Cape council chooses leadership

CAPE ELIZABETH — At its annual caucus Monday, the Cape Elizabeth Town Council divvied up responsibilities for the coming year, starting with the selection of Sara Lennon as chairwoman.

Lennon, a former English teacher who now runs a business offering writing and graphic design to educational and nonprofit organizations, is entering the final year of her second term, having first won election to the Town Council in 2006. She was selected to the chair 6-1, with only Councilor Jessica Sullivan opposed. The formal vote will take place at the council’s Dec. 12 meeting.

That meeting, and all future council meetings and workshops, will begin at 7 p.m., moving up from the current 7:30 p.m. start time.

“That extra half-hour, in my life anyway, is pretty valuable,” said Councilor James Walsh, who made the suggestion.

All other caucus selections were unanimous, except for the vote on Finance Committee chairman, where Councilor Frank Governali won out over Walsh, 5-2. All councilors serve on the Finance Committee, which this year hold its first meeting Jan. 11. The public hearing and final council vote on the FY 2013 budget was set for Thursday, April 26. 

Meanwhile, Walsh will chair the Ordinance Committee, where he will be joined by Councilors David Sherman and newly elected Katharine Ray. 

Sullivan will once again chair the Appointments Committee, joined by Governali and Councilor Caitlin Jordan. The same lineup will serve on the Future Open Space Preservation Committee and the Thomas Jordan Grants Subcommittee, which meets to dole out funds for home repairs, heating assistance and other charitable applications.

Ray will be dispatched to the Maine Municipal Association, as both a convention delegate and a member of its Legislative Policy Committee, while Sherman was shipped to fill Cape Elizabeth’s seat on the ecomaine Board of Directors. Walsh will continue to represent the town on the Greater Portland Council of Governments Executive Committee.

Town Manager Michael McGovern was asked to once again represent the town on the ecomaine board, as well as Greater Portland Economic Development Commission and the Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation System.

As council chairwoman, Lennon also will head up the governing committee for Portland Head Light, with Sherman as vice chairman.