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

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

NOT A CLUE!!!!

On October 25, 2017, Dorothy Fitzgerald and myself arrived at the town Office to attend a meeting of the sub-committee on Emergency Medical Service in Lisbon announced by Councilor Norman Albert at the October 3, 2017 Town Council meeting. I was greeted by the Town Manager, Diane Barnes, who informed me the meeting was cancelled until the Request for Procurement (RFP) was received. I asked Mrs. Barnes why there was no notification of the cancellation posted anywhere and was informed she notified the sub-committee members. I asked why she did not notify the people of the cancellation.

According to Mrs. Barnes, she does not notify the people of sub-committee cancellations. So Dottie and I wasted our time; thinking we were going to attend an EMS that was cancelled without notifying the people. This I see as a problem that has a simple solution; so I contacted Chairman Allen Ward of the Town Council and offered the following solution:

“The town has a web site that has an "Event" calendar on it. Every Chairman of ANY committee/sub-committee should be required to notify Diane of the schedule or cancellation of any meeting open to the Public. One of the many purposes of the web site is to keep the people informed.

There is no real reason why the people are being held in the dark when the town is supposed to be transparent.

The town council needs to insists on transparency when it comes to the people.”

I did not receive a response from Chairman Allen Ward but did receive a response from the Town Manager, Diane Barnes in which she said:

“I did not post the meeting on our website therefore, there I did not post the cancellation. I was the one that notified the committee members that the meeting was canceled.

To me, Mrs. Barnes response does not address the problem or the solution I offered. This means that the people are not being kept informed on issues that concern them. I call this a deliberate act of concealing meetings from the people; that shows a lack of transparency by the Town Manager.

However, tonight I noticed an EMS meeting scheduled on the Town Website for next Wednesday so maybe someone DID get the message. We will have to wait and see how long this last.

Larry Fillmore