Despite being a top elected official, Westbrook Mayor Bruce Chuluda sees himself as the guy the next door. He doesn’t like the spotlight and rarely speaks in superlatives – unless, of course, he’s talking about Profenno’s.

“Honest to God, I think it’s the best pizza,” he said last week.

Entering his third term as chief administrator for the city, Chuluda, a Republican, says he shares the same concerns as any involved citizen. Though he’s been criticized for failing to communicate with the mostly Democratic City Council – an issue that both sides say they are trying to put in the past – it’s his willingness to hear from the people of Westbrook that garners votes. Yet, as the citizens continue to elect the affable mayor, officials remain troubled by his leadership abilities.

George Walker, who’s lived in town for 70 years, said Chuluda’s been more connected with the people than any mayor he’s seen before.

“Who else has his office open on Saturdays?” Walker said, referring to the first Saturday of every month, when Chuluda dedicates the morning to hearing the concerns and suggestions of the citizens. “He’s in touch with everybody,” Walker said.

Shirley Lavoie and Rita Bard, who are also lifelong residents of Westbrook, shared Walker’s sentiment.

“He’s a people person,” Lavoie said.

“If he’s somewhere, he’ll talk to you,” said Bard.

School Committee member Colleen Hilton agreed. “I think Bruce is a really good guy,” she said.

Hilton, however, didn’t endorse him for mayor. She supported his opponent, Jim Violette, because she was looking for “fresh, new energy and creative ideas.”

“I really think we need strong leadership in the city of Westbrook,” Hilton said.

Chuluda’s daughter, Lisa, said she still thinks some people don’t realize the extent of his dedication to the city and its people.

For nearly two years after her mother, Vickie, was diagnosed with cancer in July 2005, Lisa Chuluda said her father struggled between his roles as husband and mayor. Though he always accompanied his wife to her appointments and hospital visits, she said, he was constantly being kicked out of hospital rooms for taking cell phone calls from City Hall staff members, the council or citizens.

The culmination of that conflict came when a Patriot’s Day storm hit the state last April. The mayor left his wife in the hospital to go to meet with city staff at the public safety building in order make sure residents were safe. Two days later, she died.

“My mom’s wishes were that he was there instead of with her,” Lisa Chuluda said. “She wanted him to do what he loves.”

Communication breakdown

During the past term, the City Council was openly critical of the mayor, which came from frustration that projects such as implementing a recycling program in the city weren’t moving forward because the council and the mayor were at odds and neither would budge.

The council also felt as though they were kept out of the loop when city’s human resources director, Tina Crellin, resigned in September and was paid the remainder of her salary through June without the council’s approval.

“That just flabbergasted me at the time,” Councilor Drew Gattine said, adding that he still disputes “very strongly whether the mayor had the authority to write that check.”

The frustrations were expressed publicly right after the election, when both the mayor and the entire city council were re-elected.

Chuluda said he was “disturbed by some of the comments the councilors made” at the time.

Council President Brendan Rielly said he was “very disappointed with the mayoral results,” and Councilor Suzanne Joyce said she was hoping for Violette to win so the council and administration could work as a team.

Despite the frustrations of the council and the mayor, both have indicated that they are ready to move forward and have faith that they will be able to work together more effectively than in the past.

“You have to put these things aside when you’re elected,” Rielly said. “That’s what has to be done.”

“I just want to have a good working relationship,” said Joyce.

‘My city’

Chuluda choked back tears during his inaugural address Monday, as he looked to the sky and thanked his family. For the first time, Chuluda took the oath of office without his wife by his side.

Vickie Chuluda was responsible for bringing her husband to Westbrook.

“I always liked Maine,” said the mayor, who grew up in Massachusetts, but occasionally took trips to Old Orchard Beach or the midcoast region during his childhood.

He met his wife, a Westbrook native, in the 1970s when he was working for a household finance company in his home state. When her father died, the newlyweds were constantly coming to Westbrook to check on his house on Spring Street. Finally, they decided to move into the home themselves.

After 30 years of calling Westbrook home, Chuluda doesn’t consider himself a transplant.

“This is my city,” he said.

Chuluda, 59, who graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a degree in economics, took a job as a loan officer for Casco Northern Bank when he moved to Maine. Since then, he’s worked for Westbrook Mercy Hospital and L.L. Bean. His wife got a job with Westbrook schools, first working in the cafeteria before becoming a librarian at Saccarappa School, where she worked for two decades.

“They were best friends,” Lisa Chuluda said about her parents. She said they were always going out to dinner, going shopping or taking rides to the ocean.

“Anything to be together,” she said.

When his wife got sick, Chuluda took a part-time job with the Maine Turnpike Authority as a toll collector. Now, other than working his two jobs, watching golf and the occasional trip to Profenno’s for his favorite pie – “onion and pepper, extra crispy, easy cheese” – he doesn’t go out much.

“With my wife gone, I don’t have a real desire to leave the house,” he said.

Though his daughter and granddaughter, 1 1/2-year-old Madison, have plans to move in with him within the next year, for now he still needs some time to be alone, and, he said, “just do my mayor thing, I guess.”

Looking ahead

Talking about his goals for the next two years, Chuluda said he’d like to have more diverse businesses in town and increase the industrial and commercial base in the city. In his inauguration speech, he mentioned creating more affordable housing and shrinking government.

The only specific plan Chuluda brought forth was to hold a series of meetings around the city that would also include department heads and councilors, in order to make them more accessible to the people.

In terms of the council, Chuluda said, he thinks he’s been more communicative than any mayor before him.

“I think we all need to have an understanding of what our respective roles are,” he said. “We’re not always going to agree and that’s the way it is.”

To him, the fact that no other Republicans have tried to run against him indicates “that there’s some amount of satisfaction,” he said, in his typical, understated manner.

“I know I can’t make everyone happy,” he said. “I’m just a guy trying to do the best thing I can for the people of the city I love.”

Westbrook Mayor Bruce Chuluda is congratulated by Westbrook City Clerk Barbara L. Hawkes on Monday evening after he took the oath of office during his inauguration with his daughter, Lisa Chuluda, by his side.