LEWISTON — Members of the Lewiston-Auburn Joint Charter Commission will continue seeking City Council support for the process of merging the two cities,  especially money to pay for the work.

“Whatever it takes, we want to do this job right,” Commissioner Chip Morrison said. “Nobody gave us any money to start, and it won’t go to us. It goes to do what is required by law and the fact is not one of us is a lawyer, not one of us is an accountant, not one is an appraiser, not one is an economist. We are just local people doing the best we can.”

At issue is a potential offer of $50,000 in matching cash from Gov. Paul LePage that would be paid over the next two years for professional, legal and financial reviews. The governor’s caveat was the group needs both Lewiston and Auburn City Councils to pass a resolution saying they support the charter commission — not its conclusions, but the study process.

Lewiston councilors narrowly voted against the commission’s request for support at the June 16 meeting, but they left the door open to changing their minds. They’re tentatively scheduled to bring it up for a new vote at their special meeting Tuesday.

The Auburn City Council initially turned it down, but revoted 4-3 on June 15 to approve it.

It’s not settled in Auburn, however. Resident Joe Gray and five others have taken out petitions to negate the council’s support. So far, they have almost 1,000 signatures and they need at least 1,543 to put it to a vote.

Gray said he’s opposed to combining Lewiston and Auburn and said he does not see a situation that helps Auburn. He favors a vote on the charter commission’s work, once it’s ready, but is opposed to LePage’s offer of matching money.

“It’s the money part of the whole deal, that’s what I dislike,” Gray said.

The six-member commission was elected a year ago and has been reviewing both cities’ charters and a model charter with an eye toward creating founding documents for combining Lewiston and Auburn into one city. The group has no staff and no budget, and members said they will have to hire some legal and financial professionals to review their work before it goes to the polls. So far, the group has $27,250 in donations and pledges.

Gray said he’s willing to let the group do its work with money it has raised, but any tax money should be off the table.

“And that’s what a lot of people in the community feel,” Gray said.

But Peter Garcia, former chairman of the 2008 Citizens’ Commission on Joint Lewiston-Auburn Cooperation, said the controversy bodes well.

“No matter what, it’s a 4-3 vote of support on both councils,” Garcia said. “That’s the strongest support from any council in years. It may not be support for ultimate result, but it is tolerance for the process.”

Garcia said the issue of shared services has been discussed in Lewiston and Auburn for years and has had public support. Elected leaders have been a different story. Auburn leaders killed the effort he was a part of in 2009.

He was involved in getting signatures to elect the charter commission in 2014.

“And I heard overwhelming support,” Garcia said. “I was actually not prepared for that level of apparent approval. The comment was, essentially, ‘Why haven’t we done this already?'”

He thinks voters would support the right consolidation plan if one is presented.

“The council’s support vote shows something, even if it is narrow,” Garcia said. “It may be a good sign that councilors are finally catching up with their constituents.”

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