LEWISTON – Results of a May community building process may stay under wraps until September.

It could take that long for the city to issue a report on suggestions on the Lewiston Leads community building process.

Lewiston residents and workers met in a series of discussions in May coming up with suggestions to make the city more open to everyone. Those meetings culminated in specific recommendations, which were presented to the public in June.

Phil Nadeau, assistant city administrator, said he’s hoping to convene a committee of community residents and leaders in July to review those recommendations. That committee will issue a report to the City Council.

“I’m trying to get them together in the next couple of weeks,” he said. “I don’t expect to see anything concrete happen until at least September.

The effort began last fall, after Mayor Larry Raymond’s letter to Lewiston Somalis and the uproar that followed. Somalis complained the letter, which urged them to tell friends and family not to come to Lewiston, was bigoted and singled them out. The event drew national headlines until Raymond and Somali elders met.

A group of Somalis, city officials and members of the community began meeting regularly to discuss changes. The group settled on the Lewiston Leads process, which was led by the Department of Justice’s community relations department.

staylor@sunjournal.com