Last nights Council Meeting‏

Lisbon Council muzzles public

During the May Council meeting Lisbon Councillors severely restricted public input at Town Meetings. The reason given for this action was “to move the meetings along.”

I submit that long meetings aren’t the problem they are a symptom of the problem. The real problem being Councillors not representing the views of their constituents. When this happens the public becomes frustrated and tries to vent at council meetings.

Counselors shouldn’t take this discourse personally. They should use it as a gauge to direct their governance in accordance with the public’s wishes.

At last Tuesday’s Council Meeting they further defended their decision to squelch the public by citing “ Brunswick’s Council meeting regulations” as proof they were acting responsibly.

I didn’t know Brunswick was the authority in these matters.

They also vehemently denied they were trying to silence the taxpayers of Lisbon.

Lets let the facts speak for themselves:  The preceding three meetings before the rule change were between 2 and 2 1/2 hours in length.  Last nights meeting was about 30 minutes long.  A dramatic reduction in length.

Where did this reduction occur?

The only noticeable change in the meeting format was the amount of time allowed for the public to express their views . Whether intentional or not this change has the effect of limiting free speech.

I hope the Lisbon Council will come to their senses and do the right

thing.. Restore our Freedom To Speak and listen to our complaints.

　

Respectfully

F.E.Stacey

Editor's note:

The meeting is viewable now at Great Falls TV website.  
http://greatfallstv.net/webstream.htm


Also you will see that Larry Fillmore presents some figures to them about last years budget.  He states, "Last year you budgeted $7,684,757, and spent $7,081,998 leaving a difference of $602,759.  Where did this $602,759 go?"




He also leaves them with the definition of collusion.




Here's how the online dictionary defines it:

col·lu·sion

 [kuh-loo-zhuhn] 

–noun

1.

a secret agreement, especially for fraudulent or treacherous purposes; conspiracy:  

2.

Law . a secret understanding between two or more persons to gain something illegally, to defraud another of his or her rights, or to appear as adversaries though in agreement: