and thank all of you for making South Portland what it is now and what it will be into the future,” she concluded.
Before Lewis’s swear-in, Morgan thanked former councilor and mayor of South Portland, Beecher, whose term expired this year, for her decades of service.
“All I can say is that I thank you, every one of you,” said Beecher. “Because I was nothing, am nothing, without the support and help so readily handed to me, so all I can say is that I’m proud of the city and proud of each and every one of you. Call me if I can help.”
After the city council’s meeting, the South Portland School Board elected Matthew Perkins as its new chair and Heather Johnson as vice-chair.
Perkins said that he was excited to serve the board, especially now that voters have elected a new middle school to be built for the district.
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