AUGUSTA — Good, positive things are coming to Augusta, city councilors and school board members elected in November said as they were sworn into office this week.
“There’s a lot of special things that are going to happen, especially in Ward 3 but also all over the city, so we’re looking forward to all the good things that are going to happen and I can’t wait for the next three years,” Ward 3 Councilor Michael Michaud said Thursday night after taking his oath of office from City Clerk Kelly Gooldrup.
Veteran school board member Staci Fortunato, also reelected in November, said city and school officials have done some great work in recent years.
“I’m excited to continue the positive work we do here in the city of Augusta and I look forward to serving the last of my elected terms,” she said.
Also elected to the school board were Rita Pello, at-large, and Kati McCormick, Ward 4.
City councilors elected in November were Michaud, and Stephanie-Ann Sienkiewicz and William Savage, both at-large. None of the city’s races were contested.
“I believe very deeply in doing what you can, where you are, with what you have, and that is what I hope to do in the next three years,” Sienkiewicz said. “I hope to be a councilor that serves you with respect, that takes the issues you bring forward seriously and really takes the time to think about the multiple perspectives that go into every issue we face here on the council. So I’m very excited to start this term. I’m very eager to hear from each of you.”
Mayor Mark O’Brien said Savage couldn’t make it to Thursday’s swearing-in ceremony due to illness but would be sworn in separately at a later date.
The meeting paused for the newly elected officials to pose for photographs in council chambers, some together with family members.
A brief business meeting of councilors followed. Councilors voted to: reappoint Cecil Munson and Patrick Paradis to the Greater Augusta Utility District board of trustees; approve the transfer of $458 to the police department that was seized in the criminal forfeiture process as part of a drug trafficking case; and reallocate $100,000 in funds from prior years’ capital improvement projects for use as part of a reconstruction project on Highland Avenue.
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