John Menario (September 18, 1935 - January 31, 2019) was an American banker and city administrator.

Personal and early life

Menario was born in

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

on September 18, 1935, to Gladys and Michael Menario. The family moved to neighboring

Falmouth, Maine Falmouth is a New England town, town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 12,444 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is part of the Portland, Maine, Portland–South Portland, Maine, South Portland&ndas ...

, where Menario studied in Falmouth public schools from grades 7–12. He graduated from Falmouth High School. He served in the U.S. army during the end of the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. After leaving the army, Menario returned to Maine, where he studied public management at the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

. He earned a M.A. from the

Fels Institute of Government The Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania is a graduate school of public policy and public management. Founded in 1937 by Samuel Simeon Fels of the Fels Naptha Soap Company, the Fel Institute prepares its students for pub ...

at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. Menario began working for the City of Portland as assistant to the City Manager in 1962. Thereafter, he served as finance director for the City and, in 1966, he became City Manager. During his time as City Manager, Menario oversaw significant

urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...

of Portland's downtown neighborhoods, including the razing of Portland's

Little Italy Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian culture. There are s ...

neighborhood in favor of Franklin Street arterial. He led Portland into the

Model Cities Program The Model Cities Program was an element of U.S. President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society and War on Poverty. The concept was presented by labor leader Walter Reuther to President Johnson in an off-the-record White House meeting on May 20, 1965. In ...

. After leaving the position of City Manager, Menario worked for the Portland Chamber Commerce, led two campaigns to save

Maine Yankee Nuclear Power Plant Maine Yankee Nuclear Power Plant was a nuclear power plant built at an 820-acre site on Bailey Peninsula of Wiscasset, Maine, in the United States. It operated from 1972 until 1996, when problems at the plant became too expensive to fix. It was ...

, which faced two citizen referendums seeking its closure. In

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

, Menario ran for

Governor of Maine The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive. The current governor of Maine is Ja ...

as an unenrolled (independent). His campaign focused on the need to keep Maine Yankee open. He finished in 4th and final place, receiving 14.9% of the vote. After running for Governor, Menario was hired as CEO of Peoples Heritage Bank in Portland.

References

1935 births Living people Politicians from Portland, Maine People from Falmouth, Maine United States Army personnel of the Korean War University of Maine alumni Fels Institute of Government alumni City managers of Portland, Maine Maine Independents Businesspeople from Portland, Maine United States Army soldiers Falmouth High School (Maine) alumni {{Maine-politician-stub