LEWISTON, Maine – Republican gubernatorial candidate David Jones brought his campaign to Lewiston on Saturday for a community cleanup aimed at improving areas of the city that residents say have been overwhelmed by trash, needles, discarded debris and public safety concerns.
Jones, who is seeking to become Maine’s next governor, joined volunteers for the cleanup effort Saturday morning between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
The event drew participation from groups including Rubbish Doctor and Town Farm Recovery’s Barriers to Bridges, according to the Jones campaign.
By the end of the cleanup, volunteers had collected four truckloads of garbage, including trash, needles, drugs and mattresses.
The Jones campaign described the effort as part of an initiative focused on public safety and direct action in priority areas that needed attention.
Lewiston is grappling with multiple issues at once. Residents have raised concerns over a controversial property revaluation, homelessness, trash across parts of the city, discarded needles and a recent daylight shooting that left a 14-year-old boy wounded. The revaluation has drawn public concern as Lewiston undertakes its first citywide property reassessment in nearly 40 years.
The shooting occurred Thursday afternoon on Avon Street, where police said they responded around 4:30 p.m. after reports of screaming and multiple gunshots. Officers found a 14-year-old male suffering from a gunshot wound to the leg, and police later said a 13-year-old had been charged in connection with the incident.
Against that backdrop, Saturday’s cleanup was a visible response to problems many Lewiston residents say they are tired of seeing ignored.
Police assisted with the cleanup, as did Lewiston City Councilor Bret Martel.
Jones said the event showed that Mainers are willing to step up and take responsibility for their communities.
“Mainers care, we care, we love our state, we want it to be great, and they are here spending their Saturday cleaning up other people’s debris,” Jones said.
For one day, Jones and his team made part of Lewiston cleaner and safer.
But the larger question remains for Lewiston’s elected leadership: when will residents see the same urgency from City Hall?
Maine’s second-largest city is facing real challenges, public safety concerns, affordability pressures, homelessness, needles, trash, and residents worried about whether their city remains clean, safe and livable.
A campaign cleanup will not solve those problems by itself. But it does put them on display.
For Jones, Saturday’s event offered a campaign message delivered not from a podium, but from the streets of Lewiston: public safety, civic pride and visible action.
For Lewiston’s elected leaders, it raised a much sharper question, when will the people entrusted with running the city prove to residents that they are capable of keeping Maine’s second-largest city safe, clean and affordable?
A job well done