By Zack Anchors
Staff Writer
    Since Claude Morgan was inaugurated as Mayor of South Portland last month, six of the seven members of the current city council have now served as mayor at some point in their tenures (only Councilor Kay Loring has not). Morgan, a former journalist and painter who has represented District One on the council since 2005, is a relatively new face on a council with some members who have served off and on for decades. The extensive experience of the current council, said Morgan, made his nomination as mayor all the more meaningful.
    “It’s a tremendous honor that these people would trust me with this position,” said Morgan in an interview last Tuesday at One-Fifty Ate. “It’s a thrill being mayor.”
    Morgan said the role of Mayor in South Portland, though it does include defined duties, is largely what one makes of it. Under South Portland’s system, in which the council elects one of their own for one-year terms as mayor, the City Manager takes on the main responsibilities for the day-to-day operations of the city, while the mayor’s position is somewhat symbolic.
    “There’s as much work as you can make for yourself,” said Morgan of being mayor. “Besides the titular duties—kissing babies, speechifying—there are specific responsibilities. The organization of agendas for the meetings is something [City Manager] Ted [Jankowski] and I sit down each week and do.”
    One of the most publicly visible duties of the mayor is to serve as chair of the bi-weekly council meetings, which are run under the guidance of Robert’s Rules of Parliamentarian Procedure, rules that Morgan said he is still getting the hang of. He said that a crucial aspect of being an effective mayor is running the meetings fairly and efficiently, or as he put it, “to organize the cacophony of ideas.” 
    Morgan, who moved to the Willard Beach neighborhood from Portland six years ago, currently works for Kennebunk-based Yake Associates as an investigator into corporate finances.
    “I work as a private investigator—that’s what floats me,” said Morgan. “Most of what I do is what we call shareholder/bondholder derivative action. … Our clientele is all out-of-state. I make sure I have no work that overlaps with my connections to South Portland or my constituents.”
     For much of the last decade Morgan has worked as a journalist, writing for publications ranging from the San Francisco Chronicle to the New Scientist.
    “At one point I began carrying around sound equipment,” said Morgan. “I pitched some stories to Maine Public Radio and National Public Radio and they picked them up.”        Eventually Morgan got a job as news anchor for WMTW news radio based in Portland. Morgan has given up his career in journalism for now, but he said the experience has served him well in his work as a city councilor.
    “You have to love the interaction with people,” he said. “If you don’t have that you’re a failed journalist. ... And frankly, a lot of city government is also about effective communication”
    Morgan’s first foray into politics began after he noticed what he described as an imbalance on the city council and decided to run for the District One council seat.
    “My own personal politics comes out of the progressive side of the Democratic Party,” said Morgan. “I believe in social progressivism, but I’m also kind of fiscally conservative. I believe it’s your money to spend, not mine. I got into the race because I didn’t see that kind of voice emerging–a voice that would be open to progressivism.”
    Morgan describes the current council as being made up of a diverse mix of political perspectives, but he says that despite differences all the individuals work together remarkably well. In fact, he said the councilors have become fond of meeting socially beyond the hours they spend together on city business.
    “We’ve got quite the coffee circuit going on with this council,” said Morgan. “We all do come from different places, but we are a good, solid team.”
    Although he embraces progressivism as his political foundation, Morgan said that in politics–and especially municipal politics–it’s often important to be able to keep an open mind.
    “For example, it may turn out that social progressivism has nothing to do with the budget process,” said Morgan. “When people have been pushed aside, and not been reelected, it’s often because they have put their ideals above the city’s business.”
    Morgan said he does not see himself attempting a jump up the political hierarchy and running for any state offices, although he admits that he only considered running for city council a month before the election. He said he likes the directness of city politics, and the frequent interaction with constituents.
    “Municipal politics is in-your-face. It’s the gravel pit of the political machine. It’s unfiltered,” said Morgan. “When I look at what you could call higher offices all I see is adding filters in the way.”
    Like his view of the city council, Morgan sees South Portland as a whole as made up of a mix of political ideologies and backgrounds. He said much of the city’s political landscape is defined by the city’s literal geography, particularly through a tendency for the city’s west and east end’s to hold different interests.
    “I wouldn’t say we have political polarity but we do have a geographic polarity,” said Morgan. “When it comes down to it, it doesn’t matter if you’re a young liberal progressive and your neighbor is a 80-year old former John Bircher–chances are you’re going to be shoveling her driveway. ... Overall we have an active, astute and studious constituency.”
    In his inaugural speech last month, Morgan identified police staffing issues and the need for the city to shift to a sustainable energy base as major priorities he would pursue during his term as mayor. Another issue with deep roots in South Portland that he has become enthusiastic about involves the allocation of state and federal funding to the city.
    “From the state’s perspective, they look at us and say, ‘they have everything,’” said Morgan. “The Fairchilds, the Nationals–that’s huge, but that revenue is being funneled away from us.”
    Morgan credits incoming Councilor Jim Soule with bringing the issue of inequitable state funding to the forefront of the city’s agenda. Morgan also thinks that the new City Manager, Ted Jankowski, will help with the matter.
    “We have a great one-two punch with Jim Soule and Ted Jankowski,” said Morgan.
    Soule, said Morgan, brings a deep background in South Portland city politics and a devotion to matters like the need to revamp the state’s school funding formula, while Jankowski brings to the table the political connections and broad knowledge needed to pursue fairer allocations of state and federal funds.
    Morgan said the council’s decision to hire Jankowski, after a lengthy search process, has already proven to be a wise action.
    “Ted brings a fascinating package,” said Morgan. “He’s been around the block a number of years and is someone who is savvy enough to work all the rungs on the ladder. He has a remarkably calming influence. And he’s already making bold moves for our economic and social future.”
    Among the ideas that Jankowski has brought up, said Morgan, is the notion that South Portland should make an effort to better forge an identity for itself–to create for itself a marketable brand, in a sense.
    “It is very important to be able to provide a distinct voice,” said Morgan, adding that he expects an exploratory committee to be created at some point to explore the idea.
    Morgan said the council had its work set out for it in sorting through the 70 applications they received for the city manager position.
    “There were a few folks that really rose to the top,” said Morgan. “And there were some that we could dismiss—the crazy actress who thought her career could transition.”
    Having a strong city manager makes the council’s job much easier, said Morgan. But he added that most councilors easily earn the $3,000 stipend they receive.
    “Most councilors I know work around 20 hours a week,” said Morgan. “It requires some sophisticated organizational skills. [Councilor] Linda Boudreau is like a filing cabinet that goes back 20 years. … Council work is, above all, a willingness to put in the time.”