Censorship Lisbon Style By Eldridge's Well Paid Minions

min·ion [min-yuhn]  

–noun

1.

a servile follower or subordinate of a person in power.

2.

a favored or highly regarded person.

3.

a minor  official.

CENSORSHIP LISBON STYLE

Eldridge and his staff have sunk to a new low lately and no one was the wiser. The staff prepares the minutes to the Town Council meetings and workshops. These minutes are supposed to be an accurate reflection of what was discussed and took place during the meeting/workshop. These minutes become “Public Records” once they are approved by the Town Council.

However, if you review the videos of the August 2, 2011 meeting and the minutes on the town of Lisbon web site, you will see there are many items missing from the minutes. I personally brought out during the meeting on August 2, 2011, the $32,500 misappropriated from the Economic Community Development Department. Eldridge claimed the transaction was a legal transaction and the Town of Lisbon was going after the funds through a civil suit. This conversation never took place according to the minutes. A prime example of censorship; if it is not part of the Public Record then it never took place.

Also during the August 2, 2011 meeting, I went into detail why the proposed amendment to the Council Working Rules was impossible to comply with because the wording was so screwed up. This was an embarrassment to the author of the change, Councilor Vice-Chair Pomelow
 We do not want this council to look stupid or show how inept they truly are so we do not put this conversation into the minutes of the meeting. Again, censorship by Eldridge and his staff; if it is not in the Public Record then it does not exist even through it is on the video.

When you want something to go away, you simply do not publish it. This is the case of the minutes to the July 19^th, 2011 Town Council meeting. There are no minutes for July 19^th’s minute posted to the Town of Lisbon web site. Now this is truly censorship, just don’t publish it and everyone will forget about it.

The Town Council Workshop held on July 26, 2011 is mind boggling. I attended this workshop and listened to the entire debate on Charter Amendments. The discussion was never videotaped and I can understand why after reading the minutes of the workshop. I am amazed by these councilors and the town manager. I understood at the end of the discussion there was more work to be done on the Charter Amendments by the town attorney. This is reflected in the minutes. However, there are eight (8) Charter Amendments outlined in the minutes and another to be considered. The Municipal Budget Question for Ballot prepared by Councilor Cote was not included. Instead the minutes reflect “By general consent, the Council decided to place this item on the next agenda and to have, Town Attorney, Roger Therriault prepare the language changes for the Charters for Council review.” The next TWO agendas have come and gone along with a workshop and this item was NEVER on the agendas. Again, this is a clear demonstration of censorship by Eldridge and his staff.

Also, in the minutes of this workshop is a statement which reads “The Council discussed each of the following charter amendments and by general consent asked that the Town Manager place them on the warrant for the November 8 Election.” I do not believe this statement is accurate because the town attorney had to do additional work on some of the items and the question of the Municipal Budget was never resolved so how can they authorized the town manager to put these changes on the warrant for the November 8 Election. At the workshop, Town Attorney, Roger Therriault stated the list of changes need to be narrowed down because the residents will not read all of the changes if there are too many on the ballot. The minutes reflect more work was to be done before the amendments would be ready and yet according to the minutes the council authorized the town manager to place the changes on the warrant for the November ballot. It is truly amazing how Eldridge and his staff manipulate the minutes of the Town Council meeting/workshops to meet their needs.

It is the responsibility and duty of the town manager to ensure all administrative matters pertaining to the operation of the Town of Lisbon are accurate and reflect the truth. It would appear once again Eldridge has no clue as to what the truth is and how to perform his administrative duties. Eldridge slips these minutes right under the noses of the Council because they believe him to be the best thing since the invention of peanut butter. The truth of the matter is Eldridge has the council wrapped right around his finger and they never read or question anything Eldridge presents to them.

WAKE UP COUNCILORS AND SMELL THE COFFEE. YOU ARE BEING MANIPULATED BY ELDRIDGE AND YOU DO NOT EVEN REALIZE IT.

Larry A. Fillmore

Concerned Citizen