THE MYSTERIES OF LISBON'S REVOLVING LOAN FUND

THE MYSTERIES OF LISBON'S' REVOLVING LOAN FUND

Back in March 2007, the town processed a loan for the Atlantic Commercial Cleaners for $32,500 dollars.  In 2008, Jennifer Norris discovered there was no such business and the town began an investigation into the misappropriation of these funds.  As of right now, no one has been convicted and the money has never been recovered.

Lisbon Police Chief David T. Brooks

As of right now, no one has been convicted and the money has never been recovered.

 Lisbon Town Manager Stephen G. Eldridge

A new town manager, Stephen Eldridge, assured the taxpayers of Lisbon in 2008 that changes had been made to the Revolving Loan Program to prevent any possibility of this happening again.  Mrs. Fitzgerald and I requested a forensic audit be performed to determine if there were other misappropriations of town funds.  Eldridge stated there were new procedures in place, along with checks and balances to ensure there would not be any further incidents.

Today, there are eight (8) active on the Revolving Loan Program Portfolio.  (The town does not consider the $32,500 a loan anymore because the council did not approve it.  However, there is a Promissory Note and a Purchase Order still on the books and no repayment of this loan.)  Of these eight active loans two of them were supposed to have been paid in March ($1,500) and May 2008 ($3,000).  Another loan was to have been paid off in September 2011 ($52,000).  These are funds provided to the town by the State and Federal government to enhance Lisbon.  Apparently, these checks and balances and new procedures are not working. 
Also on this list of active loans, are two loans to businesses that no longer exist.  One loan is for $50,000 and the other is for $10,000.  I was under the assumption that all loans were to be secured by land, buildings, machinery, equipment, accounts receivable and inventory and/or personal assets or such other assets as are deemed appropriate.  These businesses have been terminated for approximately a year or more and nothing is being done or they would have been taken off the active list.  By the time the town gets around to doing anything, all the collateral will have disappeared, if it still exists.

One of the mysteries here is who is in charge of protecting town funds?  It certainly is NOT our town manager who receives a modest salary of $91,401 for 2011.  And the second mystery is where are all those checks and balances to prevent any more misappropriations of town funds.  Apparently, the procedures the town manager said he put in place are not working.  A normal person would expect this situation to be cleared up in four (4) years but not our town council.  Our Town Council continues to renew the town managers contract and pay him more every year.  Talk about gullible!

The taxpayers are forced to pay for a town manager whom I believe has not been protecting
Town funds.

























Chairman Fern LaRochelle – 353-2329    flarochelle@lisbonme.org
Vice Chair Lori Pomelow – 353-8822       lpomelow@lisbonme.org
Councilor Bowie – 353-2607                      mbowie@lisbonme.org
Councilor Bickford – 353-8946                  rogginbic32@gmail.com
Councilor Mason – 353-9086                    gmason@lisbonme.org
Council Lunt – 353-9903                            mlunt@lisbonme.org
Councilor Ward – 353-7306                      lward@lisbonme.org
 
 Also, the taxpayers are paying ($55,481 in 2011) for an Economic Community Development Director whom I believe should be responsible for the daily operations of the Active Revolving Loan Program.  This means the town utilized $146,882 of our tax dollars to manage this Active Revolving Loan Program which currently has eight active loans.   The Chief Administrative Officer (Eldridge) is the overall individual responsibility for the daily operation for the town of Lisbon.

Would anyone out there want to try and explain this very deplorable situation of town funds and why our town council continues to support this type of performance?

Larry Fillmore
Concerned Citizen


 Comment from Peter Reuter

Why is it Mr. Fillmore has to bring this to our attention?  After the town manager has had four years to correct this situation, it is ridiculous the town is just now trying to rectify this misappropriation of town funds.

Councilor Cote has left a new comment on your post "THE MYSTERIES OF LISBON'S REVOLVING LOAN FUND":

Peter, can you say David T. Brooks, I bet he could find you a bag of weed or a line of cocaine with out a bit of problem he has a team of seventeen keeping that safe.

Golden B. Bea said...

With as much resources that we taxpayers have paid for the lisbon pd something stinks. The oldest and longest living person there is Brooks. Cote is correct. Brooks has been at the head of the drug protection racket in that town for a long time.

You have to play to get paid. So much so the even certain car dealerships and movers on either side of the river never get hassled. Wonder why? Even the names are about to change very shortly. Just you wait and see.