enlarge John Ewing/Staff Photographer

Councilor Nick Mavodones will be Portland’s new mayor, his third time around.

enlarge John Ewing/Staff Photographer

City Councilor Nick Mavodones was elected as Portland’s next mayor at a City Council meeting Monday night. Councilors broke with the tradition of giving the post to the most senior council member who had not yet held the job. Councilors passed over Green Independent Party member David Marshall to hand the gavel to Mavodones for a third time.

PORTLAND — City councilors chose Nicholas Mavodones Jr. on Monday as Portland's next mayor. It's the third time the council has given Mavodones the job.

Once again, the council broke with tradition to keep a member of the Green Independent Party from being mayor.

In the past, councilors took turns being mayor, giving the gavel to the most senior member who had yet to take the post.

But this year and last year, the council bypassed Green party members who were next in line.

Last year, the council gave the post to Jill Duson, a Democrat who had held the post before, bypassing Councilors David Marshall and Kevin Donoghue.

On Monday, David Marshall, a Green, was the only declared candidate besides Mavodones. He was the most senior councilor who had yet to be mayor, except for Kevin Donoghue, a Green who didn't want the job.

After the council selected Mavodones, a Democrat, at its caucus, Marshall said the selection showed that the tradition of giving every councilor a turn as mayor was a "fallacy."

"The reality is that you need to get the majority of votes to be mayor," he said.

Mavodones said there never really was a tradition of allowing councilors to take turns as mayor.

The job is largely ceremonial. The mayor speaks for the council, appoints committees and chairs council meetings

The vote on Monday was unanimous, in keeping with the council's tradition of deciding the matter before the caucus begins.

Councilor Cheryl Leeman was mentioned as a candidate, but on Monday she said she never sought the job. Leeman, a Republican, had been mayor in the past.

Mavodones will not become mayor until Dec. 7, when the council will meet for the first time after the swearing-in of re-elected Councilors Mavodones, Marshall and Donoghue.

Mavodones, 49, has served on the City Council since 1997. He also served for six years on the School Committee.

A commission is now considering changing the city's charter to give the mayor more authority, possibly by empowering voters to select the mayor in a citywide election.

The commission plans to ask voters next November to endorse its proposals.

Mavodones said the performance of the mayor and the council over the next year will influence how voters respond to proposals to change the city's form of government.

He said his experience on the School Committee and council will help as the city faces one of its most difficult budget years since the early 1990s.

Duson said she asked Mavodones to run for mayor in part because he will keep the council from becoming divisive.

"He has the ability to interact with all of us," she said.

Staff Writer Tom Bell can be contacted at 791-6369 or at:

tbell@pressherald.com