Before a sparsely-filled council chambers at Lewiston City Hall, Mayor Lionel Guay’s resignation was relayed to the public Monday through an impassioned, yet impartial, statement by Council President Renee Bernier. Talk focused on procedure, rather than reflection on who might be the first Lewiston mayor to resign mid-term.

Guay’s departure closes an interesting chapter in L-A history, as his brother, Normand, also ended his run this month as Auburn mayor. Together, the Guays promised to aerate L-A’s stagnant politics, and energize the region with their storybook election as the brother mayors of the Twin Cities.

“We’ve had a lifetime of resolving conflicts,” Normand Guay had said about Lionel’s run for mayor. His words were prophetic, as the mayoral tenures of the Guays might be remembered more for their scandals than achievements.

Lionel Guay’s trial, and exoneration, for inappropriate touching of an employee in his accounting firm put him through the public wringer. Normand’s Guay’s arrest, and exoneration, for drunken driving crystallized acrimony between the city and police during tough labor negotiations.

The heat of these incidents blurs the Guays’ real accomplishment: spurring an ongoing collaboration effort between the cities. The mayors’ Joint Services Commission is still working toward fruition.

The process has been bureaucratically unwieldy at times. Yet the Guays deserve credit for starting the process, and allowing Lewiston’s and Auburn’s officials to use the momentum. As figureheads, they gave the push. As leaders, they let their people do their jobs.

Years will pass before the collaboration’s impact is known. Today, the brothers’ record is mixed. They were popular and engaging mayors, but their legacy – hinging on the joint services commission’s outcome – could be little more than a political sideshow.

It was disappointing that Bernier spoke for Guay, who didn’t appear for the press conference Monday.

The timing of Guay’s resignation is also questionable, as it forces the city to perhaps schedule a special election to replace him. His health and stress concerns are important, without question, but a more workable solution could have been found to save taxpayers the expense of an additional referendum.

And we disagree with his description of the mayor’s job as mere “formality.” The mayor’s role is as spokesman and ambassador, and for a city trying to shed a reputation, like Lewiston, such a position carries great influence, if not political power.

Guay’s dedication to the community, through the Franco-American Heritage Center and the Festival de Joie is undebatable. His Monday no-show, however, raises questions about his dedication to the mayor’s job.

Perhaps his brother put it best. “If you’re really going to be successful as an elected official, when you get done, nobody will like you,” said Normand Guay in 2004.

Despite the peaks and valleys of their tenures, we still like the Guay brothers today.