Kennebunk’s Select Board welcomes first female chair in over 30 years

KENNEBUNK, Maine — For the first time since the 1980s, and for only the second time in the history of the town, a woman is now leading the Kennebunk Select Board .

Miriam Whitehouse is the new chair of the Select Board, following a unanimous appointment from her colleagues during their first meeting of the new fiscal year in July.

Whitehouse, currently serving her first term, is the first woman to take the helm of the town’s top elected body since Dorothy Stevens, who rose to the position in 1984 and remained there through reappointments through 1987, according to local officials. Stevens was the first female in the post in the history of the community.

For Whitehouse, the chairpersonship is the latest development of her first foray into local elected politics. A resident of the community since the late 1970s, Whitehouse decided to seek office in 2022 after she became politically involved in opposing efforts to recall a RSU 21 School Board member .

Whitehouse said fellow Select Board member Lisa Pratt encouraged her to run at the time. Whitehouse considered the local landscape, noting that then-town manager Michael Pardue had announced he would be leaving his position, and decided to throw her hat into the proverbial ring.

“I kind of saw that things were about to change,” Whitehouse said. “And I thought, well, then maybe I would be interested in being involved in that change.”

More: RSU 21 HR director resigns citing 'highly unprofessional' conduct in school district

Voters elected Whitehouse to the Select Board two summers ago during an election that resulted in a female majority on the board for the first time since Kennebunk formed as a town in 1820.

Seated in one of the Adirondack chairs at the top of the steps of the Kennebunk Town Hall on July 30, Whitehouse offered her take on why it took four long decades for another woman to be named chair of the Select Board.

“This town has changed dramatically since the 1970s,” she said. “It has gotten much more liberal in its politics and progressive in its attitudes.”

Whitehouse said she can remember times when the Select Board only had a woman or two serving and can recall them not necessarily being treated with respect.

“It was pretty outrageous,” she said. “I was just astounded. But it was just accepted.”

Whitehouse said the position of Select Board chair is as high as she wants to go in government. She said she has no interest in seeking a post at the state level.

“I don’t like being the center of attention,” she said. “I absolutely hate politics. I have no stomach for that. But what I love about town government is the one-on-one talking to people. You can actually make a difference. You can make a change, and you can hear what people are saying about something and respond.”

York County real estate: 2 homes sell for near-record $8.4M as median price hits $553,700

Leadership philosophy: Whitehouse’s role as Select Board chair

Whitehouse acknowledged that she could be presiding over the Select Board when voters decide in November whether to approve a change in the local form of government.

The Charter Commission is recommending Kennebunk becomes a town council-town manager form of government. Under that scenario, voters would remain the approving authority for budgets and fiscal borrowing but would hand the power over land-use proposals to the council. However, voters would have an option that would allow them to pursue an override of any such council votes.

Whether she ultimately remains a Select Board chair or becomes a town council one, Whitehouse has a set approach to how she sees her new position.

“I see the chair as someone who just provides guidance, not direction,” she said. “I guess I just feel it is my job to set an example.”

Whitehouse provided a glimpse of where she has found inspiration for leadership and how she personally approaches questions and problems that need to be solved.

When it comes to discussion among board members, Whitehouse said she likes the example set by her predecessor, former Select Board Chair Shiloh Schulte, who decided not to seek another term during the annual town election this past June.

“One thing Shiloh always did was he spoke last,” Whitehouse said. “I really admired that. Basically, if you speak first, as some chairs did, then you are kind of sending a message to your board: This is what I want you to do. This is how I want you to vote. I just don’t think that’s appropriate. I agree with encouraging conversation and debate.”

As for finding answers and solving problems, Whitehouse said she draws from the thought process she learned and followed during her career as a microbiologist.

“Microbiology is like solving a mystery,” she said. “You’re looking for a pathogen that has caused an infection. Each one has different characteristics, so you have to be looking for clues. You keep narrowing your search until you come up with an identification. Thinking that way means you have to have an open mind. You may have an idea where you’re going, but you have to go through those steps to prove it. It’s an organized way of thinking, and it’s based on fact.”

Looking to the year ahead, Whitehouse named climate change as the top challenge she and her colleagues and the town will be working to address. Currently, she said the town is seeking new members to serve on the Climate Action Committee , whose charge is to enact the plan created by the local Climate Change Task Force.

“Last winter showed us how serious things are,” Whitehouse said, referring to the two storms in January that battered the town’s coastline and caused extensive damage. “It’s just going to keep happening, and we have to adapt.”

More: Kennebunk Charter Commission proposing town council government

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kennebunk’s Select Board welcomes first female chair in over 30 years