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Enough is Enough: Lewiston legislators pit taxpayers against taxtakers
By Robert E. Macdonald
Mayor of Lewiston
A bottle of gin, a pair of dice and a straight razor, issued along with one’s monthly welfare check, was a popular solution designed to reduce welfare in the working-class neighborhood that I grew up in.
Wisdom, born of the street, it reflected the attitude of the average working man and woman towards those who expected to live by the fruits of their labors.
After reading the Sunday edition of Lewiston’s daily paper, it is clear that welfare reform is long overdue. (Stories included “The ins and outs of EBTs,” “Benefits can buy booze, cigarettes, anything legal” and “Welfare cheats: Maine ramps up battle against fraud.”)
Our career politicians in Augusta must immediately be replaced by people with a practical understanding of our problems and a clear, simple, common-sense vision of how to solve them.
Enough is Enough: L-A needs money for market-rate housing, not more Section 8
By Robert Macdonald
Mayor of Lewiston
There are two new sheriffs in Lewiston-Auburn. We have heard your anger and concerns. We are now in the process of addressing them.
Auburn Mayor Jonathan LaBonté and myself have agreed to work together, like conjoined twins, to start the process of transforming Lewiston-Auburn into a prosperous, vibrant community that will transform from mere exits on the Maine Turnpike and dots on a map into a desirous destination for Mainers and out-of-staters to live, work and establish a business.
This was underscored at a recent meeting with the director and staff of the New England area U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Department. After the HUD director and staff introduced themselves, we were advised that they had come to Lewiston-Auburn with funds to help us in developing our communities.
They were then bluntly advised that if the money they intended to give us was earmarked for additional Section 8 housing—or whatever it is now called—they had wasted a trip. Read the rest of this entry »
Enough is Enough: Limit on TANF may increase General Assistance
By Robert Macdonald
Mayor of Lewiston
An alcoholic can be defined as a person addicted to alcohol. Alcoholism is a terrible affliction.
It is very difficult to overcome the addiction to alcohol, especially if the alcoholic lives with an “enabler.” An enabler often protects the alcoholic, calling in sick when the alcoholic is too hung over to go to work or buying the daily bottle for the alcoholic.
Welfare is also very addictive. It is easy to stay home or party with friends, rather than go to work and put up with “Da Man” all day. The longer a person is out of work, the harder it is to return to the workforce again. Welfare becomes sweeter and sweeter by the month.
LePage: Coalition initiative would increase cost of electricity
By Governor Paul R. LePage
The State House halls are filled with policymakers, the bell is ringing and debates have begun. Once again, Maine’s Legislators are in the State House, working for you.
I stand by my promise to put people before politics and pledge to do what’s best for Maine people. During the next few months, you will hear the word “jobs” from both Democrats and Republicans.
In the first year of my administration Maine’s unemployment rate has gone down from 7.6 percent to 7 percent. However, there is more work to be done. Nearly 50,000 people are still out of work and many are worried about job security.
Democrats and Republicans alike have similar goals this session; but we have different ideas on how to achieve them.
Mayor’s Column—Enough is Enough
Change is difficult, but it is good
By Robert Macdonald
Mayor of Lewiston
Absence does not always make the heart grow fonder. All 240 pounds of me was born, raised, grew up and lived half of my life in the Athens of America—Boston. It is not my intent to bore you, the reader, with details of my rather exciting past life in an exceptionally exciting city.
Rather, I’d like to note several unremarkable incidents during my time in Boston, which contrast with incidents that have currently taken on apocalyptic dimensions in Lewiston.
In the mid 1960s during the bleak winter nights my brother and I would MBTA it to the Boston Garden to watch the Bruins—lose. Time passed, the Bruins started winning and soon a new home was needed. TD Bank Garden replaced the legendary Boston Garden, a place that held a lot of history but, alas, had outlived its usefulness.
Mayor’s Corner: Enough is Enough—Lewistonians must change from naysayers to cheerleaders
Lewiston Mayor Bob Macdonald
By Robert E. Macdonald
Mayor of Lewiston
10-08. Welcome to TCT’s newest mayor’s column: “Enough is Enough.” Leaving an enjoyable retirement, I humbly assume the Office of Mayor and take the reins of one of the Top 10 retirement cities in the U.S. Meanwhile, my predecessor and former boss, Laurent F. Gilbert Sr., and his wife Pat go 10-07, hopefully into a long and happy retirement.
Before proceeding, I would be remiss in not publicly recognizing and thanking those whose participation made Lewiston’s Inaugural a first-class event. Thank you to Rita Dube for allowing the ceremony to be held at the Franco American Heritage Center and Richard Martin for his work on the sound system and logistics. This venue elevated the event into something very special.
Thanks also to the Lewiston City Clerk’s Office and Dottie Perham-Whittier for their outstanding work.
The invocation by the Rev. Douglas Taylor and the benediction by Father Bob Vaillancourt reminded those on stage of their obligations as elected officials. Blais Flower and Garden Center did an excellent job of sprucing up the stage.
Mayor’s Corner goes “10-7” after 212 columns
Mayor Larry Gilbert
By Laurent F. Gilbert Sr.
Mayor of Lewiston
That’s right! This is my last mayor’s column, after which I will be going 10-7, which is police ten code for being “out of service.”
This is my last week serving as mayor of the All-America City of Lewiston. It truly has been a great ride. As I was packing up last week, it seemed like it was just a short while ago that I was moving into the office. Well, it has been five years already.
I remember back when I was campaigning, I started going door to door the day after Christmas 2006. The election was to be held on February 27, 2007. There were days when it was bitterly cold, but I had to trudge through. Then on February 14, we got hit with a blizzard-like snowstorm that wiped out my 500 signs throughout the city. It took us a whole week to dig them out. The effort paid off, as I won the election.
Public service truly is honorable work, whether it was during my career as a police officer or while serving in elective office. Every day offers opportunities to be of service to people. Such service truly is gratifying. Sure, you subject yourself to criticism, but the rewarding feeling of having helped someone far outweighs the negative feelings from criticism. When in your heart you feel that you are serving with good intentions, nothing else matters.
Mayor’s Corner: “Peace on Earth and Goodwill towards Men”
By Laurent F. Gilbert Sr.
Mayor of Lewiston
As I start my 211th column, I go through this exercise every week. What am I going to write about this week?
My thoughts for this week were to write about my opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline because of the threat to the environment in a number of states it would pass through or write about the extension of the payroll tax cut for the working class.
As I opened my computer this morning and checked out my Facebook, I found a message that my daughter Karla McMahon posted. It was quotes from Mother Theresa of Calcutta. Since this column will appear shortly before Christmas Day, I thought I would share Mother Theresa’s quotes with the readers here in the spirit of the season.
Mayor’s Corner: A tribute to Mark W. Paradis, a man for his community
By Laurent F. Gilbert Sr.
Mayor of Lewiston
As I write this column on Saturday afternoon while here at Lewiston City Hall, I am still in a state of shock upon hearing of the death of mayoral candidate Mark W. Paradis a short 24 hours ago.
I had just returned from lunch on Friday when City Administrator Ed Barrett informed me that Mark had died earlier in the morning.
At this point there were consultations with the city attorney to determine what the legal process was for the upcoming election. It was clearly obvious that the election needed to proceed, according to state statute and the city charter.
As I am writing this, I know not the result of Tuesday’s election. I have been a supporter of Mark Paradis’s campaign for election, and at the press conference Friday afternoon I said: “I still intend to vote for him at the polls on Tuesday, and I would encourage other residents who had intended to vote for him to still go to the polls and vote for Mark Paradis.”
Mayor’s Corner: A review of Lewiston City Council actions during its term
By Laurent F. Gilbert Sr.
Mayor of Lewiston
As mayor, I have served with three separate city councils, and I must say that the current council has been the best that I have served with in terms of civility and respect for each other, despite of having different views on issues at times.
Once a vote was taken, regardless of the outcome, we moved on with respect for each other, as a city council should operate. We might well be an example for Congress.
This council has worked well with City Administrator Ed Barrett and Deputy City Administrator Phil Nadeau, as well as department heads in all city departments. The council meetings move along well in conducting business, and public comments were always well respected when they dealt with city business.
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