LEWISTON — Twelve candidates seeking to be the founders of a combined Lewiston-Auburn will sit for a forum May 27 at the Lewiston Public library.
Candidates for the six seats on the Lewiston-Auburn Charter Commission have been invited to discuss their opinions about consolidating Lewiston and Auburn and their vision for how the new city would work.
The forum is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. in the library’s Callahan Hall.
The forum is sponsored by the Sun Journal.
Voters go to the polls June 10 to select six people to sit on the charter commission. Those six — three from Auburn and three from Lewiston — will begin drafting a plan to make one large city out of two medium-sized ones.
They’ll write a new charter as well as a plan for all the other details, like what it will be called, where its offices will be, how it will be divided up politically. Most importantly, they’ll decide how debt, city assets and services should be parsed up and paid off.
When they finish, voters will have their say. A majority in both cities have to approve the charter and all of the plans that go along with it independently. And if either city says no, the matter ends there — until the next time residents bring it back up.
According to state rules, the commission has no deadline — they can argue and negotiate as long as it takes — no budget and no real authority beyond drafting the document.
The Sun Journal is hoping to collect as many questions for the candidates beforehand. Please email them to staylor@sunjournal.com before May 26 to have them included.
Candidates for the Twin Cities Charter Commission
Residents of each city will select three:
Auburn
Alfreda Fournier, 43 Davis Ave.
Charles Morrison, 46 Lake St.
Holly Lasagna, 220 W. Auburn Road
John Spruill Jr., 10 Aron Dr.
Michael Beaulieu, 27 Sherman Ave.
Verne Paradie Jr., 100 Hillside Ave.
Lewiston
Chantel Pettengill, 200 Montello St.
Charles A. Soule, 135 Bartlett St.
David Chittim, 28 No Name Pond Road
Eugene Geiger, 22 Robitaille Circle
Lucien B. Gosselin, 625 College St.
Richard Grandmaison, 51 Jean St.
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- What is the Twin Cities Charter Commission all about? Visit www.sunjournal.com to watch an informative video that talks about what is expected to happen in June and beyond.
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