Why I don’t think Dr Linton Lewis is fit for public service

Tue, Jun 12. 2012

Editor: I don’t know Linton Lewis and I doubt very much he knows me; but as Linton Lewis is now a public figure I believe I am entitled to share an experience with Dr Lewis with the public to whom he now owes his allegiance.{{more}}

Last Saturday (June 9, which just happened to be my wedding anniversary), I drove into Kingstown at around 9 a.m. to shop for a gift for my wife. My first stop was Mother Care, diagonally across the street from the Linton Building on James Street where Dr Lewis has his office. The parking lot was empty, so I parked in the rear of the building in the one space that was not designated as reserved. When I walked to the front of the building, I discovered Mother Care was closed and would not reopen for several days, so I decided to shop elsewhere. About 45 minutes later I returned to the same empty lot – anniversary gift in hand – only to discover that my car was blocked by a white pickup truck. I could only assume that someone was offended by my choice of parking space, so I decided to wait for the owner of the truck to show up. After about 10 minutes, another car drove in and parked in one of the covered spaces. I inquired of the driver if she knew who owned the truck and she confirmed that it was owned by Linton Lewis. I asked if she knew why he would have blocked me the way he did when the lot was empty and there was no way of knowing the space was reserved, and she said that people have asked Dr Lewis to post a sign on the space, but he has refused. When I asked her again why he would have blocked me in when the entire parking lot was empty she just shrugged.

I was certainly upset that I could not get out of the space, but I realized I was in the wrong and decided to swallow my frustration and go back downtown for a cup of coffee until such time as Dr Lewis decided to leave.

Around noon I returned, but the truck was still there. My wife was at home waiting for me, so I decided I better call Dr Lewis and apologize and ask him to move the truck. After all, his office was just across the street.

The phone rang and Dr Lewis answered.

“Dr Lewis,” I said, “I am the person who parked in your space. I want to apologize; I didn’t know it was a reserved space, but today is my wedding anniversary and I really need to get home.”

“I’m not moving my truck,” he said, and hung up before I had a chance to say another word.

I was taken aback. Was it possible that this man who is a representative of the people has so much anger that he needed to avenge the innocent use of his private parking space by a total stranger? Is this the kind of behaviour we expect from a public servant? Would a note on my car not have sufficed?

Would it be too much to expect that Dr Lewis put up a sign letting us know that this space is for his personal use?

I would propose that if the new senator reacts to the simple act of using his parking space in this way, he is not fit to deal with the serious issues of government requiring tact and compromise. While I am not in Dr Lewis’ voting district, if he were to run for office, he would not have my vote.

And as for legal services, I’ll be sure to cross him off my list of possible attorneys.

Marc Erdrich

Editor’s note: Dr Lewis denies putting down the phone on Mr Erdrich. He says the phone cut out as he was telling the caller that he was in a meeting and could not come until his meeting was over. In any event, Dr Lewis said even though his space is not marked, there is a sign saying that the entire parking lot is private. He said, had he parked elsewhere in the lot, he would have had to use someone else’s parking space.