Name: Democrat Jay Coelho elected Waterville mayor, defeats opponent Phil Bofia
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Democrat Jay Coelho elected Waterville mayor, defeats opponent Phil Bofia

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ShareWATERVILLE — Former City Councilor&nbsp; Jay Coelho was elected Waterville’s next mayor during Tuesday’s election, defeating challenger Phil Bofia, who is also a former city councilor.Jay CoelhoVoters also approved recommended city charter changes, reelected a city councilor, and elected a new councilor and school board member.Coelho, 43, defeated Bofia, 33, in a 4,084-3,272 vote. Coelho will succeed Republican Mayor Nick Isgro, who served two, three-year terms and chose not to seek reelection. Coelho will be inaugurated in January.Bofia, an IT business analyst for CGI, ran as an unenrolled candidate. Coelho, an entrepreneur who owns You Broke IT and Grub Bakery, is a Democrat.Newcomer Rebecca Green, a Democrat, defeated incumbent City R-Ward 4, 692-669. Newcomer Thomas Klepach, a Democrat who ran unopposed, was elected to the Ward 3 seat vacated earlier this year by Meg Smith.Incumbent Waterville Board of Education member Maryanne Bernier, a Democrat representing Ward 4, beat newcomer Kelley Dow, who ran with no party affiliation, in a 840-458 vote.Voters also approved 4,808-1,900. The charter changes will go into effect July 1, 2021, which is also the beginning of the city’s fiscal year.Phil BofiaWith the revisions, council vacancies will be filled by special election rather than by council appointment, anyone wanting to run for mayor will be required to have lived in the city at least a year instead of three months, and two-thirds of the City Council must vote to approve a budget, rather than the current majority of four councilors.Voters are asked every seven years, as required by the charter, whether a charter commission should be established to revise the charter or establish a new one.&nbsp;&nbsp;2019 voted 1,150 to 623 to establish the commission. They also elected charter commission members from each city ward, and the council&nbsp;.Led by Tom Nale Jr. and James LaLiberty, who served as co-chairmen, the 10-member commission held a public meeting Jan. 11, met twice a month through April and in mid-May started meeting every week.Along with Nale and LaLiberty, members were Cathy Weeks, Ward 1; Phil Bofia, Ward 2; Lutie Brown, Ward 3; Hilary Koch, Ward 4; Julian Payne, Ward 5; Rien Finch, Ward 6; and Ronald Merrill, Ward 7. Nale, LaLiberty and Samantha Burdick were appointed by the council.Most of the charter changes are related to clarifying issues and amending language referring to state statute. For example, three separate places in the charter address how the mayor, councilors and members of the Waterville Board of Education are inducted into office, and the commission proposed putting them all in one place.The charter changes will allow the city manager to head up two city departments, along with performing the duties of city manager. The changes voters approved Tuesday say the city manager cannot head up a department unless he or she is filling in on an interim basis because of a resignation or other reason for vacancy, but the city manager may not be a permanent department head.Other changes approved: the city finance director must provide the council monthly updates on the city budget; those wanting to run for the Kennebec Water District board of trustees must be nominated at a party caucus; anyone wanting to take out papers to try to recall a city councilor or school board member must live in the ward in which the councilor or board member lives; and the city’s comprehensive plan will be evaluated every seven years.This story will be updated.Morning Sentinel reporter Molly Shelly contributed to this story.Invalid username/password.Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.Enter your email and password to access comments.Hi, to comment on stories you must create a commenting profile. This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login. Already have one? Login.Invalid username/password.Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please or to participate in the conversation. .Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.Log out of Commentsto the editors.filed under:, , , , ,This iframe contains the logic required to handle Ajax powered Gravity Forms.Related StoriesLatest Articles|| Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinelclose xDaily Headlines&amp; Breaking NewsStay in theknow. All day,every day.This iframe contains the logic required to handle Ajax powered Gravity Forms.No ThanksBy providing your email address you consentto receive emails and offers from MaineToday Media× Close

ShareWATERVILLE — Former City Councilor&nbsp; Jay Coelho was elected Waterville’s next mayor during Tuesday’s election, defeating challenger Phil Bofia, who is also a former city councilor.Jay CoelhoVoters also approved recommended city charter changes, reelected a city councilor, and elected a new councilor and school board member.Coelho, 43, defeated Bofia, 33, in a 4,084-3,272 vote. Coelho will succeed Republican Mayor Nick Isgro, who served two, three-year terms and chose not to seek reelection. Coelho will be inaugurated in January.Bofia, an IT business analyst for CGI, ran as an...

Democrat Jay Coelho elected Waterville mayor, defeats opponent Phil Bofia

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