AUBURN – Calling for the end of a commission designed to help Lewiston and Auburn share services doesn’t mean the sharing has to end, Mayor John Jenkins said.

Jenkins said Wednesday he had drafted a resolution calling for the dissolution of the Citizens’ Commission on Joint Lewiston-Auburn Cooperation. Councilors are scheduled to discuss the resolution and vote on it Monday, he said.

“It’s time for the councils in both cities to no longer hide behind a commission,” Jenkins said. “It’s our job to consider this. It’s our job to make this all happen.”

Jenkins said he drafted his resolution last week and e-mailed it to members of the commission last Thursday, before he left to attend Tuesday’s presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C. His e-mail thanked the group for its work and said both cities have internal issues that need to be addressed.

“I’ve been hearing a growing discontent among councilors in both cities and among the general public on this topic,” Jenkins said Wednesday. “So, I think that we should thank them for their work and, with good faith and in a respectful manner, release them from their duty. We need to put the onus on ourselves, on the city councilors and staff, to make sure their work continues.”

But Commission Co-chairwoman Bette Swett-Thibault said she didn’t think it was necessary to dissolve the group.

“We were created as an advisory group all along,” she said. “I can’t imagine any sitting council spending the time and doing the work we’ve done over the last two years. We studied this for the councils, and we have a role in continuing that.”

Swett-Thibault said she was also upset that the discussion about ending the group’s run hadn’t been more public.

“Since we released our report, we basically have not had any opportunity to speak to city councilors about it,” she said.

Twin Cities’ officials began formally talking about combining efforts in 1996, with the formation of the L-A Together board. A second study, in 2006, called for combined police, public works and back office operations by 2011. It also called for a permanent commission, with a staff coordinator, to guide cooperative efforts. The commission began working in 2007. In all, Lewiston and Auburn have received $197,916 in state grants to study consolidation.

The commission released a report last month calling for the two cities to begin moving departments to the same computer software platforms. That plan would make future efforts to share services easier.

The group is also calling for the cities to combine assessing departments while letting them continue to operate in their respective offices. They’d eventually combine operations over time, as assessing workers quit or retired.

The group had requested a special meeting with the two city councils on Jan. 31, but Auburn’s council nixed that idea because of scheduling conflicts.

“And then we get an e-mail telling us that there is going to be a resolve to end our work before we’ve even had a chance to talk. It’s exasperating,” Swett-Thibault said. “We’re not happy, I can tell you that.”

Auburn City Manager Glen Aho said councilors are scheduled Monday to discuss ways to find efficiencies in government.

“The fact is, these two cities have worked together for a long, long time,” Aho said. “That’s not going stop now, and the success of those efforts are independent of any commission or other group.”

Aho said he’s preparing a report for Monday’s meeting outlining some of his ideas for making Auburn government more efficient. Cooperation and collaboration are parts of that, but those efforts are not limited to working with Lewiston.

“Technology has minimized the importance of boundaries,” Aho said. He said his goal would be to create partnerships with other communities as well as local businesses and residents.

“It’s a new world, and we have the technology now,” Aho said. “We need to be able to take advantage of that.”

Jenkins said Wednesday his biggest concern was making sure the city councils make those decisions.

“We have a history of having commission after commission write report after report, and those get filed away and forgotten.,” Jenkins said. “I’m saying we can’t hide behind the commissions and their reports any longer. We need to take all of that information and begin working on it.”