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

Monday, September 9, 2013

Lisbon, A Great Place to do Business For the "Good Ole Boys"!

HOW DID WE GET INTO THIS POSITION????

In 2007, Interim Town Manager, David T. Brooks, interviewed candidates for the office of Town Manager. It was his recommendation to the town council that brought Stephen Eldridge to Lisbon. It is a documented fact what Mr. Eldridge did to the town of Rumford and yet our town council decided Mr. Eldridge was a perfect fit for this community. So let’s take a look at what Mr. Eldridge has done for this community:

When Mr. Eldridge took over there was over three (3) million dollars in our Undesignated Fund and now there is barely enough to cover the requirement of our Charter which is just over one (1) million dollars. The Undesignated Fund is for emergencies and could be called our surplus.

Since they can no longer touch the Undesignated Fund our taxes have been raised every year.

So, what did we get in return?

    1. Our Transfer Station is closed on Thursday.

      2. We have an Engineer who is drawing the pay of a Licensed Professional Engineer and is not qualified. Every job that costs over $100,000 the town has to hire a real Licensed Professional Engineer to perform the duties because ours is not qualified. If he is not qualified, why are we paying him over $70,000 tax dollars?

     3. We have a Fire Chief making over $60,000 tax dollars and      does not have the credentials for the job.

   4. We have an Administrative Assistant making over $40,000 tax dollars which is $10,000 more than the other Administrative Assistants and the Department Head has stated she does not perform BUT half of the tasks required by her Job Description. The Department Head has not rewritten her Job Description to account for what she actually does. Why should anyone receive more compensation than they are entitled too?

     5. But the most outrageous salary is the Town Managers at over $90,000 with his extras.

As a result of his excess spending, the town of Lisbon is at a cross roads; where we either have to turn more money over to this individual or die just like Rumford. You do realize that every department in the town has been forced to make cuts EXCEPT the Communications Center and the Police Department.

The Communications Center has new furniture (which you paid for with tax dollars because they lied about a grant) and new equipment (again paid for by your tax dollars). The Police Department gets all the very best of everything like the two 2014 Police Interceptors just purchased with our tax dollars because they could not accept 2013 vehicles. Chief Brooks stated this is a small community and only one or two individuals are on duty but we have nine (9) operational vehicles. All purchases for the Communications Center were charged against other lines of accounting to cover-up the purchases so no one will ever know how much money goes into these operations.

The Town of Lisbon is receiving quite a return on investment with this Town Manager. Thank your Chief Brooks for the recommendation.

Larry Fillmore