Former councilor Mark Cayer announces bid for mayor

LEWISTON — Mark Cayer, a former three-term city councilor, will run for mayor this year on a platform focused on economic development.

Cayer, a police officer-turned-private investigator, said he’d like to see less partisan politics controlling local campaigns and more emphasis on growing the business community.

“I’ve always had an interest in running for mayor,” he said during a recent interview. “I want to give back to the community. Someone needs to stay focused on the property taxpayers and business development, and that’s going to be my primary focus.”

The announcement from Cayer on Tuesday comes just a few weeks after Maine People’s Alliance political engagement director Ben Chin announced his intention to run in the November election. Both will be seeking to step in for Mayor Robert Macdonald, who has reached his limit of three full terms of two years each.

Cayer said his focus as mayor would be business development, retention and living-wage jobs.

“We can no longer base our community’s growth on declining funding from state and federal sources,” he said in a news release. “We must control our destiny by investing in business and community development. We must reshape how we attract and create sustainable development and jobs.”

He served as the Ward 6 councilor for three terms, two as council president. In 2014, he also ran, unsuccessfully, for District 61 in the Maine House of Representatives. He has continued to serve on a few city committees since then.

During his time on the council, Cayer said the biggest issue was the recession.

“It was some of the worst fiscal years the city suffered since the 1980s,” he said, which included state revenue-sharing losses that were “devastating to this community.”

He said he’s proud of being able to bring together opposing political viewpoints during his time as council president and to weather the storm of tough financial times.

“You have to do it in a way that’s not on the backs of the property taxpayers,” he said during a recent interview.

In the news release, he said he’s received numerous calls and messages recently from community members and business leaders. Cayer said that despite the economic hardships, his time on the council was also the start of some meaningful economic development downtown.

“I was honored that so many recognized the work I had done while recently serving as Lewiston council president,” he said.

In 2015, Chin lost to Macdonald in a runoff by a vote of 4,398 to 3,826, after a campaign that received national attention over its contentious tone that seemed to mirror national politics.

In Lewiston, the mayor conducts City Council meetings and votes only when a councilor abstains or is absent but can also work to influence the city’s policy priorities.

Cayer said he considers himself an independent. Party affiliations are not disclosed in Lewiston campaigns.

“When it comes to municipal government, you have to take the partisan politics out of it or you’re not going to accomplish anything,” he said.

He left the council, he said, because he’s self-employed and his business began suffering because of his long hours at city meetings. But, he said, he’s since changed his business model, which has freed up time.

Cayer operates the private investigation business Maine PI Service, based in Lewiston. He was a 20-year police officer in the Rumford and Farmington areas prior to starting his own business.

His first political office was on the Budget Committee in Farmington and later on the School Administrative District 9 board of directors. After two terms, he was elected to the Farmington Board of Selectmen, serving almost two terms before moving to Rumford.

Cayer said many people, including developers and business owners, recognize the potential in Lewiston, but there is still a sense of stagnation.

Asked whether Macdonald has been going down the right path, Cayer said the mayor “has evolved.”

“I think history will show that he did get some things done in the downtown area,” he said. “He started some of it, but I just want to move it forward.”

Cayer said that will require a “holistic” approach, including more focus on everything from a more educated workforce and better housing to the arts and culture community.

“It’s amazing the kind of economic development a good arts community can bring,” he said.

Cayer also believes the city should re-examine the Complete Streets policy adopted recently, which focuses on creating a transportation system that works for everyone, not just motorists, and perhaps make improvements based on the specific needs of Lewiston.

As for the potential Lewiston-Auburn merger, which is set to appear on the same ballot this November, Cayer said a vote is long overdue following years of spending money on studying such a move.

“It’s time for this issue to go to the voters,” he said.

In the news release, Cayer said his family has strong roots in Lewiston. His father and grandparents worked in the mills, and he said his family, like many others, struggled through the mill closures and “dramatic reduction in jobs.”

“But just as important, more recently I have witnessed a community on its way to recovery,” he said.

arice@sunjournal.com