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
Showing posts with label Town Council. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Town Council. Show all posts
Friday, July 6, 2018
Wednesday, July 4, 2018
VANDALS STRIKE TOWN GARDEN
Route 196 Town Public
Flower Garden.
perimeter of the garden,
hopefully to prevent vehicles from crashing through it,
damaging shrubs, flowers,
and the Worumbo Mill Wheels, again.
Street side, from the last
time someone drove into the garden. A beautiful, large
bush was driven into, torn
from it's roots and had to be removed, and the wheels
were damaged,
again.
long time State of Maine
Representative in Augusta. Someone ploughed into the
garden with enough force to almost uproot the
tree.
Sadly the tree did not make
it.
They were an attractive
addition to the Town Garden during the day,
and were beautiful at
night. At least on Monday night, until vandals decided
different.
with only 3 or 4 still in
the perimeter, the rest, missing.
because someone misses the
curve and ploughs into the garden?
beyond repair?
as a reminder of
the our heritage.
and leave them at the
police station so they can be put back in the
garden,
to be enjoyed by all.
Dorothy B.
Fitzgerald
A Concerned
Lisbon Citizen
CONTROL OF THE MOXIE FESTIVAL
To bring together the resources of Business people, local
Government and Citizens, partnering together in a positive environment, to
improve the image of our community. Through the efforts of a group of highly
motivated individuals guided by a clear vision of our future, we aim to build
on the favorable attributes of our Town and make Lisbon a more attractive place
to live, recreate and to conduct business.
Friday, June 22, 2018
PURE WASTE OF TIME
Thursday, June 14, 2018
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DISCUSSION
During the June 5, 2018 Town
Council meeting, there was a discussion on MUNIS. MUNIS is the computer software used by the
town to control the majority of its business.
This
software package cost the taxpayers $680,000.00 for a period of 7 years.
Apparently, the town was sold
a bill of goods because it is not working out the way it was advertised. This is not surprising to me, because I
remember the initial discussion about getting rid of TRIO. The
Town Manager made two mistakes with this purchase:
The
first mistake was taking advise from someone who had absolutely no credentials
or certifications in the Information Technology field. She never thought to professional advice
first.
The second
mistake is pushing the Town Council into entering into a 7 year contract
without first having the software installed and seeing how it would work for
the town.
This is yet another example
of the Town Manager duping the Town Council into getting her way. On June 5th at the meeting, she
did it again and no one realized it. Instead of
providing all the options and information, she left off a very important fact, “What
is the cost of termination this contract?” To me and the Council because they asked, this
information would be critical to making a sound decision but neither the
Finance Director nor the Town Manager had that information. This
is how she has always manipulated the Town Council.
The Town Council voted to
spend $5,000.00 tax dollars on an assessment verses terminating this contract
and going with another software package.
Having the information on the
penalty to terminate the contract early may have had an impact on the decision
by the Town Council.
Chairman Ward should have
tabled any further discussion until the Town Manager was able to provide ALL
information needed for the Council to make a sound and logical decision. It should be a rule that if all the information is not
available at the time of the discussion, the item will be tabled until all
information is available to the Council. Information needed to make decisions by the
Town Council is conveniently not available.
This is how our Town Council
is being forced to make decisions that the Town Manager wants.
The Town Manager is being paid over $90,000.00 yearly and
should be providing better recommendations to our Town Council.
Larry Fillmore
GENERAL ASSISTANCE IN LISBON
At the Lisbon Town Office
there is a door with the wording "General Assistance".
This morning, needing to
contact someone at General Assistance, I went on the town's
website, clicked on "Departments", looking for the
phone number so I could leave a
message.
I went to :Boards and Committees", no General
Assistance listed there either.
I than called the Town
Clerk's office, asked how to find General Assistance.
I asked Town Manager, Diane
Barnes, why we do not have at least a part-time person in General
Assistance? She said that the only
time anyone is in need of general assistance is in the winter. This
from a person making $95,000+ per year plus benefits.
Perhaps it is time to stop wasting money on someone not available to render assistance, when it is needed.
Dorothy Fitzgerald
Concerned Citizen
EDITOR'S NOTE: According to the latest proposed budget, under General Assistance 05-500 there is a line item 5211 Cell Phone which has a proposed budget of $363.00. If this is the case, why is the cell phone NOT listed on the town web site. When is the Town Council going to force the Town Manager to do her job?
Monday, June 11, 2018
RESIDENT IGNORED BY LISBON TOWN COUNCIL
LISBON TOWN COUNCIL PUSHED THE CAN DOWN THE ROAD!
Communication Center; so that the Patrol
Sergeant currently performing these duties can return to Patrol. Cost is approximately $1,600.00 to $4,000.00.
2.
Promote a
Communication specialist to a Communication Supervisory.
Costing between $1,040.00 to $4,800.00
3.
Hired two
additional Patrol Officers. Costing
between $69,000.00-
$81,000.00 eachNEEDY OR GREEDY – YOU BE THE JUDGE
Back in early 2015, our Town Council terminated the contract on the previous Town Manager and rightfully so. However, that left a critical vacancy and needed to be filled quickly. In the Town Council’s hurry to fill this critical position; the Town Council allowed Diane Barnes to include paragraph 5F under Section 5 Salary and Fringe Benefits which states and I quote “The Manager shall also receive any benefits as the Town provides to its other employees.”
PURPOSE AS DEFINED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT:
A cost-of-living adjustment is made to social security
and supplemental security income to counteract the effects of inflation.
Cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) are typically equal to the percentage
increase in the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical
workers (CPI-W) for a specific period.
B. The Town Council must restrict any salary increase to ONLY those in Blue Collar positions. Those individuals in management positions make enough money off the taxpayers. Let’s look at the three recent hires”
1.
Sewer Director
was hired for approximately $80,000.00 per year. If you filter
in the COLA this salary increases roughly $1,600.00 per year.
2.
This is the same with the new Public Works Director
hired for $80,000.00 per year. The COLA is the same.
3.
Now, let’s look at the new Fire Chief who was hired
for $70,000 per year. The COLA on this is roughly $1,400.00 per
year. Also, the previous Fire Chief
received $69,284.80, according to the 2016-2017 Annual Report. This was after several years on the job, so
what was his starting salary?
Saturday, June 2, 2018
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
LISBON TOWN COUNCIL TURNS BACK ON RESIDENTS
2. Promote a Communication specialist to a Communication Supervisory. Cost is $1,040.00 to $4,800.00.
3. Hired two additional Patrol Officers. Cost $69,000.00 each.
Friday, May 11, 2018
Friday, May 4, 2018
Friday, April 27, 2018
WHOSE LOOKING OUT FOR THE LISBON TAXPAYERS?
I just finished watching the April 24, 2018, Town Council Budget Workshop and I first want to thank, Mr. Fern LaRochelle. This budget meeting was almost two hours long and Mr. LaRochelle asked very important questions WITHOUT any dissertations. It was very informative and refreshing. Great job! Mr. LaRochelle.
Auburn
$21.23 8.21%
Lewiston $23.42 16.06%
Lisbon $20.35 18.11%
Sunday, April 22, 2018
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
WASTED TIME
I just review the Town Council Workshop conducted on April 10, 2018 and was very upset over the length of the workshop. Councilor Fern LaRochelle, I believe, is incapable of asking a simple question. Mr. LaRochelle has to go into a dissertation on EVERY question. I do not know if Mr. LaRochelle is really that dumb or he just likes to hear himself talk. I have known Mr. LaRochelle for several years and do not find him to be stupid so I guess he just likes to hear himself talk. I believe he thinks the more he talks the more important he is.
Thursday, April 5, 2018
TOWN COUNCIL MANIPULATED OVER AND OVER AGAIN!
For the past few years, our Town Council has been manipulated by the Town Manager, Diane Barnes, when it comes to the Municipal budget. Every year Mrs. Barnes comes in with an outrageous Municipal budget like this year adding $1.9 million dollars to last year’s budget knowing fully well this will never get approval in its entirety. This is the shell game our Town Manager has been playing for years.
Here is how it works! To understand this you need to first understand the primarily principle of economics which is:
REVENUE + TAX INCREASE = EXPENDITURES
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