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January 27, 2009

Auburn ends collaboration commission

By The Mainebiz News Staff

Auburn recently disbanded its joint services commission, charged with coordinating cooperation with Lewiston, saying it is no longer necessary.

In a 5-2 vote, the panel dissolved the Citizen's Commission on Joint Lewiston-Auburn Cooperation, which has worked for two years studying the possibility of combining municipal services between the two cities, according to the Sun Journal.

The commission released a report in December calling for the two cities to use the same computer platforms and recommending the cities combine assessing departments. Auburn's city manager and assessor criticized both ideas, saying they would not improve efficiencies or save money.

The two cities have been studying consolidation since 1996, but Auburn Mayor John Jenkins believed the commission's efforts have not been enough. "We've had reports for years, but every council has done nothing about it, including this one," Jenkins said, according to the paper. "We've been recognized by the governor, and that's nice. But we haven't done anything but more studies."

Reader comments

From David

I'm a city councilor in Biddeford and am disappointed that the effort didn't didn't do more than additional studies. I tend to think that Biddeford and Saco could combine efforts and save money. The two cities work together in many ways, but I still feel like we could do more. I'd be curious if any readers know of collaborations between cities that work.  

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