AUBURN – The new City Council could be poised to do something unheard of in Auburn for the past few years, according to the winners.

They might get along.

“What we’ve been accused of in the past is a separation, a gap,” said Ward 3 Councilor Eric Samson. “Whether it’s just a perception or not, we might have a chance to work together and maybe handle things a little differently.”

Voters replaced two of the five incumbent councilors at the ballot box Tuesday. Ward 4’s Donna Lyons Rowell lost her seat to challenger Bruce Bickford. Ward 5’s Belinda Gerry lost to Ray Berube.

Add in retiring Ward 1 Councilor Bethel Shields and at-large Councilor Kelly Matzen, and there will be four new faces on the council.

The old council sparred frequently over development projects and TIF districts, with narrow votes and angry words on both sides.

“There’s a real opportunity to do something different on this new council,” Samson said. “There will always be disagreements, but maybe we can bring things up a bit differently.”

Samson, Ward 2’s Robert Hayes and at-large Councilor Bob Mennealy successfully defended their seats, winning another term.

They’ll join Bickford, Berube, Ward 1’s Dick Gleason and at-large winner Ellen Peters on the council.

Auburn swears in the new council and school committee at a Dec. 4 inauguration.

Mayor-elect John Jenkins said he’s eager to get started.

“First thing, I want to meet individually with each councilor and get a sense of what their directions and goals might be and talk about my goals,” he said. His goals include resurrecting the city’s spring roadside trash collections, regaining trust from Auburn residents and building teamwork.

“My job is as a leader, or a coach,” Jenkins said. “I need to be the glue that holds the council together.”

Gleason, who ran unopposed in Auburn’s Ward 1, agreed.

“The important thing for us now is to build some mutual respect for each other, so we can begin to gel,” Gleason said.

And Samson said he’s treating his next year on council as a chance for a fresh start.

“I heard from a lot of people at the polls Tuesday that I’d never talked to before,” he said. Some were angry about city issues, or about decisions he’d made. He said he’d work harder over the next year to answer their questions and respond to their complaints.

“So maybe this gives me a chance for redemption in their eyes,” he said.

Challenges

At least two of the candidates in Tuesday’s race say they will challenge the outcome. At-large candidate Ron Potvin, who lost the second at-large seat to Mennealy by 31 votes, gave City Clerk Mary Lou Magno a request for an official inspection.

Ward 3 Candidate Dan Herrick, who lost to Samson by 19 votes, said he was considering doing the same thing.

“If I do, I’m not doing it for me,” Herrick said. “I’m doing it for all of the people that supported my campaign from the very beginning.”

Herrick said he would need to find 10 ballot errors to challenge the outcome.

“And that’s not a lot, he said. “To get a final outcome, I owe at least that much to the people that supported me.”

Magno said candidates have five days after the election to file a request to inspect the ballots. No inspections had been scheduled by Wednesday night, but she expects them to happen within seven days if they happen at all.

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