Five years ago I decided to retire. I asked then council member Nancy Backus to run and helped with her campaign. Four years have passed and our Auburn is at a crossroad again.

The work you see going on today, downtown, the hotels, the news of GSA were all in the works when I left. We’ve stalled.

The monthly meetings with the pastors of Auburn where we tried to coordinate help ended. The meetings of the nine Valley Cities, working together on issues of crime, transportation and parks have ended.

For almost 20 years during Mayor Chuck Booth’s terms and mine, we worked together with our councils and ensured the council was not only fully informed but sent out to all of the boards and commissions of the region to finally bring some of the funds paid out by our citizens back to our city through the county, state and federal government. We all worked to bring back as much as we could to our Auburn. That has ended with only some council members allowed to help.

Crime is on the rise. Our police need leadership. Our parks do not feel safe, grocery store parking lots feel unsafe as do our neighborhoods.

For those of you who placed your faith in me before I ask you to vote to get our Auburn back on the right path and vote Deputy Mayor Largo Wales for mayor.

– Pete Lewis