Councillor Peter J. Lewis was elected to Rothesay Council in 2012. He is a local businessman,  a co-owner of a local window and door business. Peter was a member of the Town’s Joint Emergency Measures Committee, Planning Advisory Committee and Public Works and Infrastructure Committee.

His Facebook page can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/Peter-Lewis-Rothesay-Town-Council-1690681531207206/

From watching him at Council meetings, he’s both thoughtful and respectful to his fellow Councillors. His approach is probably best summed up by this from his Facebook page,

“At the end of the day once you hear from all sides you have to make a decision, some are popular and some not so popular. In the end it has to be what is best for our town.”

Peter was more likely to quietly side on Council debates with the voting block of Wells, Grant, MaGuire and Alexander rather than with Blair MacDonald on issues like spending for the Rothesay Common or with Councillor Jette who opposed the last town budget because staff hadn’t provided adequate financial information to make an informed decision.

On occasion Lewis showed more empathy for residents than staff in their disputes with the town. He was almost alone in defending the funky monkey as a small business making an effort to get ahead in tough times. He reminded the Mayor during that debate that he too started from the back of a truck and that he welcomed the competition and the new business that independent businesses brought to the town.

Peter looked frustrated at times with the lack of information coming from staff, particularly financial information.

This was clear at the beginning of this year when he couldn’t get details from the Town Manager on a pricy pickup truck, one of the few times that I observed anyone beyond MacDonald or Jette seized with the question of saving money for taxpayers.

Councillor Lewis hasn’t posted his platform online so we have limited information on where he wants to take the Town other than he is in favour of increased development and he did support the motion to borrow money for the new Rothesay Arena project.

Those who are opposed to the town’s mushrooming debt may be leery of voting for Peter if it means a continuing agenda of higher town indebtedness.

Perhaps hard-pressed constituents may convince him that the prudent course is to stick with the Rothesay Recreation Master Plan…the one that is still official Town policy. It calls for a $3.5 million upgrade of the existing arena, not a $15 million new one. We’ll have to wait and see if he speaks up on the issue before election day.

So for me, the jury is still out on Peter Lewis. I’d put him in the maybe column.

What do you think?

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