During my term as mayor, after hours of discussion we voted to turn the Pettengill property into a park.  We hoped with the new Geiger school up the road, we could attract young working middle class families to our city.

The neighborhood was middle working class. However, I suppose when one holds a big job title with low pay or lives in government-subsidized housing collecting state aid, the neighborhood may appear affluent.

In 455 CE, the Vandals spent two weeks destroying Rome. Lewiston has been awarded $50,000 toward an outdoor exercise court with a price tag of $187,000. This is an honor for the city.  However, how will we protect it from the vandals who have been attracted to Lewiston for 45-plus years? Nice thought, but no thanks.

While mayor, I was part of a mayors’ coalition which met monthly in Augusta. I begged then-Portland Mayor Michael Brennan that we address the issue of our undocumented refugee situation.  He said as long as the federal government was paying, he saw no problem.

That refusal is coming back to bite Maine taxpayers. Saco is being blessed with 300 penniless refugees being settled in their city at a $5 million cost to Maine taxpayers. Saco taxpayers are looking at $1.25 million in local property taxes to beef up schools.

Portland taxpayers are currently paying $144,000 annually per family to house them in hotels and feed them. However, Portland’s state politicians have secured $10 million in state (residents’) taxes to ease the pain of Portland taxpayers.

In short, Lewiston does not need additional homeless shelters.

Robert Macdonald, Lewiston


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