Mark Cayer is the second person to announce a campaign for Lewiston mayor in 2019. Sun Journal file photo
LEWISTON — Mark Cayer, the Lewiston School Committee chairman and former three-term city councilor, announced this week he is running for mayor.
Cayer becomes the second person to announce a bid for election in November.
Former City Councilor Tim Lajoie announced in March.
Cayer, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2017, said Wednesday that he wasn’t planning to run again this year but decided to after watching the “political division” continue to grow in Lewiston.
“It’s not moving our city forward,” he said. “Our city has been stagnant for too long, and that’s what brought me to the conclusion that we need someone in the mayor’s position that has vision and excitement.”
Cayer is a former police officer who operates a private investigation firm in Lewiston.
After former Mayor Shane Bouchard was elected in 2017, Bouchard appointed Cayer to an open School Committee seat, and Cayer has since become chairman.
Cayer issued a news release Wednesday outlining his candidacy, stating, “I’m excited to announce I am running to be the next mayor of Lewiston. It is my passion for this community’s success that has led me to this decision. I have the drive to serve, and also have many years of public service experience that has prepared me for this leadership role.”
Much like his campaign in 2017, Cayer is running on his experience, aversion to party politics, and focus on economic development.
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 told the Sun Journal in 2017.
On Wednesday, Cayer said his time on the School Committee has highlighted some of the same concerns he had two years ago, especially on poverty, which he said is “holding back any great gains in economic development.”
Cayer recently created a subcommittee on poverty, and found funding that will soon send a team to Harlem for training alongside a successful poverty program.
He said more than anything, if elected, he will bring the right people together to address issues facing the city.
“My service is not about me. It’s about all of us,” he said in the news release. “The face of our community has changed, but what does not change is we are a community that values hard work.
“Regardless of color or ethnic background every resident must be valued equally. We all play a role in improving our community and must work with each other. To truly transform our city, we must show the state of Maine and the country we have moved our community forward. And that we did it together.”
He said he will prioritize investing locally to boost the Lewiston economy and support local entrepreneurs, small businesses and the expanding arts community.
He served as the Ward 6 councilor for three terms, two as council president. During that time, he said, he was able to navigate differing political opinions in order to get the council to work together during the recession.
Cayer and Lajoie are running for a seat Nov. 5 that will be without an incumbent. Mayor Kristen Cloutier, who as City Council president stepped into the role after Bouchard’s recent resignation, previously said she would not seek the mayor’s seat due to her seat in the Maine Legislature.
While Cayer did not address Bouchard’s resignation directly, he said in the news release, “We do not need detractors who hurt our city by words and actions,” adding that he “will lead by example and be held accountable.”
Most important, Cayer said, is ending “the divide in our community.”
“I really want to see it move forward,” he said, “and we have the people in this community to make that happen.”
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