SCARBOROUGH – The two newly elected members of the Scarborough Town Council have already pledged to focus on keeping residents better informed of what’s happening, being more transparent in their decision-making and building collaborative relationships.

During last week’s election, voters in Scarborough chose Shawn Babine, Peter Hayes and incumbent Kate St. Clair to fill the three open seats on the town’s governing board.

Babine, who has served on the council previously, was the top vote getter. St. Clair was the sole incumbent to be re-elected to office, and Hayes is a political newcomer, who made accountability one of his key campaign issues.

This week, Babine and Hayes thanked the voters for their support and said their goals include creating a culture where residents feel their voices will be heard, respected and appreciated.

In addition, both said they are committed to providing more fiscal responsibility in terms of budgeting and taxes. St. Clair did not respond to a request for comment prior to the Current’s deadline.

Overall, Babine said, “Locally, I think we have a very clear message. The citizens of Scarborough want their councilors to find the best solution, using the right resources, while taking the least costly approach.”

In terms of changes he would like to see in town governance, Babine said, “I will ask that the council be more communicative and more collaborative in building stronger local, state and regional relationships.”

He said the most important relationships needing strengthening are with the school board; ecomaine, the facility where the town sends its household waste and recycling; the Maine Municipal Association and the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners.

In addition, Babine said he would like the council to “employ a stronger governance structure around its work, including how we manage committee assignments, participation and oversight. Councilors, especially those appointed as a committee chair, should have greater accountability to the council as a whole.”

Babine would also like the council to “move faster and more efficiently in managing its routine business so that we can move on to more innovative policy research and community initiatives.”

One of his first goals is to create a “program that would allow Scarborough seniors, over a certain age, to successfully age in place. I hope (this) program gives a resident the ability to live in (their) home and community safely, independently and comfortably regardless of age, income or ability level.”

Hayes believes that the election will lead to changes at the council level and said, “changes have already started to occur in response to some of the comments made by those seeking election. In particular, the council is already focusing on improving communication with their constituency and becoming more transparent in how they conduct the town’s business.”

He added, “I believe new leadership can bring a fresh look at issues that will positively influence outcomes. In particular, the two newly elected councilors bring strong financial and corporate business experience. This expertise provides a different perspective, approach and discipline to the budget approval process.”

Hayes said what he heard the most from residents during the campaign is that they would like the council to “create an environment where residents feel they are fully informed, are given an opportunity to fully participate in sharing their views about pending issues and that the council’s decisions represent the majority view.”

As part of his goal of keeping residents fully informed, Hayes said, “I feel we have a tremendous opportunity to explore leveraging social media, survey tools and other modes of communication to better engage residents.”

In all, he said, “In my experience, successful outcomes are based on building trusted relationships where acting with integrity, honesty and ethics are critical. I plan to do my best to do the right thing for the residents of Scarborough.”

One immediate impact of the election was the decision by the group Scarborough Families for the Responsible Placement of Cell Towers to suspend its petition drive to overturn recent changes regarding the siting of new cell towers.

A post on the group’s Facebook page, dated Nov. 5, says, “(we) have decided not to move forward with the petition. We will still be involved in trying to get the Town Council to amend the ordinance. Two new councilors were elected: Peter Hayes and Shawn Babine, who I think will be willing to continue to improve the ordinance. We lost one vote with Jim Benedict, but we gained two (and Kate St. Clair is still there), so we think these folks will listen and work with us a little bit better.”

Hayes called the process by which the new cell tower rules were approved a prime example of the council not listening to the majority and not being transparent.

This week, he said, “I think the cell tower issue is a good example of what I have already talked about and illustrative of an opportunity to adopt a different approach and process for the council.”

For example, Hayes said, “The night of the council vote every resident that spoke asked the council to take additional time to address their concerns. This is a solid indication that the council should go back and revisit this issue and work with our community to get an outcome that creates a better balance.”

While Hayes said he would be willing to revisit the new cell tower rules right away, Babine said he would be more “comfortable in moving the community’s focus to monitoring the impact of the new ordinance and getting feedback on how those changes will be enforced, monitored and possibly amended.”

According to Councilor Bill Donovan, the new cell tower rules are set to take effect on Nov. 15 and at last week’s council meeting, he said at this point the Planning Board is “satisfied that the ordinance is well crafted.”