City Councilors Cheeny Plante and Pete Tranchemontagne were sworn in at the City Council’s Jan. 6 meeting.
Photo: Courtesy City of Sanford
By Zendelle Bouchard
In the typically brief first meeting of the new year, Sanford City Council began its 2026 session with the swearing in of new Councilor Charlene “Cheeny” Plante and reelected Councilor Pete Tranchemontagne. Maura Herlihy was reelected as Deputy Mayor by a unanimous vote of her fellow Councilors. They also reaffirmed the date and time of their meetings (first and third Tuesdays at 6 pm).
After more than twenty years, the Mayor and Council are getting a pay raise: the stipend for Mayor has been increased from $5,000 per year to $5,250, while the Council stipend is going up from $4,000 to $4,200.
Councilors were assigned to various Subcommittees and as representatives to other boards and committees as follows:
- Mayor Becky Brink will sit on the Homelessness Task Force as well as the Municipal Operations & Property and Appointments Subcommittees and the Land Bank Authority. She will also chair the Contract Negotiation Committee.
- Deputy Mayor Herlihy will chair the Property and Zoning Subcommittees and sit on the Oakdale Cemetery board, the Land Bank and the Appointments Subcommittee.
- Councilor Ayn Hanselmann will chair the Public Safety Subcommittee and sit on the Zoning Subcommittee, the Goodall Library board and the Growth Council board.
- Councilor Tranchemontagne will chair the Solid Waste Subcommittee and sit on the Public Safety and Airport Advisory Committees.
- Councilor Jonathan Martell will sit on the Dam Coalition and the Property and Public Safety Subcommittees.
- Councilor Nate Hitchcock will chair the Land Bank Authority and sit on the Solid Waste and Zoning Subcommittees, the Goodall Library board and the Sanford Springvale Development Corporation.
- Councilor Plante will sit on the Recreation Advisory Board as well as the Solid Waste and Appointments Subcommittees and the Dam Coalition.
The Council also voted to adopt its Rules and Order of Business (commonly called the Rules of Procedure) and Code of Conduct for the year. These documents will be reviewed for any suggested amendments when the Council holds its annual boardsmanship workshop in a few weeks.
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