LEWISTON — Mayor Robert Macdonald said the latest email exchange with his opponent in last November’s city election is just a distraction.

“We are trying to move things forward in this city, and I don’t have time for Larry Gilbert’s foolishness now,” Macdonald said.

In the email sent to Lewiston City Councilors, city staff, the Sun Journal and others in the community, former Mayor Larry Gilbert takes Macdonald to task for his support of a state rule change aimed at local General Assistance payments.

“This is a change that will render people in our community homeless,” Gilbert said. “We should not do that.”

General Assistance is money given out to needy residents by Maine’s cities and towns and the proposed change would say that people who don’t qualify for state or federal help won’t get local help, either.

Currently, legal non-citizens that are not eligible for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or Maine food supplements may qualify for municipal General Assistance.

In his email, Gilbert wrote: “Mayor Macdonald, please also understand that even though you ‘defeated’ and ‘crushed’ me, I did not relinquish my constitutional rights to approach my duly elected representatives to see an action that I firmly believe is humane for us as Americans to serve our fellow human being neighbors as well as brothers and sisters in the eyes of God when they are in need regardless of their status in this country.”

The full text of the email exchange is available online at www.sunjournal.com.

Up front was the disagreement is about the state Department of Health and Human Services proposed rule change 17P concerning eligibility for local governments.

The state is taking written testimony on the proposed change via its website until Jan. 24 .

Currently, single recipients can be eligible for up to $471 per month from the city to help pay for basic necessities — housing, utilities, medicine and food. The cost is split between the municipality and the state; The state reimburses the local government for up to half of what it gives out.

Gilbert was among those testifying against the rule change at a Jan. 10 hearing in Augusta. It would hurt new arrivals and people seeking asylum who will bring added value to the community in the long run, he said.

“We’ve passed a tax cut that helps those with the highest incomes and to balance that, we are going after the poorest of the poor,” Gilbert said. “It’s not right, it’s not fair.”

But Macdonald said the city is struggling to balance steep cuts in state aid with increasingly expensive services.

“We’ve already lost (state) revenue sharing, and we’re getting even less now,” Macdonald said. “And this coming year, the way things are going, we’re going to be lucky to get any revenue sharing. So we have other things to worry about.”

The city gave out $1.6 million in General Assistance benefits in the 2012-13 fiscal year, providing help paying for oil and other utilities, paying for transportation, food, clothes medical and other needs.

“If people come here and they don’t qualify for federal help, we have to help them,” Macdonald said. “We have to foot the whole bill and I don’t think that’s fair for the residents of Lewiston.”

Instead, Macdonald said the city is concentrating on improving housing for the working poor.

“They deserve the help,” he said. “We want to help them and get them living in decent apartments, in decent neighborhoods.”

Macdonald sent an email to city councilors and state legislators on Jan. 13 urging support for the rule change. Gilbert sent out an email two days later urging Lewiston officials not to support the change.

Two newly elected city councilors, Ward 1’s Leslie Dubois and Ward 7’s Michael Lachance, emailed Gilbert back, saying they supported Macdonald and the rule change.

But Gilbert said Macdonald emailed him back privately, saying: “Larry: In case your (sic) still in denial, by 61 to 39 % I defeated you.” In his newspaper column later that week, Macdonald talked about how he had crushed Gilbert by standing up for local taxpayers.

The tone of Macdonald’s remarks bothered Gilbert.

“I sent a serious email and I got two serious responses and they were civil,” Gilbert said. “But the mayor was not civil. Well, I did not give up my rights because I lost the election. I was petitioning my government, the mayor and the City Council, to do something and put a resolution on the agenda to oppose this rule, and that’s how he chose to respond.”

Macdonald said he was most annoyed that Gilbert’s email signature identifies him as “Laurent F. Gilbert, Sr., Mayor, City of Lewiston.”

“There’s a line underneath that says ‘2007-2012’ but most people miss that,” Macdonald said. “What kind of person does that? He just can’t give up.”

Gilbert said he’s used the same email signature block since he left office.

“It has all my contact information in it, it’s clear and I’ve used in in emails to him before,” Gilbert said.

But Macdonald said he’s not angry at Gilbert.

“All this is, it’s a distraction,” Macdonald said. “Larry Gilbert has baited me, he’s caused me problems. But I’ m not going to get teed off. If he thinks I’m going to get mad, he’s crazy. This is a sideshow that he’s created.”

staylor@sunjournal.com

Text of the email exhange between Larry Gilbert and Mayor Robert Macdonald.

---

From: Laurent F. Gilbert, Sr.
Date: Sun, Jan 19, 2014 at 6:21 PM
Subject: Re: Petition Opposing Proposed DHHS Rule 17P
Honorable Mayor & City Councilors,

I share with you the response from Mayor Robert Macdonald to the original e-mail I sent to each of you including Mayor Macdonald.

Here is his response verbatim: “Larry: In case your still in denial, by 61 to 39 % I defeated you. It was this low because you and some of our state legislators went to Bates College and tried to rally the Bates College Democrats. If you really want to help our community maybe you should give to the united way. Robert E. Macdonald, Currently the only Mayor of Lewiston”

Here is a quote from the January 16, 2014 issue of Mayor Macdonald’s Twin City Times column entitled “Enough is Enough: Changing DHHS rule would provide fiscal relief.” Here is a quote from that column: “In this year’s mayoral election, I crushed my opponent by standing up for the Lewiston taxpayers. Our state senator and our four representatives represent these same people. I would remind them that they were not elected to push the interests of the Maine People’s Alliance, Maine Equal Justice Partners, nor any other advocacy group whose interests are counter to the taxpayers of Lewiston.”

To Mayor Macdonald I say, Mr. Mayor I am under no illusion that you did not defeat me in your arrogant response to me to my original e-mail to you, city councilors and city administration. I am under no illusion that you didn’t crush me as you arrogantly wrote in your TCT column this past week. Rest assured that I fully understand that 28% of eligible voters voted and that you won 18% of all eligible voters to my 10%. I also fully understand the role of elected officials in this country not only serve taxpayers and citizens, but all residents of our country, state and municipalities regardless of their status.

Mayor Macdonald, please also understand that even though you ‘defeated” and “crushed” me, I did not relinquish my constitutional rights to approach my duly elected representatives to see an action that I firmly believe is humane for us as Americans to serve our fellow human being neighbors as well as brothers and sisters in the eyes of God when they are in need regardless of their status in this country.

Quite frankly, I received two responses from city councilors aside from your arrogant response. Although I vehemently disagree with their response to me, I believe that they were civil in their response and I fully respect that and the opinion they have which is contrary to mine.

Mayor Macdonald, you also state: “If you really want to help our community maybe you should give to the united way.” Mr. Mayor, my wife Pat and I did give to the United Way for the fire victims of the series of fires downtown this past summer. I hand carried it to the United Way personally. On the other hand, I saw you and Governor LePage walking the streets where the fires had occurred for a photo opportunity and when questioned by the media about the Governor coming here empty handed, you said nothing. As a matter of fact, he had to be shamed to provide relief by the very members of the legislature that you mention in your column of this past week. By the way, his very own brother and blind sister-in-law were the victims of the first of these fires which rendered them homeless.

As for donations in order to help our community, here is a listing of the contributions that my wife and I make annually with some of them weekly and monthly while others are annual. The listing is as follow: Good Shepherd Food Bank, Free the Kids (Haiti), Tree Street Youth, Museum L-A, Salvation Army, Hope Have Gospel Mission, Hope House (College Street), St. Martin de Porres residence, Maine Music Society, Prince of Peace Parish, Community Concepts, Maine People’s Alliance, Bishop Amat Memorial High School (my alma-mater), St. Dominic Academy, STEP Program for Homeless Teens at Lewiston High School, Patrick Dempsey Center, St. Michael’s School in Augusta (my wife’s alma-mater). Public Theater, L-A Arts, Breast Cancer Survivors, St. Mary’s Health System, Friends of LPL, Center for Wisdom Women, Volunteers of America, Franco-American Heritage Center, The Catholic (Bishop’s) Appeal, March of Dimes, Boy & Girls Club, New Beginnings, Root Cellar, Androscoggin Home Health, Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence, Abdi Maolin (the husband and father of 10 children of the Bantu Somali woman killed in an auto accident this past year). Mr. Mayor, I think we do our fair share “to really want to help our community.”

As I stated in my original e-mail when I said I testified in opposition to the proposed Rule 17P, a great number of people testified which included Mayor Michael Brennan of Portland, Maine’s largest city who was also duly elected. Portland has the same issues that we have with regard to refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers. He also was elected by a strong majority. Senate President Alfornd, Senator Craven, and other legislators also testified. I share with you an MPBN story on the public hearing on proposed Rule 17P which was held on January 10 at DHHS headquarters:

http://www.mpbn.net/News/MPBNNews/tabid/1159/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3762/ItemId/31697/Default.aspx.

You will note in that testimony that Mr. Maxwell Chikuta, who calls himself a proud American and Mainer, came here seeking asylum in 2003. He did not speak English. While seeking asylum and receiving general assistance he learned English, obtained his GED, earned his bachelor’s degree in engineering and master’s in public policy. He now works full time at Maine Medical Centers and is a taxpayer like the rest of us. Last Friday evening at around 10:00 P.M. after spending the day with my wife at Maine Medical Center who was a patient there after suffering a mild heart attack, I rand into Mr. Chikuta in the parking garage. He had the trunk of his car open and I noticed a very small plastic snow sled. I hadn’t seen one of them and so I asked him about it. When I asked him where he was from as I had detected an accent, he told me who he was. He said he was going into work for the 3rd shift. He said he had been on WCSH Television that morning volunteering in order to raise funds for people needing heat assistance. As you can see he is giving back. He said he sleeps 6 hours a day.

I also wish to share with you a video of the testimony on the propose Rule l7P on 1-10-14: http://vimeo.com/84475631

In the above MPBN story you will note that Attorney Sue Roche, Executive Director of the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP) is quoted as saying: “The Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits discrimination based on immigration status.” She also said: “And Maine’s statute defining general assistance provides that all individuals wishing to make an application for relief shall have the opportunity to do so.”

It is obvious to me that here in Maine, we have an aging population and our young people are leaving the state to pursue their careers. We need to look at our refugee, immigrants and asylum seekers who will become citizens like Mr. Chikuta as being the sustainers of our economy in the future. In Lewiston alone, they are buying vehicles, renting apartments, buying groceries, furniture, and the list goes on. That is circulating the dollars that wouldn’t be happening if they weren’t here. We have a number of buildings being torn down in our city at taxpayer’s expense as well as the loss of property tax revenue from those properties. Assuming that this population numbers around 5,000 and they live in our downtown apartment buildings, just think how many more of these building owners would walk away from their buildings leaving the burden to tear them down and lose the property tax revenue that would have to be absorbed by those remaining and requiring the same municipal services. In weighing cost and expenses, we must view it with this comparison. By the way, the landlords and slumlords that you have worked with closely will also lose should this rule be put into place as the general assistance dollars will be cut out to them. One could say that this has been and continues to be welfare to landlords and slumlords.

Mr. Mayor, in my testimony at the DHHS hearing on this proposed rule I testified that to adopt this rule proposed by Governor Lepage would be inhumane and scandalous. As a society, I firmly believe that we must be humane to all humans alike and as a world of humans we have international laws to be humane even during wars. To render a class of people to not be treated humanely by rendering them homeless and without food, truly is inhumane and scandalous. Neither, you nor the two councilors who responded to me offered any proposal as to what should happen to those who will become hungry and homeless. Certainly, our existing shelters and soup kitchens are already at capacity and under funded. Even this mere existence is in my opinion shameful in this our richest country in the world.

Not only are we as a society and as a city humane to humans with our general assistance, but we are also humane, as we should be, to animals. According to Lewiston Finance Director Heather Hunter we are billed based upon population size ($1.3925 per capita) and FY 14’s amount is $50,954 of our city tax dollars goes to the Greater Androscoggin Humane Society (GAHS). The entire FY 2014 Animal Control Officer & Operational Budget to including the GAHS assessment totals $75,443 that property tax payers of Lewiston pays in order to be humane to animals. If we can do this for animals, and I agree with it, why can’t we be as humane towards human being? We don’t allow animals to be homeless.

Now, you Mr. Mayor, are a Roman Catholic as I am. I note that at this weekend’s Mass, as you no doubt prayed along in the Prayer of the Faithful in support of those of different races and cultures. In this week’s parish bulletin and as appears weekly, a letter from Father Marc Caron, pastor of the Prince of Peace Parish which includes the Basilica of Sts. Peter & Paul, Holy Family Church and Holy Cross Church, all in Lewiston. Father Caron wrote in his letter this one paragraph: “Monday, we remember the American leader Martin Luther King, Jr., and his quest for racial equality in our country, much like the way the late Nelson Mandela gave his whole life for the goal of racial equality in his own home country of South Africa. Here in our city, we know that any number of people continue to harbor racial prejudice in their hearts. That is very sad, Racism is a sin, and we should all constantly examine our own consciences for the unreflected prejudices which impact our way of thinking about and acting toward persons of different races.”

I also wish to share with you a quote from Pope Francis I in his message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees, dated, September 24,2013: “….in considering the situation of migrants and refugees, I would point to yet another element in building a better world, namely, the elimination of prejudices and presuppositions in the approach to migration. Not infrequently, the arrival of migrants, displaced persons, asylum-seekers and refugees gives rise to suspicion and hostility. There is a fear that society will become less secure, that identity and culture will be lost, that competition for jobs will become stiffer and even that criminal activity will increase. The communications media have a role of great responsibility in this regard: it is up to them, in fact, to break down stereotypes and to offer correct information in reporting the errors of a few as well as the honesty, rectitude and goodness of the majority. A change of attitude towards migrants and refugees is needed on the part of everyone, moving away from attitudes of defensiveness and fear, indifference and marginalization – all typical of a throwaway culture – towards attitudes based on a culture of encounter, the only culture capable of building a better, more just and fraternal world. The communications media are themselves called to embrace this “conversion of attitudes” and to promote this change in the way migrants and refugees are treated.” Mr. Mayor, you might want to keep the Pope’s words in mind as you write your columns.

In closing, honorable mayor and city councilors, I ask that those of you who support the proposed Rule 17P, that you reconsider you positions. Mr. Mayor, I ask that you treat me civilly as an honorable citizen and taxpayer constituent and that you no longer stick your tongue out at me as the face of Lewiston on the front page of the Lewiston Sun Journal as you did on election night when I called to congratulate you on your “crushing defeat” and in your e-mail to me figuratively in your column in this past week’s Twin City Times.

Sincerely,

Larry

Laurent F. Gilbert, Sr.
Mayor, City of Lewiston
2007 – 2012
39 Cote Street
Lewiston, Maine 04240
(207) 784-1958
(207) 632-7373 Cell
GilbertMayor@aol.com

—–Original Message—–

From: Leslie T. Dubois
Sent: Wed, Jan 15, 2014 3:12 pmSubject: RE: Petition Opposing Proposed DHHS Rule 17P

I concur with Michael Lachance.

Support our Governor and Mayor!

Leslie Dubois

—–Original Message—–

From: Michael R. Lachance
Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2014 1:20 PM
Subject: RE: Petition Opposing Proposed DHHS Rule 17P

Dear Mr. Gilbert and others,

Please refer to Mayor Macdonald’s statement of 13 January (copied below), which I fully support.

On behalf of the voters of Ward 7 in the City of Lewiston, given my fiscal responsibilities toward the current budgetary considerations of the City of Lewiston and as an individual member of the Lewiston City Council, I will not be supporting nor signing the ‘Petition Opposing Rule 17P’.

– – – – – – – – –

“As Mayor of the City of Lewiston, I ask that you join me in supporting the proposed DHHS rule changes regarding General Assistance eligibility. Under this proposal, individuals who are not eligible for federal or state TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) or food supplemental (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP) benefits due to citizenship status will not be eligible for General Assistance. With the potential upcoming cuts to revenue sharing, the City of Lewiston could lose $2 million in revenue. This loss will have to be made up by cuts in our budget and/or increases in property taxes. This has the potential of causing layoffs and service reductions.

Last year, we spent $103,432.94 aiding asylum seekers. This year, we have spent $59,549.13 through December 27th. This seems to show that we will be spending $120,000+ this fiscal year, an increase of $17,000 from the prior year.

In meeting with the federal resettlement representatives last January 31st, we were informed that we are under no obligation to assist asylum seekers.

Last year, we spent slightly more than $800,000 to provide benefits to those receiving general assistance of which $660,275.49 went to those who were not refugees and asylees. Implementing the proposed rule change should stabilize our general assistance costs at or near this level in the future.

We have an obligation to the overtaxed Lewiston taxpayer to see that these rule changes take effect. Please join me in lessening the fiscal burden of those we represent. Thank you.”

-Mayor Bob Macdonald, January 13, 2014

– – – – – – – –

Regards,

Michael R. Lachance
Lewiston City Council – Ward 7
(207) 333-7050

FOAA Disclaimer-

The Maine Freedom Of Access Act (1 M.R.S. § 408-A) defines this email as a public record, being “any written, printed or graphic matter or any mechanical or electronic data compilation from which information can be obtained, directly or after translation into a form susceptible of visual or aural comprehension, that is in the possession or custody of an agency or public official of this State or any of its political subdivisions, or is in the possession or custody of an association, the membership of which is composed exclusively of one or more of any of these entities, and has been received or prepared for use in connection with the transaction of public or governmental business or contains information relating to the transaction of public or governmental business”.

—–Original Message—–

From: Laurent F. Gilbert, Sr. [gilbertmayor@aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2014 12:46 PM
Subject: Petition Opposing Proposed DHHS Rule 17P

Dear Mayor & City Councilors,

I will assume that by now that you have been apprised of the Maine DHHS Proposed Rule 17P that would eliminate eligibility for the General Assistance (GA) program for residents who do not qualify for state or federal TANF or Food Supplement benefits based on their immigrations status. I ask that you place this item on the next city council agenda with a resolution opposing rule 17P to be sent to DHHS. I also implore each of you to sign the petition as well and forward it to the Maine Department of Health & Human Services. The alternative for immigrants and asylum seekers who would not qualify for GA would render them homeless. I firmly believe that we are better than this as a city, state and nation.

Last Friday, at a hearing on this proposed rule by DHHS, I testified in opposition along with a great number of people with no one testifying in support of the rule. There were a couple hundred people in attendance. I share with you my testimony which is attached. I will also send you the photos taken that relate to one of the stores in my testimony in a separate e-mail. Please open it while you are reading the testimony and view the photos.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1x1sAdl6oySWr4uMItCBijCqdOSqZmpm-ImLaVFo3goU/viewform

I thank you for your consideration of my requests in this e-mail and I hope to hear back from you at your earliest convenience.

Regards,

Larry

Laurent F. Gilbert, Sr.
Mayor, City of Lewiston
2007 – 2012
39 Cote Street
Lewiston, Maine 04240
(207) 784-1958
(207) 632-7373 Cell
GilbertMayor@aol.com

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