I recently received a ticket for parking in front of my apartment. I have parked my car on the street for five-plus years. The city said it was to “crack down on abandoned vehicles” so it is limiting us to 24 hours of street parking before ticketing and threatening to tow us.

Frankly, that’s utter nonsense. It’s reasonable that I don’t use my car on the weekend or if I’m on vacation. Does it mean I’ve abandoned my vehicle if I’m sick and unable to get out of bed for a few days? Lewiston is a large town with the attitude of a big city, and I get that, but one can’t apply inconvenient taxes (parking tickets) without giving us benefits of big cities.

I’d love to sell my car so that I don’t have to worry about the new policy, but without solid public transit infrastructure I’m unable to get around without one.

I’ve spent years advocating for Lewiston. It’s the little city that could, but Lewiston keeps sabotaging itself. This city has so many ideas but seems to forget that it needs to lay the groundwork first. It wants to be business-friendly, but can’t find the time or resources to bring the existing store fronts up to code. It claims to want to help the unhoused, but has voted against two shelters in recent years. It has plans to reimagine the Tree Streets, but has ignored the people who live here.

Lewiston must do better.

Emerie Biederman
Lewiston