New mayor, councilor take office in Portland, ME -- highlighting diversity.

Portland’s newly elected mayor and city councilor were sworn into office during a noontime ceremony Monday that highlighted the historic diversity of the city’s elected leadership.

Kate Snyder begins her four-year term as mayor ... It’s the first time a woman has been popularly elected as mayor in Maine’s largest city, though previous councils have appointed a handful of women to serve as chair in Portland’s 233-year history. Snyder and three female councilors – Kim Cook, Jill Duson and Belinda Ray – all wore white scarves to mark the centennial of women’s suffrage.

Two male councilors sworn in are both immigrants – Ali was born in Ghana and Chong in South Korea. Ali, who was sworn in for a second term, was believed to be the first Muslim to win election to public office in Maine and Chong is believed to be the first Asian-American elected to serve on the Portland council. And there are two other people of color on the council – Jill Duson and Spencer Thibodeau, who placed second in the mayoral race and has two years remaining in his second term as councilor.

Snyder is the third mayor since the city switched in 2010 ... to a full-time position, chosen by voters citywide every four years. Portland’s mayor has no executive authority – those powers still belong to the city manager, who is hired, fired and overseen by the full council. The mayor’s duties include working with city councilors and the city manager to establish and implement citywide goals, providing comments on city budgets, delivering an annual State of the City address and advocating for the city at the state and federal levels. The mayor has the power to veto any budget passed by the council, which in turn has the power to override it. All of the executive duties remain with the city manager.

https://www.pressherald.com/2019/12/02/new-mayor-councilor-take-office-in-portland/