Lisbon's Liars Club: HYPOCRITES OR JUST PLAIN LIARS

HYPOCRITES OR JUST PLAIN LIARS

I cannot tell if the management of the town of Lisbon are hypocrites or just plain liars so I am going to leave it up to you to make the decision.  There are two bullets in the town “Mission Statement” and they are: 

(1)”We are committed to serving the public, being accountable, and conducting ourselves with integrity, honesty, and responsibility.” 

(2)”We are committed to sharing information with our citizens and including them as partners in the decision making process.”

In 2011, I was forced to sue the town for information pertaining to the Revolving Loan Fund.  In January of this year, the court ordered the town to provide me information pertaining to the Revolving Loan Fund.  I pointed out to the Judge, town attorney, and town manager there were two loans which were scheduled to be repaid in 2008 still on the Outstanding Revolving Loan Fund Portfolio. 

 Scott Benson

 I understand that these loans were approved prior to Stephen Eldridge and Scott Benson being hired by the town.  However, these loans come directly under their supervision and one would have expected these two individuals to review and ensure all the items they are responsible for are present and up-to-date because you are talking about town funds being utilized.  Instead, I found out these loans were still outstanding and no one had taken action to resolve the issues. 

Now on July 10, 2012, I submitted a Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) requesting this list previously provided under court order be updated to include the newest loan approved by the town council.  I also knew there was an additional loan which was scheduled to be repaid in September 2011 and I wanted to know if it had been paid off.  I received a letter from Mr. Eldridge dated July 16th 2012 stating and I quote “The request for the information pertaining to outstanding loan documents has already been provided to you.  The information that you are requesting has not changed.  Should you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me.”  Apparently, the two loans scheduled to be paid off in 2008 and the one for September 2011 are still outstanding loans and the town has not processed the new loan yet.  I sent Mr. Eldridge an email asking him about these loans but have not received any response.

Now, I have requested a copy of the Credit Enhancement Agreements (CEA) for the six businesses currently under the Tax Increment Financing Program.  My request was denied stating I was not entitled to this information.  I contacted the State of Maine Director of the TIF program and she met with the Eldridge, town attorney (Roger Therriault) and Scott Benson.  After this meeting, I was provided four of the five CEA’s.  The town was still working on the fifth one and one was not active so no CEA was necessary.  

 Roger Therriault

One of the four I received was signed by Eldridge and effective April 1, 2004 which is more than four years before Eldridge was hired.  Apparently, the town was missing two of the CEAs and you ask why this is so important to the town.  The reason is the CEA is the contract between the town and these businesses and controls how much of our tax dollars are returned to each business.   About a week to ten days later I received the last one and it too was signed by Eldridge with an effective date of December 16, 2002.  The town has been making TIF payments to these businesses without a legal contract on file.

I have had to sue the town in order to get information.  I had to request the state step in to get information I was always entitled to; so please someone tell be how the two bullets in the town’s Mission Statement could possibly be accurate.  

Now, come the tough questions.  Is the town council aware of what is really going on in this town and are they supporting this type of behavior by the town manager?  Apparently, the town council is supporting the town manager because they continue to renew his contract.  Why does a citizen of Lisbon have to bring these discrepancies out to the town council instead of the town council monitoring our town funds?
 

Mr. Eldridge received a salary of over $91,000 of our tax dollars in 2011 and this mismanagement of town funds is what we get in return.  I do not believe we are getting our money’s worth from the town manager.  I believe the town council needs to take action to replace Eldridge and get a competent town manager.

Larry Fillmore
Concerned Citizen