City Council

The City Council consists of seven members who are elected to serve staggered three-year terms. In addition to two At Large Councilors, there are five Councilors representing each of the five City districts. Councilors are limited to serving three consecutive terms. Elections are held in November and nomination papers are available in the City Clerk's office late July/early August. To appear on a ballot a candidate must collect at least 100 signatures from qualified voters of the city. Newly elected Councilors are sworn in at the Inauguration which is held at 4 pm on the 1st Monday of December. The City Council appoints the City Manager, City Clerk, and Corporation Counsel.

City Councilors welcome emails, letters, and phone calls from citizens regarding policy issues. Click "More Information" below each Councilor's picture to see their individual contact information. If you would like to email the whole City Council, you can email citycouncil@southportland.gov.

Email communications to Councilors that do not indicate who the communication is from may not be responded to. Not sure what district you're in? Look up your district here.

Please note: Board and Committee Policy – Section 8 (c): "It is not permissible for board/committee members to deliberate, discuss policy, make decisions, approve meeting minutes, or otherwise take action through email, telephone, text or other means outside of a properly noticed public meeting.”

If you have an operational issue or complaint (i.e., traffic complaints or to report trash not being picked up), please call City Hall at 207-767-3201.

Members of the City Council, including the Mayor, do not have offices at City Hall. Contact the City Councilor under the members section. Alternatively, correspondence intended for members of the City Council, including the Mayor, may be directed to the City Clerk. The City Clerk can be reached at City Hall, 25 Cottage Road, South Portland, ME 04106, at 207-767-7601 or email the City Clerk.

Councilors receive many emails and letters from constituents and take care to read and respond to every communication. Due to the volume of communications received, requests to have emails or letters "read into the record" in absentia during public comment of Council meetings and workshops may not be granted. Email communications to Councilors that do not indicate who the communication is from may not be responded to.

There are many ways to stay up-to-date and engaged with your City Council!

• Attend a Council meeting – Meetings are posted on the City Calendar. City Council meetings and workshops are held at 6:30 PM (with the exception of special meetings and executive sessions) in City Hall Council Chambers, unless otherwise noted. Members of the public have up to 3 minutes to comment on each agenda item. During business meetings, community members may also speak during each of the two citizen discussion periods on any item on or off the agenda. An individual must speak on a unique topic or topics during each 3-minute comment. For example, if you would like to comment on an agenda item, you should make your comment when this item comes up during the meeting. If you would then also like to comment during one or both citizen discussion periods, your comments each time must be on separate topics.
  
  
• View meeting agendas – Agendas are regularly posted by 4:30 PM the Thursday prior to a meeting. Access these via the “Agendas & Minutes” button on the City’s website home page, or directly via the following link to BoardDocs (the City’s agenda management platform): https://go.boarddocs.com/me/sport/Board.nsf/Public
  
  
• Watch a Council meeting live – Watch a live stream of Council meetings on Spectrum Cable Channel 2 or online at https://bit.ly/SPCTV_Live
  
  
• Watch a past Council meeting – Watch meeting recordings on the SPC-TV Vimeo channel: https://vimeo.com/spctv. The video is typically available online within two days of the meeting. Click the “cc” icon on the player to enable closed captions.
  
  
• View a Council meeting transcript – To view the auto-generated transcript of a Council meeting on the SPC-TV Vimeo channel, click on the transcript icon on the player. From here you can search the transcript and navigate to a specific part of the video. You can also download the full transcript by clicking the download icon under the video title.
  
  
• Subscribe to City Council News – Sign up to get Council Meeting summaries and more emailed to your inbox: www.southportland.gov/signup

Would you like to reach out to City Council about an issue that matters to you? See the "Contact City Council" tab on this page.

As of 2019, all City Council agendas, minutes, and meeting packet material can be found on BoardDocs, which is fully searchable. This link is provided on the home page of the City's website under "Agendas and Minutes". Agendas and meeting materials are posted on Friday by 4:30 pm the week before each meeting. If you are having difficulty accessing the documents on BoardDocs, you may find a link to the agenda in.PDF format posted under "Agendas and Minutes" on the home page of the City's website.

 If you need help locating a specific record or a record not listed here, please email the City Clerk. The City Clerk keeps all minutes and records of City Council Meetings, going back to 1765 (South Portland/Cape Elizabeth). These records are public and are available for inspection or copying upon request. 

Please note: Council Meetings and Workshops are recorded and archives can be viewed on the Community Television page.

The public is invited to attend all meetings of the City Council and comments from the public are welcome on all agenda items. Additionally, members of the public will be given up to 3 minutes to speak on any item on or off the agenda during Citizens Discussion Part I or Part II. Members of the public are allowed up to 3 minutes to speak on any item appearing as a workshop item on the meeting's agenda. The City Council follows a set of adopted rules that govern the conduct and organization of meetings.

View a copy of the City Council's "Standing Rules" (PDF)