WATERVILLE — City Councilor Rien Finch resigned abruptly from his seat late Monday, citing physical and mental health issues, exacerbated by the election of President Donald Trump.

Rien Finch File photo

Finch, a Democrat who is openly transgender and represents residents of Ward 6, wrote in an email Monday night that he recently recovered from a “deathly illness,” but is “still not quite mended.”

“Mentally, I’ve taken a beating,” Finch said. “I had taken a beating before getting sick and I’m absolutely certain it contributed to how physically ill I was. It didn’t start with the election, though that heavily contributed.”

Finch said he missed several Waterville City Council meetings last summer because he spent six weeks in Wisconsin, where he was needed to support his family, using all of his vacation, sick and unpaid time. A data analyst, Finch then returned to Maine, where he performed his regular job and council work, all without taking a break.

“Then the election happened, and I again couldn’t catch my breath,” Finch said. “Then the very first act that the new leader of the free world did was to tell me I didn’t exist. There has been zero time to catch my breath. It wasn’t until I actually literally couldn’t breathe that I had the opportunity to take a breath, and that was only when I was in the ER (emergency room), getting oxygen after my pulse ox dropped.”

Finch was elected to the City Council in 2023, filling a term that expires in 2026. The seat was held by Claude Francke, who did not run for reelection.

City Clerk Patti Dubois said Tuesday that the Ward 6 seat will be filled by special election in May or June. The council must call an election within 30 days of voting to declare a vacancy, if the next regular election is more than six months away, she said.

Asked if the council might vote to declare the vacancy at Tuesday’s council meeting, Dubois said she did not think councilors would do that unless they decide to waive cloture, or take up an item not listed on the agenda. Dubois said she thought the council would likely vote to declare the vacancy at its April 1 meeting.

Finch is a former member of the Waterville Charter Commission and has been heavily involved in the Democratic party. He was vocal about many issues facing the council, and worked to help create a task force that would explore ways to support those who are vulnerable, including homeless, while balancing their needs with those of downtown businesses.

Finch also was a vocal advocate for neighbors who opposed the demolition of former housing off Park Street, owned by First Church of Waterville, although he voted to approve zone changes to allow the demolition, after the church filed a federal lawsuit against the city.

Finch wrote in his resignation email that it is important for people to take care of themselves.

“Too often I think we pressure people to keep going, couching it in terms of service to others, or service to the community, and placing a high value on the impact to someone — or something — else,” he said. “We place people on pedestals and tell them they are responsible for saving a pocket of the world.

“No matter what pressures they are facing, from personal mental health, from their job, from their family, from their colleagues, we tell people to keep going and that it’s worth it. But when you put yourself last against others, is it worth it? Not making space for yourself when you need it is only telling yourself that you aren’t valuable unless it’s in the context of others, no matter how negative the experience  — no matter how much you can’t breathe.”

Some people might say he is quitting and giving up, Finch said, but he is choosing to put himself first.

“We don’t talk about mental health enough,” he said. “We don’t consider the invisible burdens that people are carrying. Too often we tell people who change course, step away from a choice that wasn’t working for them, that they’ve failed in some way for daring to reprioritize their life and put their mental and physical health first. We tell them they ‘owe’ it to stay the course.

“I do not owe anyone my peace, my joy, my time, my explanations. No one is a failure for realizing that something isn’t working for them. This isn’t working for me; effective immediately, I resign from the Waterville City Council.”

In January, Finch was nominated to serve as the council chair, but was defeated by incumbent Chair Rebecca Green, D-Ward 4. At the time, Finch said the biggest reason he decided to run for chair was that Mayor Mike Morris asked him to work with the Waterville Youth Council, which has members who alternately attend City Council meetings. Finch said that in the Youth Council application process, he learned about young people’s interests.

“A lot of these youth said that they wanted to see representation of themselves in government, and that representation being LGBTQ representation,” Finch said. “And I just firmly believe representation matters, and it’s not lost on me that I’m one of the only openly trans political leaders, not just in Maine, but across the country.”