Deja Vue Lisbon

 

 

Remember this Letter?

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Good Advice From Someone Who Knows

Dear Editor,

The Town of Lisbon finds itself at a major crossroads. What is at stake is the town's future as well as its character. To go straight would mean accepting the status quo and allowing the Town Council and the Town Manager to continue to ignore the needs and wants of the citizens. To turn left would allow these people to enact Charter Revisions that will only serve to tighten their stranglehold on the community. The only favorable course of action is to turn to the right and take back control of the community from those who only serve for their own ego.

I write to the citizens of Lisbon from a unique perspective as I have been involved in this same fight here in Rumford. How ironic to read that Steve Eldridge, MMA's "Golden Boy," is once again in the middle of the struggle for government accountability and fiscal responsibility. The town is fortunate to have the Lisbon Reporter to provide taxpayers with not only the facts of what is going on in your community, but the background as well.

The best advice that I can offer you on fighting this war is to not allow these Charter changes to go through or to allow your Town Council or Town Manager to put together a Charter Commission. Most Charters limit how many revisions the Town Council or Board of Selectmen can put on a ballot in any one given year and when they need more they go to a Charter Commission. A Charter Commission is an evil beast; once created under State law there is no way to stop the beast when it turns on its own citizens. The appointed positions will be filled with cronies and they will have a preconceived agenda. This agenda will include abolishing any board or committees that have oversight over the council, changing elected positions to be appointed positions, and they will create job descriptions that rule out any local talent from ever being hired. Never let the beast loose in your town.

I encourage you to follow our lead and use the ballot box and the courts to ferret out the quislings among you and to return the government to the people. Remember -"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men/women to stand by and do nothing."

Good luck Lisbon.

Ron Theriault
Rumford, Maine