ATTLEBORO - New city council President Frank Cook and new Vice President Walter Thibodeau made new leaders the rule of the new term by changing all committee chairmanships except one.

Under the new lineup, only public works Chairman Peter Blais kept his seat.

And, while the shakeup was mostly voluntary, Councilor Kim Allard, the chairwoman of the public safety committee, made it clear she wanted to keep her job, but was moved to the top spot on the license committee instead.

Councilor George Ross, a former chairman of public safety, will take over for Allard.

While Ross pushed to elect Cook and Thibodeau to the leadership posts, Cook said the change in public safety was not politically motivated. No deals were made for votes, he said.

Assignments were made on the "skill sets" of councilors, and what was considered to be "in the best interests of the city," Cook said.

"I didn't make the decisions based on politics," he said.

"None of the assignments were made to punish or reward anybody. Overall, the vast majority (of councilors) were quite satisfied with their assignments," Cook, the new council president, said.

Nonetheless, Allard said she was upset by the change, which also removed her from the committee.

"I'm deeply saddened by this, but I've always been an advocate for public safety, and I will continue to be," she said "I have every intention of continuing to work with (public safety departments) as I have to this point."

Meanwhile, Ross said he was "flattered" to be reassigned the job he previously held for eight years.

"I'll do my best to keep things moving forward on public safety and emergency management," he said.

He said he was not promised the public safety spot.

"I would have done anything," he said of the various committee jobs. "And Frank knows that." Ross said he'll push to get more funding for critical public safety needs through the budget and grants.

Cook said he also had an eye on broadening the experience of all councilors by his assignments.

In line with that philosophy, Thibodeau voluntarily stepped out his 10-year chairmanship of the transportation and traffic committee to take the lead role in the personnel and human services committee.

Cook also wanted to team a freshman councilor in the chairman's job with a veteran councilor in the vice chairman's job wherever possible.

Freshman Councilor Michael Sullivan will take the transportation job, but Thibodeau will be vice chairman to help him along.

Cook made a similar move with the property committee, which was assigned to rookie Shannon Heagney, but where veteran Brian Kirby, a former property chairman, will serve as vice chairman.

Cook, who as council president has absolute power to make committee assignments, said the job was made more difficult because none of the 10 councilors who will serve as committee chairmen volunteered to serve as chairmen of the license, zoning, property or ordinance committees.

All councilors submitted a form listing their first and second preferences for chairmanships.

Cook made the decisions in consultation with Thibodeau.

The full list of committee assignments are as follows. The first councilor named is the chairman, the second name is the vice chairman.

Budget and Appropriations: Bill Bowles, Bill Bergevine and Kirby.

Capital Improvements and City Development: Kirby, Allard and Sullivan.

City Property and Claims: Heagney, Kirby and Gerry Chase.

Licenses: Allard, Blais and Thibodeau.

Ordinances: Chase, Bowles and Heagney.

Personnel and Human Services: Thibodeau, Heagney and Ross.

Public Safety: Ross, Chase and Bowles.

Public Works: Blais, Sullivan and Bergevine

Transportation and Traffic: Sullivan, Thibodeau and Allard.

Zoning: Bergevine, Ross and Blais.