I am dismayed by Richard Smith’s letter (April 30) criticizing Lewiston City Councilor Jim Lysen’s support of a reasonable school budget that meets needs and that Lysen is tired of complaints of a growing student population. He claimed that Lysen said “more is a good thing.”

I agree fully with Lysen.

Smith assumes in his criticism of immigrant youth, “that many can hardly speak English, require special education and if and when they become productive, a lot of baby boomers will probably be in the big nursing home in the sky.”

I would ask Smith — who will sustain Lewiston and Maine when that happens?

As mayor, leaving city hall one day, I saw Somali kids playing in the park hiding behind trees and making believe that they were shooting and falling over dead. They were speaking English. I asked them what they were playing? They said “cops and robbers.” How American is that?

Lysen and I have a good Somali friend who is a pharmacist at Rite Aid on Main St. His sister is a registered nurse. A Somali nurse fed my twin granddaughters on the first day of their lives. Need I say more?

Our world is only on loan to us. There were immigrants who prepared it for us. We also have the responsibility to pass it on to future generations. We are being asked to live up to our responsibility. We cannot damn the future. The responsibility is ours alone.

Larry Gilbert Sr., Lewiston

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