What Does It Require To Be An Effective Town Councilor?

Councilor Pomelow is a fine example of why we need to carefully vet the qualifications of our potential Town Councilors.  Ten minutes research before an election can save us  years of bad decisions after a councilor is seated.

This November we will be  electing  three members to our Town Council. I thought this would be a good time to voice what I feel are the qualifications a councilor must possess  to be an effective member of our governing council.  Your qualifications may vary from mine depending on your experience.

•     Basic literacy --- I don’t want a person representing Lisbon that has a problem communicating with either the written and spoken word.  (Education and literacy aren’t necessarily synonymous.)

•     Good moral character  --- while character is a subjective matter, I feel most of us can agree that anyone with an extensive criminal background or a history of ethical lapses can be eliminated from the process. 

•     Life experience ---   Although not absolutely necessary, a few years of life experience to draw from, in my opinion, makes a better more rounded councilor.

•     Conflicts of interest ----  Our present Council is a good example of what happens when  we have  obvious conflicts of interest.  Candidates shouldn’t have any obvious conflicts of interest.

•     A history demonstrating a desire to serve the community.

Once the basic qualifications have been met I try to find out if the candidates view of our future is similar to my own.

•      I personally feel Lisbon is paying about 25% more in real estate taxes than we need to for a town of our siZe.  Lisbon has the third highest tax rate in our County when adjusted to 100% valuation.

•     I feel the government that governs least governs best.

•     If people want  services above the basic level they should pay out of their own pockets. The rest of us shouldn’t be required to pay for  projects that benefit only the few.

•     We should eliminate duplicated public services.  (Emergency Communication Dispatch for example)

•     And above all if it isn’t broken don’t fix it   ----( Lisbon Water Department)

•      We should only take a residents home after all other avenues have been  exhausted. We may want to look into a work for taxes program for those  hardworking homeowners that are having hard times.

While we have a number of fairly qualified candidates running this year, there are two qualified residents of Lisbon that are not on the ballot.  I believe Mr. Roger Cote should be back on the Council.  I will be writing in Roger Cote for Councilor at large.

The second qualified person is Mr. Fillmore. He probably knows more about town government than most seated councilors but as of this time he is not seeking the office.

Let your choice be know this November .

Respectfully
Joe Hill