Five-term City Councilor Linda Boudreau has built an impressive resume that offers her broad experience and a practiced eye for the needs and challenges of South Portland.

Boudreau – a three-time mayor, mother and grandmother – also shows a boldness for taking stands on controversial issues.

Boudreau was one of only two city councilors to oppose sending a $56 million bond proposal to voters for renovating the high school. Voters will decide on the school bond Nov. 6.

She also opposed the council’s purchase of the vacant Armory building as a possible site for city offices.

Boudreau, 57, works as an office manager for InPlan Group, an independent provider of employee benefits that include insurance and retirement plans.

Her civic roles include serving as chair of ecomaine, a non-profit waste management company owned by 21 Maine municipalities.

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She also chairs the Institute for Civic Leadership, which trains leaders in the public, nonprofit and private sectors. She chairs the Cumberland County Budget Advisory Committee and is a Southern Maine Community College Foundation Board member.

As a city council member, she sits on the Police Department Hiring and Retention Committee, Jetport Noise Abatement Study Committee and the Spring Point Lease Committee.

Before joining the council, she served on the planning board and school board.

She confesses to being an information addict and having a deep and profound curiosity for knowledge and understanding the issues that challenge South Portland.

“In 15 years on the council, it amazes me there is always something new to learn for someone like me,” said Boudreau, a three-time South Portland mayor.

Boudreau’s big push on the city council is to inventory and assess the city’s infrastructure needs before making decisions on big-ticket expenditures.

She repeatedly has warned that the city’s unblemished credit rating is at risk if it does not better manage debt and set aside money for reserves. Her ideas are based on recommendations from bond houses that lend money to municipalities.

“I am concerned about the city’s need to prioritize capital expenses,” she said.

She also emphasizes the need to preserve neighborhoods and open space, while encouraging business growth and development in areas where it already exists.


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