INCOMPETENCY OR AN INSULT TO THE INTELLIGENCE OF LISBON VOTERS?

One of the items on the agenda at the last council meeting was the removal of any public participation at the council meetings. One councilor felt it was an insult to her intelligence to have constituents come forward with concerns. This councilor was concerned as she felt she may be blindsided and therefore not be able to answer immediately. As a councilor in the Town of Lisbon, I am a public servant. All of the council members are public servants. Isn’t the goal of the town council to bring the wishes of the majority of the people of Lisbon to a reality? 

 

I did not become a town councilor to protect incompetency. The people who live in the Town of Lisbon have a right to have their voices heard in a public forum. If you don’t know the answer, just say I don’t know…and go find out. The right to be heard overrules the right to not being worried about lack of preparation. The town council should not be allowed to limit the rights of the people in the town of Lisbon simply because the councilors feel they are not prepared to answer. The message that closing the town meeting will send is one of secrecy and far worse, exclusion.

The public has been denied answers to questions continuously by the town manager and lied to on several occasions. Lisbon has had to re-issue property tax bills TWICE, at extra expense to Lisbon taxpayers, both last year and this year due to the fact that the bills were incorrect. A diversion was played out with the assessor in an attempt to protect budgets. Budgets are being protected by public servants who in some cases are retired rehired or, in other words, are double dipping. Last week, the council had a work shop after the meeting to discuss sending the municipal budget out to referendum, like we do with the school budget (the workshop was not taped) Voters were openly in favor of the referendum. The council took a straw poll and Mr. Bickford and I were the only ones in favor. As mentioned, the voters were openly in favor.
Some of the reasons given for closing the meetings to the public are as follows…the people think we are doing a good job, I have not heard anybody wants to vote on the budget, one councilor said the public was not competent, as it took him years to understand the budget. 

 

A councilor’s short fall or inability to understand a budget should not be a deciding factor in giving the public what they have requested. These are all excuses for not giving the voters the budget, department by department, so the voters, the people who live in the town of Lisbon, can determine how their money is spent or not spent. 

 

Please don't wait to come out and speak up after you receive your tax bill. Now is the time to be heard. The rubber stamp council is set as you can all see and have seen the last few meetings.

The town manager is the tax collector, therefore by law he is responsible for all tax issues in the town. The renewal of the town manager’s contract after what has taken place, with tax bills incorrect two years in a row, is difficult to understand. In fact, it’s an insult to the intelligence of the voters of Lisbon.

Councilor Roger Cote