During the City Council’s annual organizational meeting at the Brewer Auditorium, Campbell was elected to his second consecutive term as mayor. Councilor Donna Thornton, unable to attend due to a death in her family, was elected vice chairwoman.

Mary Ann McGuire was elected to her third term as chairwoman of the School Committee during a brief, meeting that was also held on Tuesday. She succeeds Ruth Spellman. Mark Chambers was elected that panel’s vice chairman.

City Clerk Arthur Verow swore in Michael Celli and Larry Doughty, winners in the Nov. 7 City Council race, as well as B. Calvin Bubar III and Ruth Spellman, who were returned to the School Committee, and newly elected High School District Trustee Frank Breau.

In his mayoral address, Campbell said efforts to streamline government and improve city services will remain a top priority here, not only for the council but for City Manager Stephen Bost, department leaders and every city employee, as will work to strengthen Brewer’s economy and tax base.

The past two years have seen a number of companies open, expand and relocate here. The city’s proactive approach, which this year included acquiring more than 80 acres of historically ignored land on outer Wilson Street, appears to have paid off in spades. This month, the bulk of that land, now the Brewer Corporate Center, was chosen as the site of a health-care park to be developed by Eastern Maine Healthcare over the next several years.

“There have been grand successes in this area due in no small part to the cooperation between [Economic Development Director] Drew Sachs and the nonprofit Brewer Economic Development Corporation. No city is better served in this area than Brewer,” Campbell said.

“Whether we’re talking about TransTech, Lemforder, Brewer Automotive [Components], Eastern Maine Healthcare or expansions by small- and medium-sized businesses already located here,” Campbell said. “It is indeed heartening to know that our strengthened business sector not only is helping to alleviate tax pressure and funding services that our families need, they are at the same time providing more and higher-paying jobs for anyone interested in working and living here. … We are rapidly becoming a community of choice.”

With some of the city’s most pressing needs now being attended to, Campbell said, it is time to address waterfront revitalization.

A master redevelopment plan, crafted by a citizen-led committee and a team of consultants, is virtually complete. The plan, which aims to provide greater public access to the Penobscot River while expanding the waterfront’s commercial and retail potential, will be reviewed by the planning board and council Monday night and is slated for adoption by the council the following night.

To allay concerns about the project’s potential impact on taxes, Campbell said that the city has sought state, federal and private investment. “There is absolutely no intent on behalf of the [Waterfront Advisory] committee, your council or your administration to fund this through increasing taxes,” he said.

The final issue Campbell tackled was the property tax. He said the city must continue to be a player in the statewide movement to get the state to fund fully its share of school funding formula, too much of which now falls on local property tax payers.

“If this work doesn’t get done, you can count on one thing for sure — continued slugfests over dwindling dollars available through property taxation,” the mayor said. “I’ve personally lived this political battle for the last 12 years and let me explain to you who wins — nobody.

“Teachers are pitted against school boards and school boards against councils. The biggest losers in this battle are the children and our older citizens, caught in between the ever-escalating prescription bills and energy costs — it’s no wonder their tempers are fraying at the edges,” he said.

This is a copyright article written by Dawn Gagnon that appeared in the Bangor Daily News, Wednesday, November 22, 2000.

Brewer Economic Development Office
D'arcy Main-Boyington
(207)989-7500
Brewer City Hall
80 North Main Street
Brewer, Maine 04412

dmain-boyington@brewerme.org