Former Saco Mayor Roland “Ron” Michaud will resume his role as leader of the city, ousting Don Pilon after one term.

Saco residents also elected city councilors and school board members Tuesday, while rejecting two of three proposed bond packages.

Pilon, who served four terms in the state Legislature before becoming mayor two years ago, faced challenges from Michaud and former Saco City Councilor Bette Brunswick. Michaud previously served two terms as mayor, as well as 14 years on the City Council, eight years on the Planning Board and three years on the School Board. Brunswick served most of one term on the City Council before stepping down last summer when she moved out of the ward she represented.

Michaud finished with 1,631 votes. Pilon got 1,121 votes, and Brunswick got 745.

Michaud said he is both honored and humbled to be elected mayor.

“I’ve not been involved for a while,” he said. “I decided to take another shot at it, and folks have put their trust in me to move the community forward.”

Michaud said he is looking forward to working with the City Council, as well as coming up with ways to make council meetings more effective and open and involving more people from the community. He said his first phone call Wednesday will be to Biddeford Mayor Alan Casavant, who won a third term Tuesday.

“I’m excited to work with our neighbors to the south,” he said. “We have an exciting opportunity to reach across the river and work together.”

Thirteen candidates – including several political newcomers looking to oust longtime councilors – ran for seven City Council seats.

Ward 1 Councilor David Precourt was the only incumbent who ran unopposed. He finished with 405 votes.

In Ward 2, Roger Gay, who has not held elected office, won over 12-term Councilor Leslie Smith Jr. by a vote of 227-198.

In Ward 3, political newcomer William Doyle beat Councilor Thomas Roughan, who was appointed to the council in July to serve out the remainder of Brunswick’s term. Doyle had 256 votes, and Roughan had 65 votes.

Ward 4 Councilor Kevin Roche held off a challenge from Michael Burman, an associate professor at the University of New England, to win a second term by a vote of 446-320.

Eleven-term Ward 5 Councilor Art Tardif lost by three votes to political newcomer Alan Minthorn, an insurance company owner. There will be a recount because of the small margin. The vote was 260-257.

In Ward 6, longtime Councilor Eric Cote won his race against Bryan Courtois by a vote of 305-164. Cote, a former mayor, has served nine terms on the council.

Ward 7 Councilor Nathan Johnston was elected to a second term over Richard LaRue, a University of New England professor, by a vote of 210-159.

Voters also elected seven school board members, but results were not available Tuesday night. Incumbent Stanley Mozden lost to challenger Theodore Sirois by a vote of 162 to 279 in the only contested race. Incumbents Edna Ben-Ami (247 votes), Kevin Lafortune (642 votes), Michel O’Hayon (388 votes) and Elizabeth Johnston (299 votes) all ran unopposed for re-election. Write-in candidate Garrett Abrahamson received 31 votes in Ward 1.

Two of three bond referendums on the ballot failed.

Residents voted 1,779 to 1,753 against spending $870,000 to relocate the transfer station and make recreational infrastructure improvements. They also rejected a proposal to spend $995,000 to fix Lincoln Street by a vote of 1,992 to 1,491.

Voters did give officials the OK to borrow $450,000 for energy-efficiency improvements to city and school facilities. That question passed by a vote of 2,386 to 1,162.

Gillian Graham can be contacted at 791-6315 or at:

ggraham@pressherald.com

Twitter: @grahamgillian