CAN YOU PUT YOUR FINGER ON THE PROBLEM IN LISBON???

I have tried for years to find out where the problem lies in Lisbon.  At first, I thought it was because our Councilors were brain-dead but I was wrong.  After performing an analysis of voting by the Councilors, I have determined that the Councilors are not being provided all the information necessary to make a solid decision on numerous issues.  I have narrowed it down to two Departments – Police and Public Works.

The Department Heads in these two departments do not provide the Council with complete information.  These department heads only provide the Council with information to arrive at ONLY the decision the department head wants.  These Councilors cannot come to any other conclusion based on the information provided. 

The Town Manager and the Town Council must insist these department heads present ALL the facts on the issue so that the Councilors can make an educated decision instead of getting only half of the truth.   A prime example of this is the Solid Waste Committee, Ryan Leighton, briefing the Council on the Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) option for the Transfer Station.  As you can see, by the postings on lisbonmaine.net and the Lisbon Reporter; there were many many issues left out of the briefing.  The lack of information can cause a good decision to turn bad.

Another example is the Town Council voting down the consolidation of the Lisbon Communication Center with the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) located at the Androscoggin County Dispatch.  There was no mention that this program is part of a 6100 primary and secondary PSAPs located in the United States.  The PSAP is part of the emergency services where the PSAP Dispatches First Responders in order to expedite response time.  However, this information has never been released to the Council or the people of this community.  The Lisbon Communication Center is an unnecessary additional procedure that delays response time.  This delay puts the lives of every person in Lisbon, Durham, Sabattus and Greene at risk.  This is another factor that is not known by the Council or the people of these communities.

The LisbonMaine.net and the Lisbon Reporter are dedicated to educating the community on issues.  These issues are normally brought to the Councils attention without providing ALL the information to the Councilors and the people.  In some cases, the people are asked to vote on issues without having all the information.   Councilor Garrison made a comment about only one option was presented and I agree but both Joe Hill and I have seen subjects being voted on without having all the facts.  Since our blog sites are dedicated solely to bringing ALL the information to the people, we will continue to provide facts to the community so when it comes before the Council for a vote, they and the people will have more information in which to make the right decision for the community.

It does not hurt for the people and the Town Council to be educated with ALL the facts available.

Larry Fillmore