Brendan Rielly, a Westbrook city councilor for more than 17 years and council president for the last 14, won’t seek re-election when his term expires next year.

Rielly, 48, said he decided not to seek re-election because he didn’t want to get to the point where he no longer had the necessary drive for the position, or had trouble coming up with new ideas.

He contemplated not running four years ago, but was persuaded to seek re-election by his youngest daughter, Maura, who wanted to serve as the student representative on the council with her father. His two other children, Morgan and Shannon, had also served as student representatives to the council.

“One of my highlights is serving with my kids,” he said.

The Westbrook native is a partner at Jensen Baird Gardner & Henry, a Portland law firm, and also writes mystery novels. His book, “An Unbeaten Man,” won a 2016 Literary Award for Crime Fiction.

During his time on the council, the city has changed dramatically, Rielly said. It has transformed itself from strictly a mill town – the S.D. Warren (now Sappi) paper mill used to provide 60 percent of the city’s tax base and is down to 4 percent now – and has drawn new residents, including an increasing number of immigrant families. The city is on solid ground economically and schoolchildren now have a chance to experience people from different cultures.

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Rielly said one of the highlights of his time on council came right after he was first elected in 2000. The council chair asked him to head up a panel weighing extending equal rights protection to people regardless of sexual orientation, a controversial proposal at the time.

“We had a packed room and emotions were pretty high and we sent the message that we would take up this issue in a respectful manner,” Rielly said, and Westbrook became one of the first communities in Maine to extend the protections.

He said he’s also proud that Westbrook is “one of the few towns to survive the near-death of its mill,” believes that the city protected neighborhoods from encroaching development and feels that the council has fostered a good working relationship with the school committee.

“We’ve worked really hard to create an economy that works for everyone in Westbrook,” Rielly said, and has focused on keeping tax rates low while also making sure schools and city services were funded adequately.

Rielly said his biggest regrets are not providing more resources for economic development and not providing more funding for school programs.

“Tax money has to be considered both scarce and sacred,” he said. “In an ideal world, we would be doing more. I think we’re doing a great job, but we always need more tools.”

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Rielly said he might consider re-entering politics in a few years, possibly running for the Legislature. More immediately, he plans to spend some time finishing a new thriller and savoring nearly two decades of public service.

“It really is a wonderful way to get to know your hometown,” he said.

Edward D. Murphy can be contacted at 791-6465 or at:

emurphy@pressherald.com


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