Two newly elected members joined the Portland City Council during a swearing-in ceremony Monday afternoon, shortly before a council vote approving pay raises for hundreds of city employees.

The new nine-member council approved pay raises for two city unions totaling $1.27 million in the coming years. Councilors also were formally presented with two proposed zoning agreements – one that could clear the way for a performance hall on Munjoy Hill and another that could lead to 53 units of housing in the Bayside neighborhood.

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Portland City Clerk Katherine Jones, right, performs the swearing-in of newly elected and re-elected School Board members at Portland City Hall on Monday. Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer

Sawyer Street resident Justin Costa was sworn in as the councilor for District 4, which includes parts of Washington Avenue and the Deering, East Deering and Back Cove neighborhoods. The 31-year-old former school committee member and staff accountant for Auto Europe replaces Cheryl Leeman, a conservative voice on the council for more than 30 years who didn’t seek re-election. On Nov. 4, Costa earned 51 percent of the vote in a three-way race.

Overset Road resident David Brenerman was sworn in as councilor for District 5, which includes the North Deering, Deering Center and Riverton neighborhoods. The 63-year-old public policy consultant and former city councilor and state lawmaker replaces John Coyne, who did not seek re-election. Brenerman was unopposed on Election Day.

In a separate ceremony Monday afternoon, Commercial Street resident John Eder and Pleasant Avenue resident Stephanie Hatzenbuehler were sworn in as newly elected School Board members. Eder will serve as an at-large member, while Hatzenbuehler will represent District 4.

The Portland City Council oversees an annual municipal budget of $221 million and sets the bottom line on the school budget, which is currently $102 million. It also sets policy and passes ordinances for a city of roughly 66,000 residents.

Councilors said goodbye to the panel’s longest-serving member, Leeman, who was first elected to the council in 1984.

“There’s nobody who’s been a more dedicated public servant and more dedicated to the city of Portland than Councilor Leeman,” said Mayor Michael Brennan. “We will truly miss her perspective and her hard work and dedication on the council.”

Leeman acknowledged city staff in her brief remarks and noted how the city had changed over her long career.

“I have seen a lot,” she said before reflecting on winning 10 elections. “It just kept happening and I kept staying.”

Leeman had long been known as a conservative voice on the council, although Costa downplayed the possibility that her departure would change the way the district is represented. “We both approach each issue on its own merits,” he said after the ceremony.

Brenerman, who previously served on the council from 1982 to 1985, said the ceremony was “more or less deja vu.” However, he also agreed with Leeman that the city has changed a lot, including having a popularly elected mayor. Concerns about property taxes still persist, he said, and District 5 residents are interested in economic development, especially in Congress Square.

District 5 constituents are split over General Assistance, he said. “Some people think there’s not enough and some people think people are coming to Portland to get benefits,” Brenerman said.

Costa and Brenerman were appointed to the Public Safety, Health and Human Services Committee and the Nominating Committee. Costa also was appointed to the Transportation, Sustainability and Energy Committee, and Brenerman landed a spot on the Housing and Community Development Committee.

Meanwhile, Councilors David Marshall and Jon Hinck swapped two committee assignments, with Marshall going to the Housing and Community Development Committee and Hinck going to the Finance Committee.

The newly inaugurated council took its first actions at a brief business meeting Monday, including the approval of new contracts with the Police Superior Officers Benevolent Association and the City Employees Benefit Association, the city’s largest union.

The CEBA contract, which covers about 500 employees, runs retroactively from July 7, 2013, to June 30, 2016, and will cost $972,000, of which $485,000 has already been budgeted. Workers will receive two retroactive raises of 1 percent, and an additional 1 percent raise on Jan. 4, 2015. Workers will receive a 3 percent increase on July 5, 2015.

The PSOBA contract, which represents 32 police lieutenants and sergeants, runs from Jan. 5, 2014, to Dec. 31, 2016, and will cost $306,000. Officers will receive 1 percent raises retroactive to Jan. 5 and July 6, along with an additional 1 percent increase on Jan. 4, 2015, and a 3 percent increase on Jan. 3, 2016.

The council was presented with a conditional zoning agreement that would allow the Friends of the St. Lawrence to build a 400-seat performance hall on the corner of St. Lawrence and Congress streets. To address parking concerns, the nonprofit friends group plans to make investments in public transit. Councilors did not hear public comments or make a final decision on the proposal.

The council also formally received a proposal to rezone 89 Andersen St. from residential to a neighborhood business zone. The rezoning would allow Portland-based developer Redfern Properties to build a 53-unit, market-rate apartment building with ground-floor office and restaurant uses where 3Gs Tire and Auto Service is located.

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