"I'm very excited about serving again," Mr. Simeone said. He said he had noticed a renewal of community spirit, with more people attending council meetings and a citizens group successfully raising money and lobbying for the opening of the swimming pool this summer. Of being a Republican chosen unanimously by Democrats in that July 3 vote, he said: "As a rule, politics means nothing here except around election time. We're not Democrats or Republicans on council. We're Dormonters." Mr. Simeone is a retired sales engineer for a company which mainly sold piping.