Saco City Councilor Jodi MacPhail will be the first female mayor of Saco. Courtesy photo
SACO — Saco has elected its first female mayor. City Councilor and Deputy Mayor Jodi MacPhail ran unopposed after current Mayor Bill Doyle chose not to seek re-election. Doyle was elected mayor in 2019.
Four thousand, four hundred and thirty nine Saco voters cast their ballots in favor of MacPhail, who is a lifelong Saco resident and two term city councilor.
Outgoing Mayor Doyle wrote to the Biddeford-Saco-OOB Courier late Tuesday night congratulating MacPhail. He reflected on his years as mayor and the four prior sitting on City Council, and said, “we accomplished a great many important tasks and goals for the community. I can truly say, ‘I helped make it better than before.'”
Doyle chose not to seek re-election citing a promotion at his job that would require him to travel more often and the desire to focus more on his family.
Also on the ballot, voters weighed in on one competitive race. Current School Board Chair Jennifer Preble won out over Colin Leary, a software engineer and political newcomer, for school board member serving Ward 2.
Sarah Truman, current school board vice chair and representative for Ward 6, ran unopposed and will serve another three-year term. Kevin Roche ran unopposed and will replace Kevin Lafortune as the school board member representing Ward 4. Kevin Roche is currently the president of Save Our Shores Saco Bay, a coastal preservation group; he also sat on the City Council from 2014 to 2017.
Joshua Parks (Ward 2) and Nathan Johnston (Ward 7) ran for City Council seats unopposed. Joshua Parks is new to city government, and is replacing current City Councilor Jim Purdy.
Parks reflected on his win, writing that he is proud he can “serve the city (his) family has called home for multiple generations.”
Saco voters also selected a new ward clerk in Ward 6 who ran unopposed, Claire Foran. Ward clerks assist with election duties such as handing out ballots and counting ballots.
The city also has a new charter amendment. 3,579 voters cast their ballots in favor of an amendment that modifies the process of selecting municipal board, committee and commission members with the aim of filling vacancies more quickly. It also requires that all of these positions can only be filled by people who are registered voters in Saco, not merely residents.
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