LEWISTON — The letters “D” and “R” might mean something to voters when they’re deciding who will get their vote for city office, but they may not matter much once votes have been counted.

“We’re all neighbors here, a part of the community,” said Mark Cayer, Lewiston’s outgoing City Council president. “The decisions we make here at the local level should not come into play when it comes to state and national politics.”

Lewiston, like every other city or town in Maine, is officially nonpartisan, according to Eric Conrad, director of communication for the Maine Municipal Association. That means they don’t have party primaries to select candidates for the municipal ballot.

“And it’s the way we get to have five people running for mayor instead of one Republican and one Democrat,” Lewiston City Administrator Ed Barrett said.

It also means that the parties have no say in how the City Council does its business, Barrett said.

“Quite honestly, in the years I’ve worked in local government, sometimes it’s clearer than others whether someone is a member of a certain party,” Barrett said. “Personally, sometimes I just couldn’t tell you whether a person is a Republican, a Democrat or an independent.”

Barrett said a historical precedent goes back to the beginning of the 20th century.

“You had reformers trying to address what they saw as the abuses of party machines in parts of the country,” he said.

In some cities, parties had control of the entire government and one candidate losing an election could mean all city staffers lost their jobs.

“They tried to take that patronage out of local government and put the focus back on which individuals are running and what are their positions, not their affiliation,” Barrett said.

Conrad said it’s the best way to govern locally.

“It’s important to remember that municipal government does bread-and-butter work, primarily,” he wrote in an email. “Are the roads passable and plowed? Are the laws being enforced?”

Typically, those are issues that matter to the right and the left.

“In our view, if the state and federal governments operated like municipal governments in Maine do — keeping their focus on the citizens and basic services that must be provided efficiently and well — we’d all be better off,” Conrad wrote.

Cayer, an unenrolled voter, said that doesn’t mean party concerns won’t creep into the City Council chambers.

“I’ve noticed it happening more and more, with more councilors being elected with stronger ideologies to begin with,” Cayer said. “Our last council still works together, even with some strong ideologies.”

He said he’s confident that the incoming council, elected at the polls in November and taking office Jan. 4, will do a good job, too.

“Even though they seem to be more partisan this year, I’m pretty confident they will work together,” Cayer said. “The progress we’ve made over the last few years will continue. And just like our current council, there will be hot-button issues. But overall, looking at all the new councilors elected, they’ll get to a place where they’ll compromise when they are able.”

[email protected]