It Only Took The Town Of Lisbon Two Years To Screw Up The Moxie Festival, Way To Go, Not!!!!!!

MOXIE FESTIVAL DISCUSSION

The discussion last Tuesday during the town council workshop was informative and very educational.  I have reported the facts as they took place in my Recap Town Council Workshop – September 25th.  Now I am going to provide you with my personal evaluation of what is really going on with the Moxie Festival.

 

From left are John Edgerton, board president, Maine Downtown Center; Gina Mason; Amy Cunningham; Rosie Bradley; Laurie Lachance, director, Maine Development Foundation; and Roxanne Eflin, director, Maine Downtown Center. (Sun Journal

Lisbon was honored with three downtown achievement awards.

(click on above link to read the rest of the story, doing good Lisbon!)

First and foremost, I believe we have to thank former Economic and Community Development Director Rosie Bradley and Councilor Gina Mason for this situation.  The Moxie Festival had plenty of volunteers and was extremely successful prior to the town taking over the responsibility of this event.  I believe the town took it over because the town believed it could be a money maker. 

 
Prior to the town taking over the responsibility, businesses donated their time and manpower such as electrical support.  However, once the town took it over the donating stopped and these businesses began charging the town for their services. 

Next, the town started competing against the business downtown who has always been the sole distributor of the Moxie T-Shirts.  Instead of going through Frank Anicetti (the original “Moxie man”) to purchase these T-Shirts, the town designed, purchased and sold town Moxie T-Shirts.  Competing against local businesses was never the intent of the Moxie Festival. 
 

Also, the direction the town wanted to take the Moxie Festival was NOT the direction the volunteers felt they could support.  This has caused the down slide in volunteers.  Lisbon’s volunteers have always been the backbone of Lisbon’s success and without these volunteers the town is in a world of hurt. 

 

 (Dan Feeney and his recently walnut-blasted Jeep)

Once we lost our volunteers, town staffers like Twila Lycette (Town Clerk) and Jody Durisko (Town Manager’s Administrative Assistant) were forced to pick up the slack.  I am sure there are more members of the town staff who have worked as hard on the Moxie Festival but these two were identified during Tuesday’s workshop.  This additional responsibility is not in their job descriptions and every minute they are performing Moxie tasks pulls them away from the services  taxpayers are paying them to provide.  Of course, the town manager’s solution is to hire a part-time professional coordinator for the Moxie Festival at $30,000 tax dollars.  This individual would work 20 hours a week year round on the Moxie Festival.  The town of Lisbon has many retired personnel whom have the military background and skill-set to perform this task as a volunteer.  How did the Moxie Festival ever survive for 30 years without hiring a professional? 

Moxie Festival is a community function and should, in my opinion, be turned over to the community and get the town out of it.  I believe if the town was out of the mix, volunteers would return and we would be able to, once again, have a successful and profitable event.

Just my opinion!

Larry Fillmore
Concerned Citizen