Former South Portland City Mayor Ralph Baxter was sworn into his new post on the City Council on Monday. Baxter has served three previous terms on the council. He replaces longtime South Portland council member Bob Fickett, who recently stepped down.

With about one-third of the total votes cast in last week’s election, none of the other four candidates came close to catching Baxter. In all, 2,891 votes were cast with 1,057 going to Baxter. The next highest contender was Jim Crocker who got 692 votes.

Baxter said he wasn’t expecting to win, but he wasn’t terribly surprised at winning either. He expected several of his opponents to have a strong core of supporters, though ultimately his own voter base outpaced them all.

Baxter, who served on the council for nine years, said he does it because it’s fun and rewarding. “It may sound corny, but I like the city. If I can help, I’m happy to do that,” he said.

At 74, Baxter is only partially retired. In addition to his council duties, he still works a part-time summer job delivering advertising pamphlets to convenience stores and other locations.

During his 18-month term, Baxter hopes to improve the traffic flow in the city, renovate or rebuild the middle school and high schools and bring more small businesses into town to lighten the residential tax burden. Baxter is also excited about helping hire the new city manager, a process that has already begun.

Another priority for Baxter is maintaining the streets and sidewalks. “It’s an easy thing to cut a little out of that budget, until the potholes come,” said Baxter.

As part of the school building committee for the past 11 years, Baxter said he is anxious to continue working on school improvements during what he said would most likely be his final term as a councilor. Baxter said his wife Mary keeps reminding him that his term is only 18 months this time.

When asked if he would run for another three-year term, he responded, “I would doubt it very much, I’m not exactly a toe-headed youth.”

Ralph Baxter