City Councel Members Stepping Down

Anyone who has ambitions to serve on the Glasgow City Council should plan to file this year because two or perhaps three seats will become vacant.

Councilmen Neil Chouinard and Melanie Sorensen have announced that they will not run for re-election when their terms expire this year.

Chouinard has represented Ward I, northwest Glasgow, for 10 years. He was appointed in 2003 to fill the unexpired term of Ed Tipton, who resigned to run for mayor. Chouinard was elected to full terms in 2005 and 2009.

He said the reason he wanted to be on the Council was because of his interest in the Glasgow Fire Department, which he served from 1979 until he retired 2001. He continued training firefighters and decided to help them from a position on the Council.

Now his day job managing the meat department at Reynolds Market takes more and more time, and it’s time for someone else to take over, he said.

“My ride with the city has been fun,” he said.

Melanie Sorensen in Ward 3, the south side, was appointed to an unexpired term in 2007 when Ky Idler moved out ot town. She was then elected in 2009.

“There are a lot of different reasons,” she said. “It’s time for someone else to take over. I haven’t accomplished what I intended.”

Councilman Dan Carr, who was appointed last summer when Norm Girard resigned, said he did not know if he would file for election this year. Ward 2 is the northeast part of town.

Mayor Dan Carney’s term also expires this year. He has not made a public announcement of his intentions.