A "Great" Perspective from a Dedicated Reader

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Just general observation and opinion from citizen of Lisbon.

First off, thanks to the folks managing the Lisbon Reporter Blog. This is a great way for Lisbon to stay connected. It would be great to find more contributions here on the happenings from the ever diverse and growing community of Lisbon. The content thus far on the Lisbon Reporter has been more so directed on and towards the town council and town manager. It has been pretty one sided with the side of dis-taint being the more vocal. There have been many accusations towards the council and town manager over the past few months. All of these accusations may or may not be merited, I'm not qualified to make that decision nor do I want to. If I had to make a responsible decision at this time, it would be a tough call because all the actual facts are not available to me. I find a lot of the dis-taint has be amplified by emotions and not so much fact. In my opinion the dig to pull up dirt on the council has lead to including little issues that probably would be passed over and not scrutinized if the council were in a different light, such as selling hay to the town. On the other hand it sounds like there are real issues being brought forth and that we should all pay close attention to what is going on.

The council does need to take a look at how it is appearing to the citizens of Lisbon. If there where a prep course on how to act when holding a town council seat, that would be a great course for them to attend. I'm not going to individually lay anything on anyone but for example at the last council meeting Councilor Henry wanted to give her councilor communications during the meeting. Understandably so, she was told that the councilor communications were for the end of the meeting and she had to wait until then. The issue being that at the end of the meeting a motion was made to adjourn before the councilor communications was brought forth. Councilor Henry stated again, that she had something to say, all the councilors knew she had something to say but went ahead and second the motion to adjourn anyway. Every one of the councilors should have voted no to adjourn, knowing full well a fellow councilor wanted to share communications what ever it was. This sort of attitude has been evident in some way or the other with this council for some time. I could go on but I will leave it at that.

One of the big screamers has been for us to take back the town and go back to a selectman town meeting form of government. Be careful what you wish for and don't judge and act to quickly. The town did vote for a governing council. Give it time to work. I've been in town for 20+ years. I remember the Many town meetings where it was mostly all the same people showing up and voting all the time year after year. They had the control of a lot of how the town was directed. In a positive light I'm sure they always had every ones best interests at heart but do you really want a small percentage of voters voting on town issues. Yes the entire town should show up but in reality, that is not the case in our busy lifestyles today. We do not always have the time to attend these meetings. That is why we vote for a small number of individuals to vote for us. The Town Council. We have a new form of government, give it time to work. If you don't like what the council is doing, tell them. If they are smart, they will listen to you. If you don't feel they are doing a good job, vote them out and somebody else in. On the other hand good citizens of Lisbon. Give us someone to vote for, run for office we need people like you. It is easy to complain but much harder to do something about it. Eventually as a council changes and grows it will realize that, it is here for the people.

Thanks, Brian