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Enough is Enough: Mayors asked for funds to tear down fire hazards
By Robert E. Macdonald
Mayor of Lewiston
When you were a child, unless your parents were grifters, you were taught that honesty is the best policy. Your parents told you repeatedly that the best way to earn the respect of others was through truthfulness and honesty.
Apparently, this standard does not apply to Governor Paul LePage, at least as far as the press and his political enemies are concerned.
Unless you have been living in a cave or been hospitalized in a coma for the last few years, you know that Maine is broke. After surveying the fire destruction in Downtown Lewiston, Governor LePage announced the state was broke, but he would try and find some money and resources to help us out.
Enough is Enough: Hospital debt, school grades and the history of L-A
By Robert E. Macdonald
Mayor of Lewiston
It’s time for the readers of this column to step up to the plate. Our hospitals have to be paid!
The continued failure to pay this debt is denying L-A and surrounding communities the opportunity to fill between 150 to 200 shovel-ready jobs with benefits. It’s time to stop playing political games that have a direct effect on people’s lives.
The immediate payback to the hospitals is overwhelmingly supported by Democratic and Republican legislators. The problem? Senate President Justin Alfond and Speaker of the House Mark Eves refuse to bring the legislation to their respective chamber floors for a vote.
It’s time to mobilize and start flooding their offices with phone calls and emails telling them to pay the state’s debt to the hospitals.
Enough is Enough: “Landfill Capacity” bill would cost Lewiston $215K
By Robert E. Macdonald
Mayor of Lewiston
On Monday of last week I was pressed into service and sent to Augusta to testify in opposition to LD 1363 before the Joint Standing Committee on Environment and Natural Resource.
LD 1363, “An Act to Ensure Landfill Capacity and Promote Recycling,” was submitted by Rep. Benjamin Chipman, I—Portland. It would amend existing law to prohibit state-owned, solid-waste-disposal facilities from accepting waste from the Processing and Recycling Facilities if the waste coming to these facilities originated outside of the state.
Enough is Enough: Cooperation is needed to create a desirable city
By Robert E. Macdonald
Mayor of Lewiston
It takes vision to create a desirable city—vision in the form of young entrepreneurs: young entrepreneurs who have a dream, drive and a can-do attitude; entrepreneurs who can successfully navigate all obstacles before them. To the women and men that subscribe to this world, “quitting is not an option.”
You also need well-versed, seasoned business people—business people who have knowledge and understand the workings of commerce, business, industry, banking, local, state and federal government operations; business people who know how to get things done; business people whose advice and counsel will almost surely guarantee success.
Enough is Enough: Chaplains reflect the work of the Catholic Church
By Robert E. Macdonald
Mayor of Lewiston
When I became mayor, I made a promise that I would address the welfare fraud being committed by the out-of-town transients that blow weekly into Lewiston. I have worked with Lewiston’s welfare director, Sue Charron, developing legislation and finding legislative sponsors to introduce bills aimed at eliminating fraud and abuse.
I am happy to report that we are on the verge of achieving our goal.
In the next few weeks, this column will present detailed plans designed to improve the livability and marketability of our town. In order to achieve these goals, you, the reader, will be asked to perform a simple task.
Enough is Enough: Consolidation requires commitment from elected officials
By Robert E. Macdonald
Mayor of Lewiston
Early in February, the Sun Journal headline described a “Lewiston, Auburn Mayoral Spat.” That spat resulted from my reaction to comments by Mayor Jonathan LaBonté of Auburn during a meeting with Governor LePage. At that meeting and elsewhere, Mayor LaBonté stated that the Twin Cities have been sitting on a plan that would save $2.7 million a year through closer cooperation, a plan that hasn’t been implemented because of politics and lack of a “fiscal cliff” forcing us to do so.
My concern then and now is that such statements play right into the hands of those who would like to see local government pick up the tab for the state budget through the elimination of municipal revenue sharing and other state supported programs.
Guess what? I was right.
Enough is Enough: Removing fraud from welfare rolls has ripple effect
By Robert E. Macdonald
Mayor of Lewiston
It turned out better than I had hoped. The news conference held in Lewiston City Hall announcing that 84 people had been removed from our welfare rolls—50 of whom will be prosecuted criminally—caused a ripple effect from Bangor to Wells.
Legislators are now asking city and town administrators what’s being done to curb welfare abuse and fraud in their respective areas. These managers are now seeking the same answers from their welfare directors. The match has been lit.
Several weeks ago in this column, readers were informed of what our crack welfare staff had uncovered. The numbers were given, but nothing further was said. This was because timing is everything. Our news conference on Tuesday, March 26 was deliberately scheduled two days before the Legislative hearings on welfare were slated to begin.
Enough is Enough: Veterans have a duty to help fellow veterans
By Robert E. Macdonald
Mayor of Lewiston
A patriot was murdered last week. I grieve for him. He wasn’t a household name, like many people in the entertainment business.
No, he was part of a brotherhood of warriors, a brotherhood that protects this country from foreign enemies. A brotherhood that insures American citizens continue to enjoy the rights set down by ourfounding fathers in the Constitution and paid for, since the founding of our Republic, with the willing blood of American patriots.
In death, former Navy SEAL Christopher Kyle has beenreferred to as a hero. He was not a hero. “Heroes” win football, baseball and hockey games. Let us not cheapen his reputation by referring to him as a hero. He was a patriot—a patriot that sacrificed time with his family and friends in order to protect his brothers, country and family. This sacrifice also extended to those faceless and cowardly Americans that nastily celebrate this patriot’s demise.
Kyle earned two Silver Stars and five Bronze Stars during his four tours of duty in Iraq. His effectiveness was such that the Iraqi insurgents placed an $80,000 bounty on him. Kyle believed that “taking out bad guys, terrorists and insurgents who meant to harm America and destabilize regions, is a compassionate thing to do. It was my duty to shoot, and I don’t regret it.”
Enough is Enough: There are solutions that can curb gun violence
By Robert E. Macdonald
Mayor of Lewiston
Are guns good or evil? Were they created in Heaven or Hell?
Our military personnel carry guns to protect our nation from enemies outside our borders whose stated goals are to destroy our way of life. This makes firearms good.
Our law enforcement officers carry guns attempting to maintain peace and tranquility in our cities and neighborhoods. This also makes guns good.
Then we have the criminals that use guns to terrorize our cities through robbery, rape, drug trafficking and killing. They prefer the rewards obtained through the use of a firearm to the pittance earned by getting up in the morning and finding their way to a job in order to make an honest living.
Enough is Enough: Women in combat, common sense and Casella waste
By Robert E. Macdonald
Mayor of Lewiston
In the spring of 1966 many of us dumb, adventurous, carefree neighborhood guys were weeks away from graduation. Our conquest of the world lay before us. We pondered our next move. What road should we follow? Every Irish kid’s dream: a civil service job? College? The military?
A combination of foolishness and testosterone overcame common sense. There was a war going on in a country few had heard of and fewer could find on a map. The Marines needed a few good boys to turn into fighting men. The Marines had a solid combat reputation and great-looking uniforms which, combined with a few medals, made an exceptional “chick magnet.”
The physical training applied in the infantry pushes recruits beyond what would be characterized as their physical limits. Once this is accomplished, the next phase necessitates stripping them of emotions that would cause them to view their enemy as human. Once this was complete, additional training followed and you were ready for combat.
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