A more citizen-friendly mayor in Lewiston may have set a softer tone of true caring, which might have helped avert Lewiston’s recent spree of violence. A left-leaning mayor who truly cares about the quality of life of all the city’s citizens shows it, rather than worrying that someone is getting an extra dollar a month from welfare, or that the minimum wage is too high, or that too many Bates College students might exercise their legal right to vote.

I suspect that a person relying on welfare benefits or who is trying to survive on a minimum wage job doesn’t have it easy.

In the future, Lewiston should have the chance to elect a kinder mayor than those who have been in power for the past several years.

Robert Mennealy, Auburn