LEBANON — The City Council voted unanimously on Wednesday to elect Tim McNamara as the city’s mayor.
McNamara, who has served as assistant mayor for the past two years, will succeed Sue Prentiss, who is stepping down from the role but will continue serving as a councilor.
“This is truly an honor and a humbling experience for me, and I hope to do as well as my predecessor,” McNamara said after the election, adding that it’s his hope the council will continue to act as a team.
The Lebanon School Board also elected its leadership on Wednesday. The nine-member group voted, 8-0, to elect Wendy Hall as chairwoman. Hall abstained from the vote.
She will replace outgoing Chairman Adam Nemeroff, who was unanimously elected vice chairman, while board member Erin Marody was selected to become secretary.
McNamara, a West Lebanon native and retired Navy Reserve officer, was first elected to the City Council in 1994, and served for a year before stepping down because of family and military obligations.
He is a past chairman of the city’s Planning Board and rejoined the council in 2015 after winning an at-large seat being vacated by the late Nicole Cormen.
McNamara now works as associate director of facilities, operations and management at Dartmouth College, his alma mater, and sits on the board of the Lebanon Area Chamber of Commerce.
As mayor, he will be responsible for setting the City Council agenda, running meetings and representing Lebanon at events and in Concord. He’ll also head the governance committee, a working group comprising the council’s three most senior members.
City Councilor Clifton Below, a former Democratic state senator and Public Utilities Commissioner, was elected to become assistant mayor, replacing McNamara in that role.
As mayor, Prentiss oversaw several major initiatives, including the hiring of City Manager Shaun Mulholland in early 2018, the creation of an Arts and Culture Commission and efforts to clean up the historic Westboro Rail Yard.
“I think that Mayor Prentiss has indeed left Lebanon in a greater place than it was when she first started,” said Councilor Karen Liot Hill, a former Lebanon mayor, during Wednesday’s meeting.
Prentiss said she is stepping down because of work and travel commitments. Last year, Prentiss was hired as executive director of the American Trauma Society, which requires her to sometimes make the trek to the nonprofit’s headquarters outside Washington, D.C.
“I’m most proud of being a councilor and working with the entire council,” Prentiss said in a phone interview on Wednesday. “I’m just one of nine that has advanced some important issues.”
The City Council will hold its first regular meeting after this month’s election at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 3, while the School Board held its first meeting Wednesday night.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.