Who Cares About Lisbon...

WHOSE AGENDA IS THE TOWN COUNCIL PURSUING?????

The people of Lisbon voted in 2011 telling the town council they wanted to vote on the municipal budget by a vote of 2025 to 514 a difference of 1511 votes.  This is an overwhelming major of the people voicing their desires.  Our Town Council is suppose to be carrying out the wishes of the people and yet still today the people cannot vote on the municipal budget.  Not only that, but this town council is not working on any plans to make it happen.  Does anyone want to offer an opinion as to why this is being ignored by our town council?

I certainly can offer a sound explanation.  The reason is because Chief Brooks and Chief Galipeau do not want their budgets cut.  As it stands right now, both the Police and Fire Departments are receiving monies from other departments to pay for toys they do not need.  A prime example is the Communication Center.  Chief Brooks lied about receiving a grant for upgrading the furniture and so the taxpayers had to pay for all this new furniture.  There is only one dispatcher right now but we needed additional furniture because Chief Brooks wants to build an empire at taxpayers’ expense.  These deals being offered to other towns to join the Lisbon Communication Center comes at a price to the taxpayers of Lisbon.  These other towns are paying less for services than other towns but this only means the people of Lisbon have to pay more.  Of course, it is better than paying for the whole operations but allowing other towns to pay less in order to build the empire is not right.  The right answer is to consolidate with the Androscoggin County Dispatch and let them operate the Communication Center and charge the County rent for our spaces.

This council has no plans to honor the wishes of the people of Lisbon because Chief Brooks and Chief Galipeau cannot allow this to happen.  Because money is getting tighter and tighter, the town is looking for more sources of income.  One suggestion is to place the Water Department under the town.  This was placed on last year’s ballot and the people voted to do this by a vote of 2247 to 2212 which is a difference of 35 votes.  Now the council is moving ahead on this like gangbusters but what about the municipal budget of two years ago?  Don’t you think this council should complete the wishes of the people from two years ago before tackling something new?

The difference is because our town council is NOT looking out for the people of Lisbon and doing what is in the best interest of Lisbon.  Instead, our council is trying to protect the police and fire budgets.  We are moving into a new budget season and I cannot wait to see how much funding is diverted to the police and fire departments.  Like Joe Hill said, let’s put all line items in the correct departments so we can tell exactly how much each department is costing the taxpayers.   I have shown how money is hidden in different departments and then diverted to the police or fire departments.  This is a method of concealing the true cost of operating these departments.  Look at how much money was diverted to the Communication Center in the current budget. 

The taxpayers of Lisbon are going to continue to experience tax raises yearly in order to cover-up the true cost of operating this town.  During the last council meeting, Mrs. Barry asked how much the large tax write-off was.  The council, who has to approve any write-offs, could not or would not provide an answer.  I attend every council meeting I can and review all minutes on those I cannot and I have never seen where our town council approved any write-offs.  So how was it done, in secrecy?

The people of Lisbon need to demand more transparency in our government.  Since our town council does not honor the wishes of the people, it is even more important to have transparency in order to understand where our money is going and what it is being utilized for.

Larry Fillmore

Concerned Citizen