Recap of March 20, 2012 Town Council Meeting

RECAP March 20

At last night's Town Council Meeting, it was business as usual. During Audience Participation I asked the following questions:

Who is the Chief Administrative Officer for the Town of Lisbon? 

As the Town Manager, all requests for Freedom of Access Acts should be signed by the Chief Administrative Officer since he is the sole Custodian of Public Records for the Town of Lisbon. If the Town of Lisbon is denying the information requested, it should be signed by this Council and not a Town Employee since this action could result in a lawsuit being filed which will cost the taxpayer tax dollars in legal fees? Right now two individuals, who do not pay taxes in this town, are making decision which results in tax dollars being utilized to defend their actions.

Why doesn’t the town manager brief the people on the status of voting on the municipal budget at every meeting like he did on the Lisbon Connection? The people are still waiting to hear when they will be allowed to vote on the municipal budget.

What is the status of the $32,500 tax dollars? 

The last time the Town Manager briefed the people he stated the town was seeking to recover the funds in civil court. Has this been filed in civil court? The reason I asked is because the listing the town manager provided to the court on all open loans the $32,500 is not on this list. Why is that?

Please advise everyone on which ordinances we are required to comply with and which ordinances we can ignore?

After you receive your new tax bills, the people in Huston Parks should immediately file abatement's for noise and structural damage from the overweight vehicles allowed to utilize local streets in residential areas.

 Councilor Pomelow's home based business in Huston Park

Councilor Pomelow

Councilor Bickford

What about his home based business?

Councilor Mason

Oh that's right she is exempt with her home based business that is in a rural open zone because she has a temporary yet unspecified length permit for it that she just had created by the Town.

None of these questions were answered so after the meeting I asked Chairman Larochelle about getting answers and he assured me; I would receive some kind of an answer.

Council Chair Larochelle

However, the most important aspect of the meeting was presentations by the School Budget Committee and the town manager on this year’s budgets. It was interesting that after the School’s presentation the audience was allowed to ask questions but after the municipal presentation no questions were allowed. Also, Mr. Green had handouts on the budget for all but the municipal did not.

I believe Mr. Green and the School Budget Committee are trying desperately to reach a balanced budget with no increase to tax dollars but I cannot say the same about the municipal side. It is very apparent the town manager and the town council have no intentions of reducing their spending and this year taxes are going to sky-rocket again. Review the video at 07:00 PM Friday night on Channel 7 and you will see the council never blinked at the proposal of increasing taxes.

You do realize the taxpayers are fighting a losing battle because the town manager does not pay taxes in this community and has no vested interest to reduce spending since his salary is inflated $20,000 more than other town managers. I presented to the council a consolidated listing of ways to reduce spending and no action has been taken. Also, there are two councilors who do not pay property taxes in this town so what do they care if your taxes go up.

 Councilor Lisa Ward

 Councilor Mark Lunt

There is no effort to reduce spending in Lisbon so naturally your taxes are going to go up.

Larry Fillmore

Concerned Citizen