Joshua Nagine

Age: 51

Occupation: Commercial manager 

Political experience: Lewiston City Council; Lewiston Planning Board

Why do you think you’re the most qualified candidate for this seat? 

I believe that my experience as a resident, small business owner, citizen advocate, volunteer, and my years of service to various organizations and the city of Lewiston through public service through boards and committees, including the Planning Board and City Council, give me a well-rounded understanding of where we are at as a community and where we can work to improve outcomes for our residents and build for our future success.

Name two issues that you believe are critical to Lewiston’s future, and how you would address them.

The issues I see as priorities in Lewiston are public safety, economic development opportunities, and the image and reputation of the city. These are all tied together, you can’t fully reach your potential as a city without facing each of these challenges. Supporting city staff and partner organizations in robustly addressing violent crime, behavioral health challenges, homelessness, quality of life issues and infrastructure and maintenance initiatives make us a more resilient, more equitable, and more desirable community. Maintaining our public spaces and supporting infrastructure improvements that make our city safer, more business friendly, and more desirable is also a major focus. Expanding the tax base is a crucial component of addressing some of these challenges so we can turn the page to a city people want to travel to to spend time in, a city where our residents, visitors, and employers are proud to work and invest in, visit, and call home. 

What do you think Lewiston needs to do to respond to resident concerns over public safety? 

I think that some of the solutions are coming from our local law enforcement efforts in partnership with state and federal agencies, who have been making great headway recently in addressing the increased gun violence we have been experiencing since 2020. Better communication with the schools and housing providers does help in identifying potential public safety challenges that are affecting our residents, especially youth and young adults, and we need to do more there. 

Part of the solution needs to come from our Legislature by providing more funding and support for the criminal justice system and the recovery courts. 

And a large part needs to come from our residents. The culture of enduring challenges to public safety outside our doors or in our apartment buildings, or avoiding areas of the city that have a reputation for being and/or feeling unsafe has to change.