Linda Cohen

Linda Cohen (born 1956) is an American politician from Maine. Cohen is a member of the South Portland, Maine City Council and a former mayor of that city.[1] She has also been the president of South Portland-Cape Elizabeth Chamber of Commerce, realtor and an executive with Bangor Savings Bank.[2]

Cohen grew up in Portland, living with her single mother in the then-dilapidated Old Port neighborhood and then after the age of nine in the Libbytown neighborhood. Cohen and her family often relied on public assistance. She later attended Southern Maine Vocational Technical Institute in South Portland, where she earned an associate's degree in law enforcement. Cohen attempted to obtain a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern Maine several times before eventually doing so. She then went to work for the City of South Portland in the code enforcement division and later became City Clerk. She later held the same position in neighboring Portland, which she left in January 2011 to work in real estate.

During her time as Portland City Clerk, Cohen received several statewide and national honors; she was the 1999 Maine City Clerk of the Year and only the second Maine clerk to earn Master Municipal Clerk status from the International Institute of Municipal Clerks.[3]

In 2012, she was elected to a three-year term on the South Portland City Council, representing District 4. In 2014, she was elected to a single year term as mayor.[1] In 2015, she was replaced by Tom Blake. During Cohen's time as mayor, she was a proponent of a controversial ordinance that banned tar sands from traveling through the Portland–Montreal Pipe Line, the terminus of which occupies a 100 acre facility in South Portland.[4][5]

References

  1. 1 2 Bouchard, Kelley (December 1, 2014). "Rare insight, empathy guide new South Portland mayor". Portland Press Herald. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  2. ↑ Harrington, Duke (July 2, 2013). "Q&A with Linda Cohen, president of the South Portland-Cape Elizabeth Community Chamber". Keep Me Current. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  3. ↑ Murphy, Edward D. (December 1, 2010). "Portland City Clerk to resign". Portland Press Herald. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  4. ↑ Bouchard, Kelley (July 22, 2014). "South Portland approves law barring tar sands oil". Portland Press Herald. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  5. ↑ Harry, David (October 24, 2013). "South Portland waterfront ordinance: Tar sands shield, or oil industry silver bullet?". The Forecaster. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, April 21, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.