Walter M. Hill, 43

10 Loubier Ave.

Occupation: Community relations, Boy Scouts of America

Education: High school; Public Policy, University of Maine at Augusta.

Political experience: Lewiston School Committee, Ward 1 representative; liaison for Lewiston Health Care Advisory Board.

Community organizations: Lewiston Technology Committee, Community Concepts, Trinity Jubilee Center, Museum LA, Lewiston Eagles, Boy Scouts of America Abenaki District, Kiwanis, Lewiston High School boosters, Great Falls Balloon Festival.

What is broken in your city? What problems do you perceive, and how will you, as an elected leader, fix them?

Our city does not have good cooperation or communication. It seems like we are all off on our own path and we are not working together to create a synergy we’d create if we all worked together.

I’ve spoken with people in Auburn and there seems to be a lot of ambition to work together and have a vision for both of our cities to move forward. Unless we tap into that, we’re going to be left behind.

What is your opinion of the casino? Would you urge Maine voters to support it or not? And why?

I don’t gamble. However, since it’s on the referendum, I’m going to do whatever the voters decide.

What is your solution to improving Lewiston’s downtown housing stock, and why would it work?

I think we need a three-part plan. First of all, we need to assess what we have. We need to work on taking down the dilapidated buildings and perhaps for the buildings that can be repaired, there are a few programs that we could use our community development block grant on. We could use a program right around the corner here, YouthBuild, to train kids that are not going to college to do carpentry work. We could basically kill two birds with one stone.

Ronald Jean

27 Cram Ave.

Occupation: Retired.

Education:  BS degree, two masters degrees in education.

Political experience: City councilor for Ward 4 for 10 years.

Community organizations: Great Falls Balloon Festival, The Dempsey Challenge, Public Theater.

What is broken in your city? What problems do you perceive, and how will you, as an elected leader, fix them?

There are quite a few problems with the city. The first one is, immigrants are a problem — the biggest problem that we have. That’s got to be taken care of and I think that’s an issue that needs to be looked at, and I think the council has to do something about it.

The first thing, that I feel is most important, is to sever ties with Portland. With Catholic Charities Maine, they have someone here who works on a part-time basis. That needs to be taken care of.

The other thing is the bleeding of people who have lived here in the city of Lewiston and are leaving. And once they leave, they’ll never come back. 

What is your opinion of the casino? Would you urge Maine voters to support it or not? And why?

I’m half and half. I’m not a gambler. So for me to go to a casino? Maybe once year. It’s not because of the casino. Simply I don’t gamble. I don’t spend my money taking chances.

It would benefit a little if it’s here because it’s going to create some jobs and probably put someone off the roll. I think that’s the only benefit there is.

What is your solution to improving Lewiston’s downtown housing stock, and why would it work?

I really have not had a chance to look at it. But one thing I find is that for the elderly, there are all kinds of new structures being built. There’s one on Birch Street, that was built last year, the year before. We have where St. Peter’s School used to be, there are two homes for the elderly. And then on Ash Street, that used to be the Healey Asylum, that’s turned into an elderly home. Then on Main Street, I think St. Joseph’s School is going to be turned into a home for the elderly.

So for the elderly, I think there’s a lot of things that happened to them. But for the other downtown, a lot of people who own those buildings are responsible and I don’t know if they take on that responsibility.

Robert Macdonald, 64

6 Jolin St.

Occupation: Retired from Lewiston Police Department and Lewiston School Department.

Education: BS in criminal justice, Northeastern University; Maine Criminal Justice Academy, arson investigation, hostage negotiation; several accounting classes.

Political experience: None.

Community organizations: Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9150; American Legion Post 210; Disabled American Veterans Post11; Franco American War Veterans; East Marine Division Association; Elks Lodge 371.

What is broken in your city? What problems do you perceive, and how will you, as an elected leader, fix them?

The biggest problem here is the welfare. It’s affecting the crime rate here, it’s affecting the  schools, it’s affecting our property taxes and it’s kind of just sapping the life out of people.

You can’t get rid of welfare, but you can certainly slow it down. I want a 10-year moratorium, no more Section 8 housing here. We’re just going to stop it. You don’t have it, they can’t come.

Also, start demolishing some of these old buildings. We’re not going to rehab them and spend all sorts of money to put Section 8 housing in there.

Hopefully we’ll get down to someplace where it’s manageable if not extinct. I’d like to see it be extinct.

What is your opinion of the casino? Would you urge Maine voters to support it or not? And why?

I would like to see it happen. Belonging to a lot of veterans groups, we’re going to get 1 percent of the take. That helps us with fundraising and things. 

Do I think it’s going to happen? I don’t think so. If I’m sitting in Bangor, I’m certainly not going to be voting for it down here. Oxford won’t be. Biddeford and Washington County will be voting against it. So I just don’t think it’s going to happen.

What is your solution to improving Lewiston’s downtown housing stock, and why would it work?

When I first came up here, down in Little Canada especially, it was all French people. You could eat off the street. You went into the buildings, their houses, it was beautiful.

Now we have the welfare mentality down here and they just sit there and throw all kinds of stuff all over the place. The buildings are getting run-down because they really don’t care. They’ll sit out there, they’ll see a piece of paper on the ground but they won’t pick it up.

It all comes back to the welfare and the entitlement society. They don’t care. They think everyone has to do something for them. That’s not the way it works.

The only solution is, we have to do something about the welfare.

Mark W. Paradis, 59

82 Prospect Ave.

Occupation: Service manager.

Education: Holy Cross School, Lewiston High School

Political experience: Lewiston Planning Board, 1997-2001; Lewiston city councilor, Ward 6, 2002-07; Downtown Advisory Board, 2002-07; Finance Committee, 2004-07, 2010-11.

What is broken in your city? What problems do you perceive, and how will you, as an elected leader, fix them?

I won’t do it alone; it’s going to be us. It’s going to be the council and I. There’s economic development that needs some attention. There’s some help on the third floor and there’s code and achieving those needs and desires we have. Traffic is an issue, especially if the casino comes into effect. 

There’s a lot of issues. It’s going to take some tough decision making, especially with the budget. It’s something I’ve talked about before where you have an issue with taxes and services.

What is your opinion of the casino? Would you urge Maine voters to support it or not? And why?

We need to support it, there’s no question for that. The sole reason is the voters of Lewiston, in the last election, wanted it placed on this ballot. That’s driving me. 

Am I all in favor of it? Probably not. I have some concerns. Between the infrastructure and the limited land we have and who is gong to be taking it. We have to be smart. And talking about traffic, it’s one of those situations where we have to be creative, whether it’s Turnpike Exit 80 or the train station or using the airport. 

And here again, it’s going to be a ‘we’ thing with the council. It depends on how aggressive they want to be in directing staff to make things happen.

 What is your solution to improving Lewiston’s downtown housing stock, and why would it work?

Lewiston’s downtown housing stock is, in my opinion, overabundant. There’s a lot of empty units in buildings. If it’s a 10-unit building, you might have three occupied and the others empty. So between Section 8 and low-income housing, we need some clear vision of what we are looking for.

I don’t think the council will be able to make this decision on their own. But working with staff, and the blighted buildings and maybe being a little more aggressive in making a building come down will raise the value of the existing buildings. That’s my personal opinion.

Stanley Pelletier, 65

28 Surry Lane

Occupation: Self-employed

Education: Lewiston High School

Political experience: None

What is broken in your city? What problems do you perceive, and how will you, as an elected leader, fix them?

I think the problem with Lewiston, and the state of Maine in general, is that they’re not publicizing things that are going on — the meetings and the foreclosures. The public is not aware of what’s going on in City Hall. It’s not open government and I think it should be. I learn every day different things that are happening and I’m not happy. And it should be monitored. Everything that’s happening should be publicized. And I think I could make that difference.

What is your opinion of the casino? Would you urge Maine voters to support it or not? And why?

I like casinos. I like the income that they say it’s going to generate. I go to Hollywood Slots in Bangor. It’s entertainment. You don’t go there to make money. You go to have a good time.

I think Lewiston’s is a good idea, as good as the one in Oxford. But I think if we get too many casinos it’s going to be a problem. 

The only problem I have with the one in Lewiston is the location. I’m not happy with the location, only because I haven’t seen a traffic study. It’s going to create problems. Main Street right now is a bottleneck. It always has been and at 3:30 in the afternoon, don’t try and get by there — you’re not going to make it. Can we put a casino there? I don’t see it. But I am going to vote yes.

What is your solution to improving Lewiston’s downtown housing stock, and why would it work?

The Lewiston downtown stock does need improvement. These buildings are old.

Some are maintained. I went around with Community Concepts and looked at some of these buildings and some of these buildings are very, very nice. There are a few that need a little cosmetic work. That doesn’t make them inhabitable.

As far as tearing down a building that might need repair, offer it to someone that might be willing to fix it and bring it up to code. Fix it up. It can be done. I think that’s what needs to be done downtown.