Has Lisbon reverted to its old habit of hiding embarrassing official business from Lisbon Residents?

The recent disclosure of information through a FOIA request and the questionable timing of the release of a new document related to Lisbon's tax revaluation has once again raised the question of Government transparency. 

A recently signed amendment to a DEP agreement obligates Lisbon to pay $17,009 dollars in fines to the DEP for previous infractions. The signing of this agreement  is probably in Lisbon's best interest and will finally close an old DEP case.

 The problem I have with this action isn't the amendment itself but the attempt Councilors made to hide this information from Lisbon residents. All deliberation was held behind closed doors and there was no supporting documentation on the agenda for Lisbon residents. When the Councilors voted on this measure the people were not informed of what was being voted on. It was referred to as "what we discussed in Executive Session". This was an obvious attempt to cover up an embarrassing situation. It reminds me of Rep. Pelosi saying we must pass this bill in order to find out what is in it.

There was absolutely no legitimate reason to keep this information from Lisbon Residents. Most of the supporting information was already released to the public and we weren't dealing with personnel information.

 How can we have trust in our Government Officials then they try to hide information from us.

Respectfully
Joe Hill  (lisbonmaine.net)