LEWISTON — A Twin Cities charter commission now has the support it wanted from both City Councils.
With all seven Lewiston councilors in place Tuesday night, the group voted to change a June 16 decision and offer their support for the Lewiston-Auburn Joint Charter Commission’s work.
Councilors turned that support down last month. Councilor Nate Libby, a key supporter, missed the June 16 meeting, leading to it losing the vote.
But Councilor Leslie Dubois, who voted against supporting the work on June 16 had a change in heart before Tuesday’s meeting.
“More constituents have reached out to me, asking me to pass this resolve,” she said. “I feel compelled to do so.”
Lewiston councilors approved it by a 5-2 vote, with Shane Bouchard and Mike Lachance opposing it.
Councilors in Auburn voted to support the same resolution, but residents and foes of the charter commission process are passing a petition to overturn the council’s vote.
At issue is a resolution for both cities that says they support the charter commission process. The commission needs both Lewiston and Auburn City Councils to support that resolution to qualify for an offer of matching money from Gov. Paul LePage.
Charter members said the group could spend up to $100,000 in legal and financial consultants fees as they begin drafting a legal document designed to combine the two cities into one. Whatever the group comes up with will have to be approved by voters in each city independently.
Group members have said they will not ask either city for funding. So far the group has raised $27,000 from residents and local businesses.
Charter Commission Chairman Gene Geiger says it’s worthwhile to investigate the potential impacts.
“We might be able to find three, four, even $5 million in financial savings once we get past a transition,” Geiger said. “Is it worthwhile to learn what those benefits might be or would you rather just not know? The potential for tax savings is the money part of this whole deal.”
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