It didn’t take long for curiosity about the composition of the new Augusta City Council and some individual political philosophies to be amplified.

One of the new members, Anna Blodgett of Ward 4, headlined the annual day-long goal setting session with a bombshell. The former state legislator has introduced her No. 1 goal: a city-mandated increase in the minimum wage. Blodgett wants the city to decide what businesses in Augusta will pay employees. And, what is worse, a majority of councilors might support her position — if it ever came to a vote.

Blodgett is following the lead of Mayor Michael Brennan of Portland. Brennan, and other liberals nationwide, are beating the drums for a doubling of the minimum wage to $15 per hour. It probably is time at the federal level for an increase, and I support it — but it must be a realistic one.

City government has no role in setting the minimum wage. It must not be allowed to manage the payrolls of the businesses here that provide our jobs. The end result would be the opposite of what is sought (better jobs), as employers would flee the city rather than subject themselves to an unfair competitive disadvantage with other cities.

In other political developments on the local scene: the Augusta Board of Trade must be scratching their heads at the appointment of Councilor Pat Paradis to their board.

This private, conservative group of local business people, working in cooperation with city government, is an independent organization formed many years ago to promote economic development in Augusta through the purchase of land and the formation of various projects.

Having served on this board myself, I can’t help but think about the reaction among the group’s founders if they were still around to welcome into their inner sanctum the former assistant Maine House majority leader.

Paradis, a Democrat, is a shrewd politician and, to his credit, has supported incentives for business development. But the face and chemistry of local Augusta politics is indeed changing.

Then there is the seemingly counterintuitive specter of Linda Conti, new councilor from Ward 1, who was appointed to serve on the council’s powerful TIF Committee.

As an assistant attorney general, Conti, commenting on a lawsuit she filed in the U.S. Supreme Court, once said in The Washington Post, “We’re worried that this is a grand conspiracy by the U.S. Supreme Court to prevent states from having any role in enforcing rules against big companies.”

During her election campaign, Conti called TIFs “corporate welfare.” Now as a member of the TIF Committee, she helps decide whether any business seeking to expand or locate here gets any tax incentive financing. I hope this will not become a case of the fox in the henhouse, but rather give Conti a chance to prove her contention that she is not anti-business.

Meanwhile, back at the goal-setting session, progressive Councilor Dale McCormick, a former state senator, state treasurer and director of the Maine State Housing authority, was reprising an environmentalist agenda. Trees, sidewalks, increased recycling, etc., top her list of goals.

If, as Shakespeare said, “Past is prologue,” then I’ll bet Blodgett, Conti and McCormick will offer some interesting proposals in the days ahead.

Is anybody noticing the procession of former state officeholders now to city government?

Other city political news: Tom Connors, former candidate for council at-large, will be Conti’s replacement on the Augusta Planning Board. That takes him out of another run for council.

Mike Byron — a former councilor and once a Manchester Planning Board chairman, and obviously qualified for the job — was not selected. Byron’s desire to continue public service in some capacity should be honored in some way.

In this June’s special election for the vacant council seat, Dan Emery, a former councilor at-large who is back from a year-long trek across the country raising awareness against hunger, will run again. Emery’s election would provide a bonafide conservative on the council.

Don Roberts, a former city councilor and former vice chairman of the Charter Commission in Augusta, is a trustee of the Greater Augusta Utility District.

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