The Lisbon Reporter

WELCOME TO THE LISBON REPORTER. In an effort to keep our community informed of what is going on at local and Federal levels of government, we decided to create this on-line newspaper. It is our hope that this on-line newspaper will help you stay informed so that you can get involved and take action for the benefit of our ENTIRE community. Thank you for visiting and please check back frequently for information about what is happening in LISBON/LISBON FALLS, MAINE USA

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

A Reflection Of Lisbon's Lack Of Leadership; Town Home Page

TOWN HOME PAGE

This is my second attempt to expose the total lack of communication in the town of Lisbon. My first attempt was on December 14^th and was called “And the farmer hauled another load away.” Chairman LaRochelle has stated the town council wants to “improve communications with the residents of Lisbon” by making members of the town council available prior to town council meetings for an informal discussion with the people. This is yet another attempt to cover-up the ineptness of the town council to supervise the town manager.

Anyone seeking information about the town of Lisbon can login to the town web site. This web site is a reflection of what is going on in Lisbon and should have the latest information possible. Below is a listing of the information currently posted on our town home page?

Let us take a look at what visitors see when they login to the town web site.

A Managerial Report dated July 2012. The Fireworks Survey dated August 22, 2012 which the council did not utilize when voting on the Fireworks Ordinance; information pertaining to the last class of the Lisbon Citizens Police Academy; which ended May 3, 2012. The 2013 proposed town budget dating back to March 2012. These are only working documents and do not reflect the approved budget. All the information on the Public Hearing for 2012 budget and the documents utilized on May 8^th and finally the Annual Town Report for both 2009-2010 and 2010-2011.

As you can see all of this information is outdated and totally useless at this point. As citizens of Lisbon, the people should be embarrassed that this useless information is still posted to the town web site. This web site is a reflection of this town and its people. OMG, here is a new concept for the town council; make the town manager do his job. If we are going to pay the town manager $91,000 plus a year, the least he can do is his job. By using the town web site to post current information, the town council could effectively “improve communications with its residents”. Can you imagine how much information could be past on to the people of Lisbon utilizing the town web site? We are already paying for the web site so why not take advantage of this valuable asset we already have in place.

The town currently has a method to get valuable information out to the people and we are not using it. Our town council needs to force the town manager to do his job and post current information on the town web site. As all of you know, the town council does not listen to me at all so if any of this makes sense to you; please do not hesitate to contact Chairman LaRochelle at 353-2329 or Vice-Chair Lisa Ward at 353-7306.