LEWISTON — Nobody would be much inclined to call Thursday’s mayoral candidate forum feisty, but it did have its moments.
As the five candidates offered their views on the issue of lead paint in downtown housing, Ben Chin suggested that the city needs to get tough on local landlords who take advantage of their tenants.
“We’re going to run you out of town,” Chin said. “And it’s as simple as that.”
Candidate Luke Jensen, up next, took issue with Chin’s approach before tackling the matter further.
“You’re not going to be a very good mayor,” Jensen said, “if you’re picking fights with everybody.”
It was the first time — the only time, as it turned out — that the attentive but mostly silent audience erupted in applause. No further jabs were taken and there were no hard feelings. Jensen and Chin shook hands at the end of the forum and appeared to laugh a bit about the exchange.
It had already been a tumultuous week for Chin, who was the target of a series of signs earlier in the week that some deemed racist. But the matter of the signs, and the local landlord who admitted posting them, was not addressed during the brief but lively forum at Lewiston City Hall.
Stephen Morgan, a former city councilor seeking the mayor’s seat, set the tone at the start of the affair by addressing a simple question: What are the top three things needed to draw young people to the city?
“The answer to this question, like every other question,” Morgan said, “is bringing business into Lewiston.”
All issues come down to money, said Morgan, a real estate broker, and the only way to bring in money is by attracting business to Lewiston. It’s no easy task, he said, given the preconceptions that sometimes hamper the efforts of city leaders.
“We have the reputation as being the largest welfare city in the state,” Morgan said. “We have to change that.”
The mayoral forum, hosted by the Young Professionals of the Lewiston-Auburn Area, followed 90 minutes of questions and answers with nearly two dozen candidates vying for seats on either the City Council or the School Committee. Each group tackled the same issues, including economic development, bike lanes, riverfront development, immigration, zoning and illegal drugs.
Dubbed “The Candid Candidates,” the event drew a full house, with every seat taken and a few audience members spilling into adjacent rooms. Among candidates for both School Committee and City Council, the biggest disagreements seemed to involve the notion of raising the minimum wage. Some were for it, some against it and a few were for raising the wage but not all the way to $15 per hour.
Questions of a personal nature were largely avoided during the question and answer phase, although Chin was asked about the fact that he had raised more than $33,000 — more than all other candidates and by a respectable margin — and that a portion of the funds came from out-of-state donors.
Chin, an activist with the Maine People’s Alliance, did not appear phased by the question. He credited his “unabashed commitment” to the people of Lewiston and said the ability to run a campaign in such a way is the mark of leadership.
“This is what being mayor is all about,” Chin said, “figuring out how to make connections with people.”
Jensen was asked why he was running for mayor after initially announcing a bid for the school board. A banking specialist, Jensen said that ultimately, he felt he could accomplish more for the city in the position of mayor.
“Lewiston,” he said, “is at such a critical time right now.”
The mayoral hopefuls talked about green space and parks, bike paths and walking trails. All good stuff, the candidates agreed, although Morgan brought it back to the matter of finances.
“How are you going to do that?” he asked. “Money.”
Adding parks and paths, Chin said, would help attract young professionals to Lewiston, calling it “one of the things that’s going to actually put Lewiston on the map.”
“I think,” Jensen agreed, “that it’s going to go a long way toward changing our image.”
Candidate Charles Soule was the lone dissenter on the matter of parks and bike paths, not because he’s not a fan of beautifying, he said, but because there are larger issues to consider.
“I think we’re spending enough money on the parks and the bike paths,” Soule said. “I think we could use that elsewhere.”
Soule stressed a few times that he’s the only candidate who lives in downtown Lewiston. He knows the immigration population better than most, he said. He sees the local drug scene up close and witnesses firsthand what law enforcement is doing about it.
“The Lewiston Police Department,” Soule said, “is doing the best job I’ve seen in 30 years. It’s remarkable. This city has definitely improved.”
Mayor Robert Macdonald, who is seeking re-election, largely agreed that Police Chief Michael Bussiere and his officers have tackled the matter of drug dealing and drug use as well as can be expected.
“They had a strategy,” Macdonald said, “and that strategy is working.”
None of the candidates suggested that drug use has gone away in Lewiston, however. Each offered different solutions to the problem. Soule wants to see police go after small-time dealers, not just the big ones. Morgan would like to see more police officers hired: walking cops, as in the old days.
“Some people don’t feel safe,” Morgan said, “and they won’t walk downtown.”
For Jensen, it’s a matter of getting help for the addicts.
Chin agreed and took it further, hinting at the notion of decriminalization. The old way, he said, just isn’t working.
“We have been down this criminalization path,” Chin said, “for 30 to 40 years.”
Each agreed there is lots to be done. Empty malls, vacant stores and the somewhat dismal ride off the highway and into the city are all things that ought to be addressed.
Morgan said he’d like to see Lewiston bring back manufacturing jobs as well as retail. The city, he said, was built on manufacturing.
“We have a rich and proud heritage,” Morgan said, “and I think we should take advantage of it.”
By the end of the night, audience members had learned a little about the candidates for key positions within the city, from the School Committee to the mayor’s office. But had they learned enough?
“I thought they all had interesting things to say,” one woman said. “But I still don’t know who I’m going to vote for.”
Editor’s note: While no one from the audience nor the moderator brought up the anti-Chin signs during Thursday’s forum, Ben Chin thanked the community for the tremendous outpouring of support that people showed, and commented on how it could have been another week of bad publicity for Lewiston, but the community response turned it into something positive.
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