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A South Portland native, Mayor Gerard Jalbert is hanging up his gavel after many years of city service.

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SOUTH PORTLAND – As mayor, Gerard “Jerry” Jalbert has led the city of South Portland through a tumultuous year, including overseeing the process that led to the controversial ban on tar sands oil.

Now he’s ready to step down and let someone else take up the reins. Earlier this summer Jalbert declared he would not run for re-election to the City Council this fall, leaving his District 5 seat open.

In all, Jalbert has given 20 years of service to the city, serving on various boards and commissions, as well as one, three-year term on the City Council.

Jalbert was born in Caribou, where his father was a sergeant in the motor pool at Loring Air Force Base. But the family moved to South Portland when he was 2, so Jalbert considers the city to be his hometown.

Other than a short stint in the Army, Jalbert has lived and worked in South Portland his whole life. He has three adult sons and five grandchildren.

At 61, Jalbert said he’s ready to “enjoy life” and spend his free time on favorite activities like kayaking, bike riding and more, although he still works full time as a reverse mortgage specialist.

This week, Jalbert spoke with the Current about his long years of service to South Portland and why he is not running for re-election.

Q: What other boards and committees have you served on?

A: In addition to the City Council, I have served on the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Planning Board, the Long Creek Watershed Management District and the Zoning Improvements Committee. I have been the chairman of the Zoning Board three times, the Planning Board once and also been the president of the Long Creek group.

Q: Why aren’t you running again?

A: I’ve had a lot of people ask me if I am sick of the politics, but that is not the case at all. It’s just that I’ve been working for the city of South Portland for a long time and now I want to take the time to enjoy life.

The time commitment in serving on the council, and particularly as mayor, is enormous. I now want to spend my free time doing things I enjoy and I am fortunate enough to be able to still be very active.

I am also dealing with some personal issues, including a divorce. So, basically, I am done with my political career.

Q: Why is public service important?

A: I think public service is important because you can really make a difference. I think people often take too many things for granted, but it takes planning and resource management to ensure the city has things like snowplowing, trash pickup, a community pool and parks and trails.

We have those things because people gave their time and effort. These things don’t just happen. I think once you become involved you begin to understand what it means to be empowered, to do good and make a difference in the community.

I have a legacy of service from my mother, who volunteered at St. John’s church for decades, as well as at the Maine Medical Center. She taught my sisters and I to be there for our neighbors, to help out and to fulfill our commitments.

Q: What are you most proud of in your year as mayor and your time on the City Council?

A: I think what I am most proud of is that I tried to stay away from pushing my own agenda. As a councilor it’s important to respond to the needs of the people.

I am also really proud of how the city has dealt with the whole tar sands-pipeline issue. I think we have a solid ordinance and that we did the right thing. We ended up with an excellent decision and I am proud of the process I guided.

It took a lot of work behind the scenes to keep people respectful. I also think I lent a great deal of leadership to a process that could have been an absolute mess.

This fall, I plan to take a leadership role in fighting the proposal to legalize marijuana in South Portland. I think what I’ve learned in my years of public service, though, is that you can have influence, but not control. Control is an illusion.

My goal, overall, has been to respond to the people and to the issues that arise and to try and find a pragmatic solution, not a solution that’s based on ideology.

Being a councilor, or mayor, is all about relating to people and taking the time to understand where they are coming from. That’s the key. I think this council, in particular, has a high level of perception and is very responsive to the people.

But the past year hasn’t been all about me. All of us councilors sat down at the table and worked things out. In all, though, I think I was confident and prepared to be mayor.

Q: What makes South Portland special?

A: I think one of the reasons that this community is special is that it is always changing and that private investment has consistently followed public infrastructure improvements.

I think you can see that in Knightville and I think when the sewer separation work is done in Thornton Heights we’ll see the same thing there. These public and private investments help both sectors to do better and leads to keeping neighborhoods vital.

Although he’s only served one term on the South Portland City Council and one year as mayor, Gerard Jalbert has a long history of service to the city.