Lisa Jonassen (Courtesy photo)
Westport Island Select Board member Lisa Jonassen attended her final meeting on Monday, June 29, concluding her three-year term on the board.
Jonassen said the decision not to seek reelection was bittersweet.
“I decided not to run mostly for personal reasons. I am at a place of transition in my life and need the time and space to focus inward,” she said. “If I can’t give my all to something, I would rather step aside and let someone else take over.”
Jonassen had joined the board during its own time of transition, as longstanding board member George Richardson retired after a 32-year term in office.
“That was disconcerting for many,” Jonassen said.”There was also a turnover in the office personnel that led to more change and upset to us humans who just don’t like change.”
Jonassen moved to Westport Island about eight years ago from New York and had never lived in a small town where everybody knows just about everyone in town, a concept she soon learned after becoming a member of the select board.
“Because we are a small town the imperative becomes even greater that we work together for the good of all,” she said. “Let’s not mirror what is happening in the rest of the country. We are a small island, connected to the mainland by a bridge, we need to stick together.”
Jonassen said there was no single thing she would point to as the most satisfying achievement during her time in office, but the culmination of lots of hard work and dedication from the team that shines the greatest.
“By team, I mean the select board members, town clerk, treasurer, municipal agent, committee members and volunteers,” she said. “They are all an integral part of our successes. I will be eternally grateful to them all.”
For Jonassen, the most difficult decisions the select board had to make were those that hurt the taxpayers in the wallet.
“We were always sensitive to the impact of our decision, yet wholeheartedly felt the changes we were making were absolutely necessary to ensure the health and prosperity of our town and its properties,” she said.
Select board members Donna Curry and Kim Lynch and other town officials present at the June 29 meeting expressed their appreciation to Jonassen for her dedication and service to the town, and that they will miss her very much.
Newly elected Westport Island Select Board member Sherre Nelson will have the first meeting of her term on Monday, July 13 in the community room of the town office, at 6 Fowles Point Road. The board will have a workshop at 5 p.m. followed by the meeting at 6 p.m. For more information, call 882-8477 or go to westportisland.gov/home.
