Old and dangerous housing stock is the grim reality we face daily. Building owners are portrayed in a negative light; apartment dwellers are always the innocent victims. Neither of those is 100 percent true.

Many landlords do care; they invest in their properties and often are faced with the reality that improvements will be short-lived. A trashed-out apartment is not a reflection of a bad landlord, it is the result of no personal accountability of the tenant. Bad tenants not only destroy the building, they force good tenants to endure their anti-social, I-don’t-care attitudes.

Bad landlords exist; they are a known quantity. To change Lewiston’s current housing issues, both landlord and tenant need to be held accountable.

Shane Bouchard will bring personal accountability and will move Lewiston forward.

Lewiston’s firefighters have endorsed Shane Bouchard as the next mayor.

Rick Cailler, for the Lewiston Firefighters Association