By Robert E. Macdonald

Mayor of Lewiston

Fall has arrived. Comfortable days, cool sleeping nights. Over the next few weeks, leaf-peeping tourists will flock to our state to view and enjoy the beauty of our endless rolling foliage.

It’s a time for football. It’s a time for renewing childcare. It’s a time for the return of bright young men and women to Bates College.

Bates College and the former Bates Mill have for years put Lewiston on the map. Bates Mill, which produced a legendary bedspread, was renown throughout the world, and Bates College is renown throughout the country for its excellence in education.

The college was founded by the Rev. Owen Cheney, a Free Will Baptist minister and abolitionist in 1855. At its founding, it was known as the Maine State Seminary. In 1862 a “collegiate department” was added to the school. Two years later the school was re-charted and renamed Bates College after its primary benefactor, industrialist Benjamin E. Bates.

With a population of approximately 2,000 students, Bates ranks 21st on the list of best liberal arts colleges in the nation. It also is the oldest continually operating coed college in New England.

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By Robert E. Macdonald

Mayor of Lewiston

Too many hands ruin the soup. When moving a city forward, two opportunities stand before you. The first is creating a city that prospers, where jobs are abundant and unemployment is at or near zero.

The second is to rely on “community leaders”, void of imagination, who beg the government for more federal programs. Ride around Lewiston and look upon the results of that strategy.

Last week I wrote a column calling for the end of division in our community and asking that we unite and move Lewiston forward.

Last week’s edition of the TCT had no sooner hit the streets when our former mayor, Laurent F. Gilbert Sr., pronounced my column divisive. Mobilizing, he went downtown looking to create community division, seeking allies to support his claim.

Let’s be frank: the former mayor hates me, and after this stunt I can assure you that the feeling is mutual. The only difference is that I would never use my hatred against him if I thought it would bring a negative reaction to Lewiston and its citizens.

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By Robert E. Macdonald

Mayor of Lewiston

I don’t know about you, but the occasional news stories about the poor treatment of Lewiston’s Somali population are becoming annoying.

I’m sick of hearing the Somalis don’t feel welcome here. I’m sick of hearing Lewistonians must understand their culture and make exceptions towards them if their actions clash with American customs and laws. I’m sick of hearing about their lack of employment. I’m sick of hearing about phantom victimization.

But what frosts me the most is these complaints are coming almost exclusively from boo-hoo white do-gooders and their carpetbagger friends.

Since becoming mayor, I have met with groups of Somalis on several occasions. I have found the overwhelming majority to be kind and very hospitable. The majority express their appreciation for having been afforded the chance to live in a place that is safe and offers unlimited opportunities in which to better themselves.

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By Robert E. Macdonald

Mayor of Lewiston

I am appalled that I feel compelled to write this week’s column on civic pride. Lewiston is a city on the move. But many residents, especially those in their 20s and 30s, have come to expect instant gratification.

Creating a desirable city is not like popping a piece of dark chocolate into your mouth. It takes hours, days, weeks and years to design and implement a city that is not only livable, but also a destination.

It’s time for area residents that have a stake in our community to become ambassadors and start talking up what a great place Lewiston is becoming. We are being given an opportunity to productively grow. The costs of homes and a renaissance of quality apartments in our downtown area have made us a desirable destination.

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By Robert E. Macdonald

Mayor of Lewiston

Oh, the horror! Is the prediction by the Mayan Calendar about to be fulfilled? Is Hades about to be unleashed? Will liberal politicians be forced to advocate for the taxpaying voters to the chagrin of advocacy and special interest groups?

Boo-hoos and wailing are about to be heard from York to Caribou. Why? Governor Paul LePage may call our state legislature into special session.

What diabolical scheme is he about to unleash that will make the liberal Democrats (as opposed to right-thinking Democrats) become angry?

Hmm, let’s think.

How about “The Pay Your Fair Share Tax Bill.” This bill would afford those who constantly complain that income taxes are too low the ability to be taxed at a higher rate than currently prescribed. Three boxes could be added to the tax form, allowing the taxpayer the choice of choosing to pay one, two or three percent over the required rate set by the state.

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By Robert E. Macdonald

Mayor of Lewiston

Early morning. The rays of the sun break over the horizon. Quiet and tranquility dance through the air. Morning dew covers the grass. Chirping birds, squirrels and chipmunks forage for their breakfast. A soothing peace envelopes Kennedy Park.

Then, out of nowhere, the din of morning strikes. Public Work employees reinforced by workfare clients descend on Kennedy Park. Their mission: clean up the trash before the working people descend on the downtown.

The Herculean task created by an abundance of local layabouts, improperly discarding an excessive amount of waste, is methodically addressed. Monday through Friday, the task is successfully completed because of the dedication and pride of these workers.

Former mayor Larry Gilbert attempted to address this annoyance by placing trash cans in the park. While this failed to reduce the problem in Kennedy Park, it has proven very effective in other Lewiston Public Parks throughout the city. It further allows the city to pinpoint the problem areas and address them.

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By Robert E. Macdonald

Mayor of Lewiston

I don’t know about you, but I am getting sick of listening to pandering politicians, utterly devoid of ideas and solutions, blaming the rich and George W. Bush for all the ills in the world. Their continued mantra—“The rich don’t pay their fair share”—has gone from annoying to nauseating.

They publically define the rich as those who greedily make money by paying their employees slave wages, providing few benefits and outsourcing jobs overseas, thus employing foreign labor and eliminating another American job.

In reality, if you’re employed in a full-time job and pay taxes, you’re included in the “You don’t pay your fair share” category.

One of my strengths as mayor is that I am fortunate enough to be retired. The limited responsibilities of the Mayor’s Office—ribbon cutting, running a City Council meeting and casting the deciding vote should the council be deadlocked—allows me the freedom to roam the city and speak with the young, middle-aged and senior citizens; the working, the non-working and the retired; established Lewiston residents, new American citizens and refugees; as well as those interested only in what support they can extract from our city coffers. I also speak with business people and our city employees.

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By Robert E. Macdonald

Mayor of Lewiston

WHAP! THUMP! SMACK!  Today those are the sounds of violence. Yet 50 years ago they were the sounds of learning, the sounds of accountability, the sounds of teaching, the sounds heard in classrooms.

With the exception of one’s pride, no collateral damage occurred. You were there to learn, and learn you did. There was no time for fooling around: lessons had to be taught and learned.

To insure discipline, respect and an academic classroom environment, creative motivations were developed. Disruption in the classroom brought on punishments ranging from detention after school to writing a sentence many times on the blackboard.

From the application of the rattan (a switch) several times to the back of one’s hand, to pushups and—my personal favorite—putting on boxing gloves and going a round with a teacher who could have been a contender.

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By Robert E. Macdonald

Mayor of Lewiston

Enough is enough. It is time for those of us who are right of the political center to rise up and counter the socialist philosophies of those on the left. Not on the streets. Not in the back alleys. But at the ballot box in November.

It is time we set a corrective course that brings our government back to our founding principles. We are engaged in a philosophical fight for the soul of our country. There is no doubt that both sides love this country, but disagree on the direction to proceed.

Last week I discussed The Politically Correct Police a.k.a. the liberal wing of the Maine Democratic Party. Their efforts to exclude words that they classify as hateful from our vocabulary have now been dwarfed by a Democratic dictator currently holding the office of Mayor of Boston, Thomas M. Menino.

Dan Cathy is the president of Chick-Fil-A, a national restaurant chain of 1,600 eateries throughout the United States. But Cady is also an outspoken, unabashed Christian activist. His company, Chick-Fil-A, is run on biblical-based principles, among them closing on Sundays. All are welcome in his restaurants regardless of race, creed, beliefs, gender or sexual orientation. After all, a customer is a customer.

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By Robert E. Macdonald

Mayor of Lewiston

Shakespeare expressed it best: “Much Ado About Nothing.” Nothing, that is, unless you’re in the print or TV news business. Nothing, that is, unless you’re a “can’t-say-no liberal democratic legislator.”

Nothing, that is, unless you’re a gutless Republican afraid to speak up in support of the man on whose coattails swept you into office.

The molehill made into a week-long mountain was Governor Paul LePage’s use of the word “Gestapo” to describe the new added duties of Internal Revenue agents under the Affordable Care Act, known as “Obamacare.” The IRS is now charged with making sure that everyone will have health insurance.

The Governor’s alleged insensitivity provided Maine voters with an Academy Award-winning performance of purported indignation by Democratic Senator Justin Alfond. Not to be outdone, Representative Emily Cain also chimed in.

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