An old college friend recently came to visit my wife and me for the first time in 10 years. We proudly showed him around town -- the new Cony High School, the Rail Trail, Arsenal and riverfront, YMCA, Alfond Cancer Center, expanded University of Maine at Augusta and the Holocaust and Human Rights Center.

My friend was so impressed with all the positive changes in our community. He commented on how our rotaries and public spaces have been spruced up with carefully tended flowers and shrubs and was amazed when I showed him the hundred in-town acres off Mount Vernon Avenue we recently acquired for hiking, skiing and biking.

He saw as many shopping opportunities as he has in the big city, but I emphasized how we are paying more and more attention to neighborhood quality of life in our efforts to become a more livable city.

I spoke proudly of how the City Council and I are working together toward the same goals of trying to move from being a good community to being a great one.

The next morning, my friend was waiting for me at the breakfast table with a sly smile on his face, holding up the Capitol Weekly, a weekly newspaper.

There, he found a few writers intent on making us look like the corruption capital of the free world. Letters and guest columns charging backroom deals, payoffs and cover-ups.

"Gee, Roger," he said, "looks like the next time I come to visit you it might be in jail!"

Although I laughed along with him, I realized what he was saying.

Through the vocal efforts of a small minority, Augusta is being portrayed in a very different way from the city I know and love. At least that's the impression one gets by reading these rants or listening to the angry outbursts from the same few at our Charter Commission meetings.

The facts are very different, and most people in Augusta know that and embrace the good things happening here.

We have turned around our population decline. Augusta's good schools, stabilized property taxes (no tax increases three of the past four years), and growing amenities are making us a more attractive place to live. We are hard at work improving the recreational, cultural and community resources for people of all ages and are committed to restoration of our beautiful downtown and riverfront.

I am here to report that every member of the City Council is hard working, honest and trying to improve our city's quality of life. We may not always agree, but our council discussions are civil, thoughtful and always open to the public. Each councilor makes the effort to attend neighborhood and community meetings and be available to their constituents.

This is not Washington, D.C., with career politicians -- we are your friends and neighbors, and we conduct all of your business in the open. We are doing everything we can to make people feel welcome at our council meetings and I personally hold monthly Saturday morning meetings at our library to which all are invited. Our city management and staff have never been better.

Don't get me wrong. Our First Amendment is "first" because it is perhaps our most important. Not only does every citizen have a right to criticize our elected and appointed officials, it is a healthy part of our civic life. That's a given.

But the constant personal attacks by a few throwing around words like Nazi, fascist and "abuse of power" without even a hint of factual basis accomplishes nothing except to further discourage good people from seeking office. And a string of frivolous lawsuits, all ultimately decided in the city's favor, has cost Augusta taxpayers hundred of thousands of dollars.

Anyone who closes their ears to criticism is a fool. Anyone who is paralyzed by it is worse. We face some tremendous challenges as a city, starting this winter when we need to make sure that some of our neighbors don't freeze to death. This is the time to pull together, to stop fighting old battles and to enjoy a shared vision for the benefit of all of us. We should all try to do that in the spirit of respect, openness and optimism.

Let us look for the best in each other, not the worst.

Roger Katz is mayor of Augusta.