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This week’s edition!

Letters: Mayors swept Lewiston’s problems under the rug

To the Editor:

These recent arsons downtown has made me one fired up inner-city preacher. First and foremost, I have always felt that my ministry was a ministry to the poor, the displaced and those who are frightened. Obviously, there is no lack of ministry opportunity in the inner city of Lewiston these days.

My faith stretches higher than a church steeple, and my vision extends far beyond a stained-glass window. It is my opinion and observation that the recent manifestation of complete chaos within the heart of our city lays in the hands of our city’s former mayoral leaders.

I believe that John Jenkins, Kaleigh Tara, Lionel Guay, and Larry Gilbert have all played a part in sweeping our city’s crime and dysfunction under the rug over the years in the name of commerce. None of them wanted to be considered negative, and all of them created a positive environment with a pro-business-like image such as “L/A it’s Happening Here.”

Let’s not forget when our city became an “All-America City in 2007.” This, in my opinion, was nothing more than a mirage. They turned their heads away from the real problems with our city’s crime, welfare fraud, gangs, drug dealers, prostitution, irresponsible immigration policies and vandalism.

As a result, our city is crumbling because of it. We have been blessed as a community to have a strong mayor in Robert Macdonald, who is not afraid to do some good old house cleaning. He is not afraid to let our citizens know what is really going on in L-/A. He is not afraid to point out the slums in this “All America City” of ours. He knows that in order to have commerce grow in our city, we must eradicate the filth and the crime that plagues us.

I feel that for decades our leaders have been burying their heads in the sand and have been making decisions while wearing rose-colored glasses, and now the community is paying a terrible price for it. It is very refreshing to have a leader who is willing to tackle these problems. The inner city has become a battlefield, and we now have a real general.

The Rev. Douglas Taylor

Lewiston

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