In his inaugural address Monday night, Mayor Bruce Chuluda touted the city’s efforts to bring new businesses to the city and tax relief to citizens in the last two years and announced plans to seek a use for the junior high school building.

Chuluda, the new City Council, the School Committee and the city clerk took their oaths of office Monday night in the Westbrook High School auditorium.

Following a preliminary performance by the Westbrook City Band, a crowd of approximately 100 watched as the Westbrook municipal officers began their new tenures under the bright lights and amid the flowers and red, white and blue banners on the auditorium stage.

In his inaugural address, Mayor Chuluda talked about the commercial progress the city has seen over the last two years and his plans for the next two years.

“In the last two years, we have seen many successes in commercial growth throughout our city,” said Chuluda. “In 2004 and 2005 combined, we granted over $20 million in commercial permits. These successes allow us to continue to diversify our tax base and bring strength to our community.”

Some of the accomplishments of the previous two years Chuluda cited included the downtown growth, renovations of the former Sebago Shoe and Stockhouse 5 buildings, and the reconstruction underway in the former Warren Furniture building.

Chuluda outlined his goals for the next two years as a continuation of the previous two, again with an emphasis on economic growth, a streamlining of the city budget and city departments, and a reduction of the city’s dependency on residential property taxes.

“I am pleased to report that Westbrook was one of only a handful of communities in Maine to provide some modicum of property tax relief to its residents last year,” he said. “Although there is still much to do in this area, we took a step forward in our last budget and we will continue to look at responsible spending in this year’s budget.”

The mayor said he views Westbrook as a potential geographic focal point in greater Portland and a major player in the effort to bring economic vibrancy to the area in the coming years. “We must use this advantage to attract new business that creates quality jobs for our residents and plays a role in strengthening our city.”

One hurdle Chuluda foresees is the development of reasonably priced new homes in the city, which he admits is a difficult one to overcome. “We must continue to foster strong relationships between our city, the Westbrook Housing Authority, (commercial property) and private property owners to create affordable new housing,” he said.

He also said he will be forming a community committee to look into the Wescott Junior High building, which has been ranked as the ninth most in need of improvement, to determine whether the city could use the structure and whether a new school might be possible in the near future for Westbrook.

Chuluda thanked departing City Council President Jim Violette and departing city councilor Cheryl Roma for their service to the city. He then welcomed the new City Council and School Committee members and pledged to work diligently with the Council and the school department over the next two years.

He closed with a promise that the city government will remain an open one and that he will continue to hold Saturday morning office hours every first Saturday of the month as well as his monthly call-in show on Westbrook’s local cable channel.

Following the mayor’s address and the conclusion of the inaugural ceremonies, the newly elected City Council, which includes returning members and a fresh young face, held a brief meeting.

Council President Brendan Rielly began with a short speech in which he acknowledged former Council President Jim Violette and talked of mutual respect. He stressed the importance of respecting others in the community despite differences of opinion.

“We will disagree, as smart and hardworking people like us will do,” he said.

The council meeting that followed was short as befitting an inauguration night. One issue of note was the acceptance of a minor change to the deed of the old police station currently up for sale to the Maine Medical Center for construction of new offices. The amendment releases restrictions on the deed imposed a year ago when the city sold the property to its current owners.

Perhaps the only sober moment of the night came during the council meeting when a resident spoke during the public comment section about the return to the city of convicted kidnapper Norman Dickinson. A neighbor of Dickinson’s, the resident pleaded with the Council and with the mayor for action to remove Dickinson from Westbrook.

The rest of the night was punctuated by humor from City Clerk Barbara Hawkes, who called her daughter and husband to the stage to lead the audience in “God Bless America.”

“I just gave him another heart attack,” she said of her husband as he approached the stage. The laughter and applause that followed would be the first of a half dozen such reactions she’d receive during the night.

The inauguration ceremonies and City Council meeting were followed by a reception in the high school cafeteria.

Copy the Story Link