Nathan Libby, 26
12 Orange St.
Occupation: Director, Maine Small Business Coalition.
Education: Skowhegan Area High School, 2003; bachelor of arts in history and economics, Bates College 2007.
Political Experience: Lead organizer, Maine Change that Works (formerly, a health care advocacy organization) 2009-10; Volunteer, “No On TABOR II” 2009.
Community Organizations: Member, Lewiston Community Development Block Grant Review Committee, 2010-present.
What is broken in your city? What problem do you perceive, and how will you, as an elected leader, fix it?
I’m particularly interested in working on downtown issues. I think the city has definitely come a long way in cleaning up the downtown area and making it a place that’s appealing for folks from out of the city to come in and visit.
I want to continue that work and continue to fill our downtown business fronts. Things like the art walk and restaurants coming into town are really positive steps for our community and I want to work to continue that and really attract new business to the downtown area.
And I also feel that as far as housing goes, a lot of our apartment buildings are owned by absentee landlords. Improving code enforcement and helping to hold these absentee landlords accountable for the degradation of their apartments is an important step to continuing to clean up downtown and our city, making it a more appealing place for folks to come and settle and work and raise a family.
What is your opinion of the casino? Would you urge Maine voters to support it or not? And why?
I am not going to be voting for the casino in Lewiston, for a couple of reasons. One is that statewide we are basically going from zero casinos to five in less than a year’s time and I’m not sure the demand is there. I’m worried that we are moving too fast in that direction.
But also, I don’t think of a casino as a very productive business. It moves money around the community. It doesn’t create anything tangible. If you win big at a casino, that’s money that’s coming from other folks.
That being said, if it does pass, I want to make sure the city works to get its fair share. If the casino does come to town, the city will certainly benefit from that infusion of revenue.
What is your solution to improving Lewiston’s downtown housing stock, and why would it work?
I served on the block grant committee for the past year. One thing I’m proud of is the creation of an additional code enforcement officer, specializing in the downtown housing situation. I think holding absentee landlords accountable for the quality and condition of their apartments is something the city has not done the best job of and I think this is a good step to improving downtown housing conditions.
I recently became a landlord and a big part of the reason for that is that I was not impressed with the quality of rental housing I could find downtown. I fixed up a building on Orange Street and I live in it now and I’m proud to offer good quality housing for folks in the area. And I wish we had more landlords that were doing the same.
Brian Woodsome, 43
117 Oak St.
Occupation: Cook at Fast Breaks, music promoter, B-Dog Entertainment.
Education: GED
Political Experience: None
Community Organizations: None
What is broken in your city? What problem do you perceive, and how will you, as an elected leader, fix it?
I guess the biggest problem would be that the streets are really banged up with potholes and maintenance. Some of the side streets, at times, people drive really fast and with kids out there playing, it gets to be a hazard. But the real problem is how banged up the streets are.
What is your opinion of the casino? Would you urge Maine voters to support it or not? And why?
I would definitely support it and ask voters to support it. It would bring more employment to the area, more money for local vendors and local businesses and bring people in from out of state.
Of course, it will have its problems as far as crime and what not, but in the long run I think it will be good for the city overall. I think it’s huge for Lewiston.
What is your solution to improving Lewiston’s downtown housing stock, and why would it work?
I’m not sure. Maybe we can encourage more housing development projects, like Tall Pines and what not. Downtown is definitely crowded with all the people moving in and maybe some other housing would help.
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