Annette Babich wraps up time on Milton council

Annette Babich wanted to see through one last project before her time as Milton councilwoman was up: the relocation of murals formerly in Mill Park to locations around town.

The project was important to Babich because it served as the culmination of an initiative to bring public art to Milton, an accomplishment of which she is very proud. 

Babich announced she was stepping down from council in July due to conflicts of interest with her job working for a financial services company based in New York. She had served one year of a three-year term. 

The murals project, known as Greetings, had been on display in Mill Park since April, with its run ending in late July. Wanting to keep the paintings around town, Babich and the economic development committee, which she had chaired, sought alternative locations. The murals were all relocated to their locations by Aug. 2, including five placed on the Irish Eyes wall along Governor’s Walk, two at the fishing pier and four along the Rails to Trails. Babich said Wyoming Lumber helped contribute boards to hang the murals, while Walter Gurczenski of GEM Residential Services put them up. 

“People were asking, ‘What’s going to happen to the murals?’ They wanted to see them somewhere,” Babich said. 

Babich said she will remain involved around Milton. She was recently named president of the Milton Theatre board of directors.

“I love the theater. I think it's very important to the community,” she said. “I think one of the best things about this town is the theater, and I wanted to be involved with that. I think arts and culture is the heartbeat of this town.”

Babich said being on council gave her a good idea of what makes Milton tick. Having moved to Milton in 2018 from New York City, she said it was disappointing to not be able to finish her term and see through various projects with the economic development committee, whose creation she helped spearhead.

“It does bother me,” she said of having to leave the council. “But I didn’t have a choice.”

Still, Babich said she is hopeful that her work with the committee and the public art displays will continue. 

As for the seat Babich vacated, it will be filled with a candidate nominated by Mayor John Collier and approved by town council. Collier said there have been many interested candidates, and he intends to make the nomination in September. Whoever is selected to take the seat will serve the remaining two years on Babich’s term before it is slated to be contested again in 2025.