Victoria Pelletier, Elected to a City Council Seat in District 2, Stands with the Victorous Roberto Rodriguez on an Outdoor Balcony at Ocean Gateway This Afternoon. Pelletier Works at COG and has a BA in Journalism and English.
Brandon Mazer Concedes the At-Large Council Seat This Afternoon at Ocean Gateway, Portland.
Councilor Anna Trevorrow Will be Seated at the Portland City Council Representing District 1. Please visit post herein dated November 3, 2021 regarding Trevorrow’s Victory.
Ballots Stacked in Boxes at Ocean Gateway Today.
“The campaign is only one part of it all. The real work really starts now,” said Roberto Rodriguez, early this afternoon following the gracious concession of Brandon Mazer at the Ocean Gateway on the Portland waterfront.
Mazer conceded to Rodriguez about 1:20 pm today. He acknowledged that it has been a “high hill to climb.” The two candidates for an at-large seat on the Portland City Council “made history. This has been a humbling moment. Our messages all resonated with the public.” Mazer will continue as chair of the Portland Planning Board. He is also a regulatory compliance attorney in the beverage industry.
The declaration of the final result followed both candidates completion of the manual recount of all ballots and resolved their dispute over 37 ballots over which they had not agreed yesterday. Resolution of the disuted ballots ended with Roberto Rodriguez receiving 8,549 votes and Mazer receiving 8,514 votes.
The race originally ended in a tie following the ranked-choice runoff tabulation which was used because none of the four at-large candidates received more than 50% of the vote.
Rodriguez is a small business owner who has served on the Portland School Board recently. His business, Fresh Food Gardens is five years old and has grown significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, it has doubled in size. He has hired an employee for his business because of this growth. Rodriguez builds and maintains gardens for residences in the Cumberland County area – from Saco to Freeport. The garden season runs from April 1 through October 31, although there is plenty of work to do during the off-season Rodriguez told mhn.com today as negotiations were on-going over the ballots at Ocean Gateway.
Representing Rodriguez during negotiations at Ocean Gateway was Ben K. Grant, Esq. a partner in the prominent labor relations law firm of McTeague & Higbee. He’s vastly experienced in recounts such as this one. Grant was treasurer of the Rodriguez campaign. When the tie occurred, Grant stepped up to be his attorney. Accompanying Mazer was an employee of the Chamber of Commerce.
Three new Councilors will be joining the Portland City Council next month. They are: Anna Trevorrow (D-1), Victoria Pelletier (D-2) and Roberto Rodriguez (At-Large). This represents a solid sweep for Portland progressives who have long been denied a place in local politics. The election of these three Councilors will ensure that Portlanders are representated by those who more accurately reflect the values of all of the citizens of Portland – not just a select, wealthy, few. This is a welcome change in Portland politics that is long overdue.
Inaugauration Day is scheduled for Monday, December 6 at 6:00 pm. It is not known yet whether the Inauguration will be in-person or not.
Please visit post herein dated today for more background information on the run-off.
(Mhn.com has been off-line since Thursday, November 4, 2021 because of technical issues far beyod the ability of this blogger to fix. The 13-year old Mhn.com is pleased to return to its rightful on-line place).