Lewiston(Maine)Named 'All-America City' (City with Nation's Largest Percentage of Somalis)

Portland Press Herald ^ | June 10, 2007 | AP

[fight_truth_decay]

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Maine's second-largest city has earned some new bragging rights.

Lewiston was one of 10 municipalities designated this year as an All-America City. The selections were made Friday night during an award ceremony in Anaheim, Calif., in the competition sponsored by the National Civic League.

"My head is just spinning right now," Dottie Perham-Whittier, Lewiston's community relations coordinator, told the (Lewiston) Sun Journal. "I think we pretty much just leaped up on that stage."

During its presentation the day before, the delegation from Lewiston talked about various city initiatives, including the Lewiston Youth Advisory Council, the Lots to Garden program and tax preparation for low-income residents.

Lewiston became the fifth Maine city, and the first in 40 years, to win the honor. Portland was designated an All-America City in 1950, South Portland in 1964, Presque Isle in 1966 and Auburn in 1967.

Three other Maine communities have been named finalists but fell short of gaining All-America status: Gardiner in 1957, Kittery in 1968 and Augusta in 1988.

Lewiston was among the finalists for the award last year, but was never called to the stage. When the city was selected this year, Perham-Whittier said, "One of the judges looked at me and said, 'Aren't you glad you came back?'"

The application crafted this year by Deputy City Manager Phil Nadeau and his team was shorter and punchier, focusing more on community accomplishments and less on the work from City Hall.

"We think we nailed our presentation," Perham-Whittier said. "The judges repeatedly thanked us for coming back again. They commented on the youth council and really seemed to remember a lot about us."

The youth council's most recent effort, the "U Booze, U Looze" campaign to curb underage drinking, took center stage. UBUL pins and logos were prominent parts of the city's booth at a civic fair Thursday.

The National Civic League said the All-America City award, which typically goes to 10 cities each year, offers national recognition for hard work and civic pride. The league claims each city gets a public relations boost with the status, resulting in more tourism and new business investment.

[fight_truth_decay]

Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, the National Civic League's ( also referred to as the Nobel Prize for Constructive Leadership) purpose is to strengthen democracy at the local level by transforming communities. In a three-day competition, a delegation from each community presented their innovative programs and local solutions to a jury of their peers from across the United States. Their presentations addressed social and economic issues, including youth engagement, education, poverty, housing, sustainability, immigration integration, and race relations. Lewiston, Maine was then chosen as on of the ten to receive this award. The NCL was founded in 1894 by Theodore Roosevelt and other government reformers.

You might remember Lewiston was a center of media controversy when an influx of Somali into the city had the mayor, in a letter, hanging, out what many considered a No Vacancy Sign to Somali newcomers. White supremacist groups(followers of Hale, etc) arrived in Lewiston in protest with door to door canvassing attempting to recruit new members. Citizens and Maine political leaders held a rally in opposition to these hate groups. Conservative Media talk show hosts led their programs with ongoing commentary on the issue.

On May 7, Somalian refugee presence raised tensions in Maine (May 12, 2007) Jerry Harkavy Associated Press wrote:(clip) "...Over the past six years, as many as 3,500 black refugees from the war-torn African country have settled in this nearly all-white, heavily French-Canadian and largely Roman Catholic city of 36,000, giving Lewiston the highest concentration of Somalis anywhere in America."

"The latest newcomers to a city built by waves of immigrants have created a mosque, the Red Sea restaurant and a couple of halal grocery stores as they try to adapt to their strange new world. Women in colorful head scarves or ankle-length hijabs can be seen walking together, not far from the canals and the once-bustling mills."

Somali women and their children walk through downtown Lewiston, Maine, on Tuesday. Robert F. Bukaty / the associated press

"But the influx of Somalis has raised tensions. Tensions ran high again last summer when a local man rolled a pig's head into a Somali mosque during evening prayers. (Pork is considered unclean by Muslims.) The perpetrator, who said he did it as a joke, was charged with desecrating a place of worship. He committed suicide after a recent standoff with police.

"Then on April 11 came the ham incident(parody). The student was suspended, and the Maine attorney general looked into whether the prank represented a hate crime. Ultimately, no charges were filed."

Mixed success

"Haaruan Sheekhey, a 27-year-old Somali who moved to Lewiston from Denver two years ago, said he is ready to try his luck elsewhere. His restaurant failed after it was hit by vandals who scratched a swastika on a window, he said, and employers are reluctant to hire Somalis. "If somebody says, 'I'm happy in Lewiston,' they're lying," he said. "We're having a hard time in this city. We're struggling. We're trying so hard to be part of this community, trying so hard to find a job, but nobody gives us a chance."

"Others, however, say that the Somalis are assimilating well and that a few incidents don't reflect the way the newcomers have been accepted."

"Yes, there is some friction every once in a while, but that often gets blown out of proportion," said Pierrot Rugaba, program director for refugee and immigration services of Catholic Charities Maine. "Things have improved, but like everything else it takes time."

Hope for children

"By most accounts, language problems and a lack of job opportunities have proven to be the biggest hurdle to Lewist on's Somalis as they try to move up the economic ladder, leading many to shift their hopes and dreams to the next generation."

"Their children are the only assets they have. They left everything else in Somalia," said Said Mohamud, manager of the Mogadishu Store, a grocery."

"The Somalis began arriving in this city in the dead of winter in February 2001, beginning the ethnic transformation of a city that was 97 percent white. Lewiston's Somalis now represent close to 10 percent of the population, with an additional 30 or so arriving each month."

"Lewiston's emergence as the city with the nation's largest percentage of Somalis happened largely by chance."

"Many had been placed in the Atlanta area, where it was assumed a warm climate and a large black population would ease their adjustment. But dismay at high crime, drugs and gangs prompted the community to look elsewhere, Mohamud said."

"The word went out that Maine was a safe place to raise a family. Immigrants resettled in Portland, 40 miles to the south, but there was a shortage of affordable apartments there. Lewiston had more vacancies because of its population losses".

Maine is still rated one of the safest states in the nation with a violent crime rate four and a half times lower than the rest the country. However more than half the recorded murders in Maine over the last 10 years are the result of domestic violence abuse, and nearly half of all assaults are domestic violence related or crimes specifically targeting women.

[buffyt]

Funny how USA is so hated and despised worldwide and EVERYONE WANTS TO COME HERE TO LIVE!

[Thinkin' Gal]

Lewistan ping.

[WorkerbeeCitizen]

Good grief.

[albie]

“The Somalis began arriving in this city in the dead of winter in February 2001, beginning the ethnic transformation of a city that was 97 percent white. Lewiston’s Somalis now represent close to 10 percent of the population, with an additional 30 or so arriving each month.”

...the beginning of the end for Maine. They’ve been a socialist state for some time but this is the frosting on the Marxist cake. The Somalis will own Lewiston in 2 years at 30 new ones a month.

[L98Fiero]

‘”By most accounts, language problems and a lack of job opportunities have proven to be the biggest hurdle...’

language problems = no job pretty much everywhere

[fight_truth_decay]

MAINE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Bureau of Employment Services
CareerCenter Consultant Class Code 0723
(Multilingual – English and Arabic and/or Somali)
Pay Grade 20 ($29,411.20 to $39,769.60/ yr)

Value of State-paid health and dental insurance: $310.74 biweekly
Value of State’s share of Employee’s Retirement: 18.54% of pay

Maine State Government is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer
Minority/Female/Persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Opening: June 5, 2007 -— Closing: June 18, 2007
http://www.maine.gov/bhr/state_jobs/directhire/0723(06-05)a.htm

http://www.maine.gov/bhr/state_jobs/direct_jobs.shtml

[fight_truth_decay]

Said Mohamud, manager of the Mogadishu Store,
plays with his daughter, Sabrina, 2,
last week in Lewiston, Maine.
Mohamud, 46, taught chemistry
at a university in the Somalian capital-AP

[MrLee]

The muslimes can leave here anytime they want. The sooner the better. We know what they believe......

[Howard Jarvis Admirer]

They aren’t coming here to become Americans - they are coming here to colonize America and live off your tax dollars. Ask the Indians if immigration / colonization is a good thing - they know more about it than Teddy the Chappaquiddick Admiral or Juan McCain.

[yuta250]

What is not mentioned in this story is why all these Somalis gravitated to Maine from the warmer climes of Atlanta and other southern states in the first place, it’s because of Maine’s much more generous welfare benefits. Or to quote one Somali from a previous article; “It’s frightfully cold up here, but the welfare is good.”

[L98Fiero]

“Multilingual”

That’s not a language problem.

[Humble Servant]

Obviously, what is being judged here is the city’s capacity to generate expensive, bureaucracy-laden “programs”, not results. Clearly, they’ve never been there. It’s a festering stink-hole. But they have more liberal programs than you can shake a wad of (our) money at, by gum. And that’s what counts.

[jim35]

Well, I guess the citizens Lewiston are going to have to foot the bill for the rest of Maine’s liberals.
Are these legal immigrants?

[Old 300]

Not good, not good.

[VOA]

Lewiston(Maine)Named 'All-America City'
(City with Nation's Largest Percentage of Somalis)

I won't be suprised if Lewiston isn't poised to follow one of
those "Greatest Places To Live" cities in the 1950s
(or maybe it was the late 1940s).

Today, we know it as East St. Louis, Illinois.

(yep, it was a nice place up till after WWII if old histories
are correct; then it went straight to H-ll.)

[VOA]

Maine is still rated one of the safest states in the nation with
a violent crime rate four and a half times lower than the rest
the country. However more than half the recorded murders in
Maine over the last 10 years are the result of domestic violence abuse,
and nearly half of all assaults are domestic violence related or
crimes specifically targeting women.

I'm can't wait for some social scientist to say "Maine is an idyllic
low-crime paradise...because the men take most of their anger
out on their spouses/domestic partners".