Recap Town Council Meeting and Public Hearing‏ Held Tuesday August 20, 2013

                                                        (previous Town Council meeting)

RECAP TOWN COUNCIL MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARING

First, I want to thank all the citizens that came out last night to attend the Public Hearing on floating a million dollar bond for the Worumbo Mill.  It was very rewarding to see so many residents interested in what the town council is doing to this community.  I am especially proud of the many individuals who came forward and offered their opinions on this project.   

The council chambers were full and people lined the hallways and eventually the council decided to stop the Public Hearing and reschedule it for another night where everyone could sit and be heard, like at a school environment.  The date has not been etched in stone but the tentative dates are either the 10^th or 17^th of September.  Please keep checking the town web site and The Lisbon Reporter and/or LisbonMaine.net for updates.

The meeting was chaired by Council Vice-Chair Lisa  M. Ward and during the Public Hearing, Chairman Councilor LaRochelle stepped down from the podium and stood against the wall.   The meeting was extremely interesting because those individuals in attendance are now aware of what Dot Fitzgerald and I go through each and every meeting.  What I mean by this is, according to the Council Working Rules, there cannot be any comments from the audience after Audience Participation.   

As we saw last night, during the remainder of the meeting, the audience had questions on what the council said or was doing.  When residents wanted clarification or to ask a question, they were not permitted to ask or speak.  However, Vice Chair Ward did allow SOME residents to speak and others were not allowed to speak.   

This is a major problem with the Council Working Rules because it censors the citizens from sharing their views on agenda items.   

HOW CAN ANYONE BE EXPECTED TO KNOW WHAT QUESTIONS TO ASK DURING AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION WHEN THEY HAVE NOT HEARD THE SPONSOR OR THE COUNCIL’S FEELINGS ON THE ITEM?  There were residents that left the meeting more confused than when they can in because they were not allowed to ask questions.

At one point in the Public Hearing, several people asked why there was a need for a special referendum to vote on this bond issue. 

During Audience Response, we were told it was because the Water Department is going to have a bond on the November ballot and the council was concerned that the people would not be able to distinguish between the two bonds.  

I personally found this to be extremely insulting because I am one who can read and comprehend what I read and will have no problem telling the difference.  I believe many residents feel the same way about this.  We, the people, are not ignorant!

I hope more residents will attend the next Public Hearing on the Worumbo Mill project.  I encourage each of you to contact your Councilors and let them know how very wrong the Council Working Rules are.   

We, the people, should be able to ask questions at any time during a Town Council meeting instead of just during Audience Participation.

Larry Fillmore