Mayor Nick Isgro, seen here during a May 2018 Waterville City Council meeting, has decided not to seek reelection this year. No replacement was selected during the Republican caucus on Monday. He has been mayor for six years. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel file

WATERVILLE — Mayor Nick Isgro said Tuesday that he does not plan to run for reelection in November, after having served six years in his seat.

“My oldest is going into high school and I’m taking a break to be with my family,” he said.

Isgro, a Republican, will have served two, three-year terms come November, a tenure that’s been marked by controversy and a failed effort to recall him from office.

Isgro said that when he ran for mayor, he had clear goals to accomplish. “I accomplished a lot of those and I’m certainly not going to run for office just to be in office,” he said.

When he was elected in 2014, Isgro said he wanted to bring more fiscal discipline to City Hall and help rebuild Waterville’s business base.

In 2018, he openly considered running for governor, but ultimately decided not to. A few months later, Isgro drew intense criticism for a tweet in which he told Florida school shooting survivor David Hogg to “Eat it.” In response, former Mayor Karen Heck and others started a petition drive that sparked the effort to recall Isgro from office.

But after surviving the recall election recall by a 91-vote margin (1,563 no to recalling him, to 1,472 yes), tensions remained high between him and city councilors. Isgro called on people involved in the recall, including four city councilors, to apologize and he blasted those “who chose to try to remove me instead of work with me, who sowed division instead of cooperation.”

Isgro said Tuesday that there is something to be said for having new people in office with fresh ideas and goals. He said he does not plan to run for any other seats in November.

Jay Coelho Morning Sentinel file photo by Michael G. Seamans

So far, the only person running for mayor in the election is Jay Coelho, a Democrat who was chosen as the nominee July 29 at the Democratic City Committee caucus. Coelho is a former city councilor who represented Ward 5.

Anyone else who wants to run for mayor must do so without party affiliation.

Meanwhile, the Waterville Republican Committee chose Shaun Caron at its caucus Monday to serve as the party’s committee chairman, replacing Cathy Weeks, who chose not to continue in that role. The Republicans did not nominate anyone to run for mayor.

Caron also was chosen to run on the November ballot as the Republican candidate for the Ward 2 City Council seat currently held by Flavia Oliveira, a Democrat.

The Waterville Republican Committee posted on its Facebook page Tuesday that Councilor Sydney Mayhew, R-Ward 4, will run for reelection to his seat. He will face challenger Rebecca Green, who was chosen July 29 by Democrats to run against him.

The post says no other Republican nominees were willing to run for other local seats in the November election, including seats on the City Council, Waterville Board of Education and Kennebec Water District.

At the Democratic caucus July 29, incumbent City Councilor Claude Francke, D-Ward 6, was chosen to run for reelection to his seat. Thom Klepach plans to run for a two-year term in Ward 3 to replace former Councilor Margaret Smith, who announced her resignation July 22.

Incumbent school board members Greg Bazakas of Ward 2 and Maryanne Bernier of Ward 4 were chosen by Democrats to run for three-year terms. Bazakas was appointed to the board in 2019 and defeated  Caron, who ran against him, in November.

Incumbent school board member Elizabeth Bickford of Ward 6 was absent from the caucus. Bickford accepted the nomination Tuesday.

Incumbent school board member Patricia Helm of Ward 1 plans to run for a one-year term and incumbent Spencer Krigbaum of Ward 5 is running for a two-year term.

Krigbaum was appointed unanimously to the board in June after former board member Julian Payne resigned. Democrats nominated Denise Bruesewitz and Sarah Whateley to run for two three-year seats on the Kennebec Water District board of directors.