Maine's Circle of Corporational Corruption and Complexity Widens; Unmasking of Maine and Beyond:Maine Governor LePage Nominates Former AG William Schneider For Judgeship

 

Maine Judiciary Committee – Confirmation Hearing – William J. Schneider to the Maine District Court

Tuesday: March 11, 2014
Room 438 of the State House

1:00pm CONFIRMATION HEARING- Honorable Robert E. Mullen to the Maine Superior Court

2:00pm CONFIRMATION HEARING- Honorable Daniel I. Billings to the Maine Superior Court

3:00pm CONFIRMATION HEARING- Honorable William J. Schneider to the Maine District Court

Now to follow all of this you must first be willing to educate yourself on the facts.  First, the State of Maine, is a Corporation.

Next we are providing you with a whole lot of information based on facts not opinions.  So if you cannot follow along or do not care do not blame us for not trying.  And May God Help US All.

States Gov. LePage “In choosing judges, my focus is on the qualifications, demeanor, and integrity of the candidates, not politics.”

 William Schneider does not possess the qualifications, integrity, ethics, honesty nor trustworthiness of a judgeship.

As former Attorney General, he failed in his duties and obligations as Maine’s top law enforcement officer. His Obstruction of Justice, malicious prosecutions and selective prosecutions have interfered with justice and the rule of law. As he was unable/refused to perform his duties and obligations as Attorney General, his lack of respect for law and justice and his lack of honor in a position of public trust will not enhance public confidence in the legal system with Mr. Schneider on the bench.  

Additionally, this is contrary to the precepts upon which the Maine Code of Judicial Conduct is founded.
Mr. Schneider will carry his bias, prejudicial and selective “web of deceit” into the courtroom.

This nomination/confirmation must be opposed.

Related:  Maine Governor LePage Nominates Former AG William Schneider For Judgeship, click here.

An unrelated, but yet related happenings in another community:  http://www.votersopinion.com/2013/04/02/8008/

Dysfunctional Right to Know Legislative Advisory Committee‏

N.B.  PDF attached preserves formatting and includes good graphics and all of the footnotes.d 

​

I. Dysfunctional Right to Know Legislative 

Advisory Committee

Right to Know Advisory Committee

State House

Augusta, Maine

Dwight Hines

March 3, 2014

Odd, most days when I get up the stairs, I expect to see Ken Curtis or James Longley.  But they aren’t here anymore.  When I turn the corner to head into the Legislative Library, I expect to see Senator Minette Cummings and Senator Joe, sitting at a table across from each other, pushing things that look like raisins along an imaginary line.  I’m just there to get or give her a printout full of numbers — on a good day, a day after a weekend when the university in Orono let me run my data on the weekend because it was too much, too big for Orono’s IBM Sierra mainframe to run during the week (1), numbers that she would look at like they were her prize orchids growing, “Look at them smile”, she’d say while we stood on the front porch of her island house built by a family of rich dwarfs.   But I never interrupted her and Senator Sewell, they were too intense and just watching and listening to them moving raisins, then scribbling on the back of an LD, then murmuring back and forth too quick for me to catch all the word shapes held my attention better than a slow cooking fresh blueberry pie.  What they were doing was a semi- quasi- qualitative multiple regression — though they never called it that — using raisins as indicators of groups of people who would be impacted by the details of the bill that the Democrat and the Republican they were (2) were hammering and chiseling and twisting and cajoling into near form shadows that went outside normal dimensions.  It was a classical mini-max calculus problem — though they never called it that — but deep, deep enough that someday, when computers got more powerful you’d be able to run these very human problems, problems that had to be optimized for alleviating pain without inflicting damages or distress in those unaware of how valued they were by the Senators.  They did it, and not once did they call what they were doing statistics or calculations or even figuring, or just working for their people.  I still sense them there, or off in one of the small rooms, Senator Joe humming to himself as he tried different fits, different structures Senator Cummings nodding slow yes or brief no.   Often, I couldn’t wait to see the form, the architecture, the Gestalt they created, a figure-ground that would be warm and happy in a fine art museum.  Mr. Sunstein, who knows about the freedom of information top-down and spinning and in qubits, knew and approved of what the Senators were doing, and has explained it to the rest of us in “Nonsectarian Welfare Statements”, “A central question is whether they [institutions, RTK committees] are helping a nation’s [Maine’s] citizens to live good lives.” (3).  If they are not helping, they be dysfunctional.

Then, all alone, without the canopy of the old ones, it’s today, right now and I can’t hear Governor Longley, and he was always heard, even when he couldn’t be seen, and I’II walk into the Joint Judiciary Committee room, into a Committee that is not just arithophobic but innumerate, lacking even the gentle rocking back and forth of the elected Rabbis who knew that numbers, little and big, blue, green, orange and lavender, moderately sprinkled with hard potato facts were their guide, the light on the path they needed to do their sacred jobs.  In ‘63 and ‘64, those Rabbis were everywhere, thank God.

The Right to Know Legislative Advisory Committee, with only one elected Representative, Kimberly Monaghan-Derrig, and only one elected Senator, Linda M. Valentino, is not data driven, is not best evidence based and has biases almost as deep and warpled as the ugly green ones I saw in the Louisiana Capitol, in Baton Rouge, in 1963.  A sad time that fresh gumbo couldn’t set right. Information was not recognizable, and logic and reason were lost in the sheets that scrawny men wore as they shuffled in slow, white buzzard circles.  My mother would have said their wives don’t think much of their husbands, letting them go out like that in unwashed, wrinkled up and rumpled old sheets.  Representative Monaghan-Derrig said not a word, not a sigh or shriek.  Senator Valentino, in a strong voice, that let you know she would not tolerate laziness, said we are going to get us an expert in information technology.

The RTK committee gave me more quotes to use than will fit on this page or the next.  Like when Harry Pringle, appointed by the Governor to represent the school system bellowed, “We don’t want parents’ emails being found using the Maine Right to Know Act because all someone needs to get into your bank account is your name and email address” (4).   Him saying that didn’t bother me but a little. The fact that no one corrected him, not even Percy Brown or Perry Antone, was proof my body and mind and soul were all in the wrong place.  Percy and Perry knew better but they ignored me eye-nudging them.

So a major theme of the right to know advisory committee was it maybe good for you to know, but you’re damned if you disagree.  Harry, maybe at a different meeting, maybe not, said that we needed to raise the charge that agencies and towns charge for processing and copying public records because “everything else has gone up so why shouldn’t information cost more too.”  No one disagreed, again, and then the raise was approved. [(5) with graphs to let you know the error sizes of his statement)]. There be ripples from vacuums like this that start slow, with a heavy amplitude sine wave that gains strength as it rolls out the door, down the hall and over to the Augusta Police Department, where they are unable to find the owner of a pickup truck when they have the license plate number, and the Chief, maybe bumped by that sine wave, maybe not, goes to the City Council and has them approve a charge of $25.00 for each police report someone requests, after the first one (6)  It’s sad the Augusta City Council thinks not of state law, or little of it, and builds on Mr. Pringle’s errors. (7)

A mildew scent comes into the RTK room that is too familiar because Harry Pringle doesn’t know how prices for computer hardware and software over the last ten years have dropped to levels that strain my economically challenged brain because as the prices have marched south, following General Sherman to and through Atlanta, the crank power, the amount and quality and speeds of volatile and fixable memory, all done with chips and mirrors, have gone north, past the pole and into the northern lights.  Yep, that old von Neumann slab of silicon, without morphing into non-von Neuman slabs, as some said was ordained by physical laws, by God, made Moore and Moore’s law answers to prayers of dollar struggling pointy-headed nerds.  Prayer answers that continue to defy economic gravity with their every 18 months doubling answers.

As I sit in the back of the room, taking page after page of notes to keep my attention on these folks and their crippled advice that the legislators are going to rely on for their law making decisions, I accept that no one on the RTK committee represents the ordinary citizen, the taxpayer, the one who is without resources when attempting to obtain information about his government.  My acceptance is soon verified and validated by Mr. Richard Flewelling, who tells another committee member sitting across the room, so it’s a loud telling, to be sure to give the RTK requesters only PDFs, not spreadsheet files.  In those words, which echo around in my ears, you know that a significant component, some democracy and governance specialists would say the most substantive component, of the RTK, the component that transforms the roles of the requester and the responder from US versus THEM, to We, is lost.  Barrier placement  between citizen and government, even when it requires extra work of the government, reminds me of how much effort the government spent in making some people sit in the back of the bus, and go to a completely separate, but not equal, school.  In those few words, a RTK Advisory member squint-narrowed the sharing of useful information to the community, the state, and the individual, without a single objection from the rest of the committee (8).

Footnotes

1) Computer Programs 200K or larger, with data, were too large to run during the week.  Today, my 3 year old MacIntosh MacBook Pro has 8 Gigabytes of volatile memory (RAM), one terabyte of hard memory, and a CPU with blister speeds of 2 GHz. 
2) The Senators were problem-solving driven, they knew there would be many years for them to discuss party affiliations and political differences after they solved the problems and created the opportunities for Mainers.  The Senators could have written Cass R. Sunstein’s, Incompletely Theorized Agreements in Constitutional Law, Public Law & Legal Theory Working Papers No. 147, 2007. <http://ssrn.com/abstract=957369>.
3)  Sunstein, C. Nonsectarian Welfare Statements. Preliminary Draft, 8/28/2013, Regulation & Governance, Symposium on Institutional Dysfunction.  
<http://ssrn.com/abstract=2317909>.
4) There was excitement when a newspaper reported that a “hacker’ had gotten into a school’s computer system and stolen all the email addresses of the parents.  The excitement tripled when the hacker sent the parents an email.  It then appeared that the hacker received the emails attached to an email the superintendent unknowingly sent to him.  But, it was too late.  Well, the RTK Advisory Committee, based on bad information, recommended to the legislature that school email addresses for parents be confidential.  I believe that law passed. “ except: E-mail addresses obtained by a political subdivision of the State for the sole purpose of disseminating noninteractive notifications, updates and cancellations that are issued from the political subdivision or its elected officers to an individual or individuals that request or regularly accept these noninteractive communications. [2013, c. 339, §3 (NEW).]”
5)  Ernst R. Berndt, Zvi Griliches, Neal Rappaport, Econometric Estimates of Prices Indexes for Personal Computers in the 1990s, NBER Working Paper No. 4549,August 1995.  <http://www.nber.org/papers/w4549.pdf>

In this paper we construct a number of quality-adjusted price indexes for personal computers in the U.S. marketplace over the 1989- 92 time period. We generalize earlier work by incorporating simultaneously the time, age and vintage effects of computer models into a fully saturated parameterization, and then develop a corresponding specification test procedure. While the simple arithmetic mean of prices of models by year reveals a price decline of about 11% per year, use of a matched model procedure similar to that commonly used by government statistical agencies generates a much larger rate of price decline -- about 20% per year. Since the matched model procedure holds quality constant, it ignores quality change embodied in new models. When data on new and surviving models are used in the estimation of hedonic price equations, a variety of quality-adjusted price indexes can be calculated, with varying interpretations. Although there are some differences, we find that on average these quality-adjusted price indexes decline at about 30% per year, with a particularly large price drop occurring in 1992. Parameters in hedonic price equations for desktop PC models differ from those for mobile PCs. Moreover, quality-adjusted prices fall at a slightly lower AAGR for mobile models (24%) than for desktops (32%). We conclude that taking quality changes into account has an enormous impact on the time pattern of price indexes for PCs.

SNIP  -- SEE ATTACHED PDF FOR GRAPHICS AND REMAINING FOOTNOTES.

 

   Dysfunctional Right to Know Legislative Advisory Committee

Publish: Map your town with good EPA data‏

 This is a wonderful decision.  Once people can see the data for themselves it will not only reduce paranoia, but stimulate activities in other areas.  Maine is going to look very good on these maps.

Dwight

EPA open sources its geographic data

 
Government Computer News (Feb 13) - "EPA to open its ArcGIS data to the public":
http://gcn.com/articles/2014/02/13/epa-arcgis-data.aspx 

International mapping software supplier Esri has announced a new policy regarding open data, allowing its government customers around the United States to release data stored on its ArcGIS platform to the public. With the company’s cloud server open to the public, federal, state and local agencies have the option of allowing the public to view the geospatial data they use to make decisions.
 
The Environmental Protection Agency will be the first Esri user to take advantage of the new feature.

It looks like the EPA GIS data may be indexed here:
https://www.geoplatform.gov/node/201/%26fq%3Dmetadata_type%3A%22geospatial%22%2BAND%2B%26organization.limit%3D0%26keyword%3DEPA%26sort%3D%26ext_bbox%3D%26ext_location%3D

Governor LePage, Maine Legislature: Curb the rising tide of drug overdose deaths, support LD 1686‏

Hi,
 
Over the last decade Maine has seen overdose deaths rise

 over 85%. With an average of 170 drug overdose deaths per

 year we lose roughly one person every other day. With the

 recent surge in heroin use, these figures are only expected

 to increase. Naloxone is an opioid antagonist that has no 

effect other than to counteract a drug overdose. By expanding

 access to Naloxone we will better ensure that it is in the 

right place at the right time to reverse an opioid overdose.
 
Maine cannot afford NOT to do something about this public 

health emergency. Support LD 1686 would help curb the rising 

tide of drug overdose deaths afflicting Maine citizens. 
 
That's why I signed a petition to The Maine State House, The

 Maine State Senate, and Governor Paul LePage.
 
Will you sign this petition? Click here:
 
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/governor-lepage-main?source=s

.em.mt&r_by=9260720
 
Thanks!
 
Dwight Hines

The Maine Wire: “Exclusive: The “Frary Juggernaut” will not challenge Saviello” plus 1 more‏

Exclusive: The “Frary Juggernaut” will not challenge Saviello

Posted: 12 Feb 2014 10:23 AM PST

THE ZEUS OF FRANKLIN COUNTY That would be me. It turns out that I have the power to raise what is being called a “spits-storm” (readers are free to substitute a consonant if they wish) in Franklin County. Now I propose to quell it by a single Zeus-like gesture, i.e., this column. At its deepest […]

 

Maine House GOP Reps to Sweetser Speaker: Recuse yourself from Medicaid expansion

Posted: 12 Feb 2014 09:48 AM PST

AUGUSTA – Twenty-six Republican state representatives delivered an open letter to House Speaker Mark Eves (D-North Berwick) Wednesday morning asking him to recuse himself from any vote on Medicaid expansion due to his potentially conflicting role as director of business development for a major Medicaid beneficiary. “We, the undersigned members of the Maine House of […]

Freedom of Access Act (FOAA)‏ Program

        FREEDOM OF ACCESS ACT (FOAA) PROGRAM

Title 1 General Provision, Chapter 13:  Public Records and Proceedings, Subchapter 1: Freedom of Access, Statue 402 Definitions outline the Public Records which can be obtained by individuals.  This Statue also outlines the exceptions that cannot be obtained.

So why is this statue part of Maine Law?  Lawmakers established this program as the tool to be used by citizens when transparency in government no longer exists.  This program was created as a check and balance procedure to ensure residents of Maine would be able to find out what is going on in their towns and at the state level.  The program provides a way for the people to get answers to their questions when our elected officials do not want to divulge this information.

Representative Mary Nelson (D-Falmouth) and Judy Meyer, Chairlady for the Right to Know Advisory Committee are representing the Maine Municipal Association (MMA) and trying to change the current procedures.  Mrs. Meyer went so far as to state she felt the court should stop any and all requests deemed a NUISANCE.  I cannot understand why any FOAA requests that meet the requirements of the law can possible be considered a NUISANCE.  It is the individual’s right, under the law, to request any documents that meet the provisions of the law.  Apparently, Representative Nelson and Mrs. Meyer have something to hide; Why else would they want to deny the right of any Maine citizen to submit a FOAA request that qualifies under the Maine law?

The provisions of Representative Nelson's bill are totally ridiculous.  Representative Nelson’s bill would eliminate the $15.00 per hour charge after the first hour as the fee and allow the agency to dictate how long and what price they can charge for completing the FOAA request.  I had this situation happen to me.  I requested information that could have been extracted from the computer system in a matter of seconds.  However, it took the Finance Director several hours to gather the information and then the town charged me for each hour the Finance Director stated it took her to retrieve the information.  There are no checks and balances to ensure the accuracy of the time it takes to complete any requests.  Leaving it up to the agency is like having the fox guard the hen house.  There has to be guidelines established to ensure the integrity of the program. 

I, like Mr. Michael Doyle (Falmouth) utilize the Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) program when my elected officials refuse to provide information.  I am sure my FOAA requests are a NUISANCE to town employees but it is MY RIGHT under the law and who is going to judge if my request is a NUISANCE or not.  My thought process is much different than anyone else. So who is going to deny me my right?  Who has the right to deny Mr. Doyle and others their right to request information under the law?  In both Mr. Doyle’s case and my own, we have discovered abnormalities in our local government.

Representative Nelson and Mrs. Meyer should be ashamed for trying to make it impossible for individuals to submit requests under the FOAA program.  It is easy to understand why the Maine Municipal Association wants to make it harder for citizens to challenge local government because they represent the municipalities.  But the bottom line is, there is a program in place that allows residents of Maine to request information from their town and state under the law.   And as long as these individuals meet the requirements of the statue, they should be able to submit as many as they want without any interference from the state or anyone else.

Mrs. Meyer is the Chairlady of the Right to Know Advisory Committee and she is supporting Representative Nelson’s bill.  How is this possible because if Mrs. Meyer is stating that these requests by Mr. Doyle and I are NUISANCE requests; then she is talking out of both sides of her mouth at the same time. 

You no longer have the Right to Know if you cannot submit a request for information under the Freedom of Access Act (FOAA). 

Larry Fillmore

Reporters' Guide to Millennium Goals‏

As you can see by the attached book, there are a number of articles that need to be written to help achieve Millennium goals.  We need a similar collection of articles for the State of Maine, from history to corruption.

Read over the articles and see what does and does not apply to Maine.

Dwight Hines

   ReportersGuideMillenniumGoals2014ENG WEB FINAL

Democrats Demonize Maine's Coffers With Demonstration of "Dirty Politics"; DISGRACE: In Surprise Vote, Dems Raid Rainy Day, Tax Relief Fund

DISGRACE: In Surprise Vote, Dems Raid Rainy Day, Tax Relief Funds

Dems wait for GOP colleagues to go home before voting out controversial bill 

AUGUSTA – In an unprecedented move by majority lawmakers Monday night, the Democratic members of the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee voted “Ought to Pass” on a $40 million budget proposal without a single Republican present. 

Democrats had met with their Republican colleagues on the budget committee earlier in the evening, agreeing to take the matter up during Tuesday afternoon’s work session.  All Republican appropriators left the State House with that agreement.  Democrats then assembled in the committee room and voted out the budget bill in a one-party vote.

Senate Chairwoman Dawn Hill (D-Cape Neddick) even said she was “disappointed” that Republicans did not join Democrats for the vote, though both parties had agreed to meet tomorrow.

“I am absolutely stunned by this brazen move by the Democrats,” said Lead House Republican appropriator Rep. Kathy Chase (R-Wells), reached on her cell phone while driving home from Augusta.  “I left the State House with the understanding that we would not vote on the measure until tomorrow afternoon.” 

It remains unclear why Democrats took the surprise vote. 

“This is the kind of thing you see in Chicago, not Maine,” said Senate Republican Leader Michael Thibodeau of Winterport.  “I have never seen anything like this in my years in the Maine Legislature.”

The after-dark surprise comes just days after former Democratic U.S. Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell urged lawmakers to take a more collaborative approach to governance.

“This is a slap in the face to the people of Maine,” said House Republican Leader Ken Fredette of Newport.  “They sent us here to do the people’s business in a transparent and grown-up manner, not pull surprise votes and misrepresent the facts to the media.” 

The Democratic proposal entails closing a $40 million budget gap by raiding the state’s rainy day fund, as well as the income tax relief fund, and using revenue surpluses.  Bond rating agencies and the Governor’s finance chief, Sawin Millett, have warned of a credit downgrade if the legislature raids the rainy day fund. 

 http://mainehousegop.tumblr.com/post/75529805595/disgrace-in-surprise-vote-dems-raid-rainy-day-tax

A Letter About Transparency By Bruce Poliquin (an important reminder)

Treasurer’s Blog: Transparency Saves Taxpayer Dollars

 Date: Fri, Sep 30, 2011

Dear Friend

Below is my most recent TREASURER’S BLOG. Please share it with your family, friends, and associates. My speaking schedule is posted on the Treasury website, where there is also a place to invite me to speak to your group. Thank you.

Transparency Saves Taxpayer Dollars

Fiscal transparency results in fiscal frugality.

Shining light on wasteful spending, inefficiencies, and abuses of the public trust save taxpayer dollars.  A few recently-exposed examples are: 

•$160,000 of unaccounted gift card purchases by the former executive director of the Maine Turnpike Authority (MTA).
•$300,000 supposedly “affordable” 3-bedroom apartments created by Maine State Housing Authority (MSHA).
•$4,000 celebratory dinner and drinks in New York after a bond sale by the Maine Municipal Bond Bank (MMBB).
• 40 years of no-bid legal work performed by a New York firm for the Maine Health and Higher Educational Facilities Authority (MHHEFA).

The cumulative savings can be huge.  The gross fiscal misconduct at the MTA has resulted in a 60% reduction of future travel expenses, cancelled credit cards, and a criminal investigation of the resigned executive director.  New MSHA board members are forcing cost containment measures in building affordable housing: “non-profit” developers, solar hot water hookups, and union wages are no longer given preference to contractors bidding to receive taxpayer subsidies.  No more expensive 3-day trips to New York to sign MMBB bond closing documents. After 40 years, MHHEFA will send its legal work out to bid.

During nine months as State Treasurer, I’ve been told repeatedly that the eight quasi-independent Authorities are just that -- independent of state government.  If so, why do the Banking Superintendent, State Treasurer, and five State Commissioners serve on the various boards of directors?  Why does the Governor appoint vacant Authority board members?  Why does the State’s “moral obligation” stand behind most Authority bonds sold to investors to borrow the money used to fund their programs?  Perhaps because it’s in the best interest of all that these Authorities are more closely overseen by inquisitive board members having no conflicts of interest.

The eight Authorities were created over the years by the Legislature to provide valuable services to the people of Maine.  They are instruments of state government and should be held accountable to the hard-working people of Maine.  We public officials have a fiduciary responsibility to make sure they are.  Doing their good work doesn’t mean doing it at any cost.

Many of the new leaders in Augusta, myself included, have worked lifetimes in the private sector.  To succeed, we’ve been held accountable by our customers, employees, and investors. The new LePage Administration is bringing that common sense principle to state government. Transparency at all levels will continue to save money for our new customers, the taxpayers of Maine.

There’s never a free lunch.  Don’t be fooled by “it’s included in the deal,” or that “it’s always been done this way.”  Our fellow Mainers who pay the Turnpike tolls, fund the affordable housing, and borrow to build a new landfill expect us to be very careful with their hard-earned tax dollars.  Nobody wants to discover wasteful or reckless spending.

Transparency in government not only saves taxpayer dollars.  It also builds sorely needed trust. As our new leadership team transforms state government into one that’s affordable, there will be many more difficult decisions to be made.  We’re going to need everyone’s help and support. That will only come with trust.

After 35 years of looking the other way, Maine state government is marching down a path of fiscal discipline.  One that spends less, taxes less, regulates less, and borrows less.  One that pinches every taxpayer penny and sheds light on those who do not.  This is critically important because fiscal prudence is the foundation of a healthy private sector economy.  And successful businesses expand and hire more workers.  These new employees consume, save and invest, which further grows Maine’s economic pie.  These new opportunities will help to keep our kids here.  The increased tax revenues will help fund government services for our citizens.

There’s a new attitude in Augusta.  Join us in building a more prosperous future based on transparency, trust, and being frugal when and where it counts.

Best Wishes,

Signature

Bruce Poliquin

State Treasurer

Modernizing FOIA

 

 

 The U.S. National Action Plan for the global Open Government Partnership is big news for FOIA. We’ve written about the plan’s five-part commitment for strengthening and modernizing the Freedom of Information Act.

One of the five components of the FOIA commitment calls for a new FOIA advisory committee: 

 

 

 

Please post.

Worth following.

http://blogs.archives.gov/foiablog/2014/01/29/modernizing-foia/

Dwight Hines

We Would Like To Know, What is "Unfavorable Expenditure Budget Variance‏" ?

          WHAT IS “UNFAVORABLE EXPENDITURE BUDGET VARIANCE”

I’ll bet you are wondering what “unfavorable expenditure budget variance” means and how does it affect you?  I have tried several times to get the town to explain what this term means.  No one in the town or Town Council could provide me with the answer.  So I decided to contact the Office of the Maine State Auditor.  Mrs. Mary Gingrow-Shaw, Deputy State Auditor, called me back and provided me with an explanation for “unfavorable expenditure budget variance”. 

The Town Council approves the yearly budget when the Revenue equals the Expenditures.  At this point, taxpayers know how much their taxes are going to go up.  However, at the end of the year, if the town has spent more than what was approved and had to take it from the Undesignated Fund it is called “unfavorable expenditure budget variance”.  In the case of last year, the town spent $223,514.00 of our tax dollars OVER what was approved by the Town Council.  I believe that the Town Manager and the Finance Director concealed the fact that they were spending funds from the Undesignated Fund.  As a result, the Undesignated Fund balance is below the recommended level outlined in our Charter to protect the town from going bankrupt.

This type of reckless spending is going to continue to raise our taxes year after year until someone steps in and puts a stop to this irresponsible spending.  It is imperative in this year’s budget that nothing that is not critical be purchased.  Another way to get the town back on track is to turn the Dispatch Center over to the County.  This will save the town approximately $500,000.00 tax dollars.  The Communication Center is the responsibility of the County since the Androscoggin County Dispatch is the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) for this area.  What does PSAP mean to you?  It is the point where all 911 Calls are received and where Police, Medical and Fire should be dispatched from since they are the first to receive the 911 call.  Lisbon is NOT a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP).

Reducing spending is the responsibility of both the School and the Town!!!!!

Larry Fillmore

Unmaking of Maine and Beyond: The Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar - Public Hearing on Proposed Rules

 

The Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar – Public Hearing on Proposed Rules

Public Hearing on Proposed Rules
January 31, 2014 – 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. – MSBA Annual Meeting – Mariott at Sable Oakes

The Board of Overseers of the Bar will hold a public hearing to receive testimony on the proposed rewrite of the Maine Bar Rules.  In 2011, the Board established a committee to undertake a complete review of the administrative and disciplinary rules contained within the Maine Bar Rules. After two years of work, the committee has proposed new rules integrating many of the current Maine Bar Rules and Board Regulations, as well as aspects of the ABA Model Rules for Lawyer Disciplinary Enforcement.  The public hearing will provide attendees with an opportunity to comment on the proposed rules before submission to the Supreme Judicial Court.  Members of the bar are encouraged to submit written comments in advance of the hearing.  Those who will be testifying and/or submitting written materials should contact the Board’s Executive Director, Jacqueline Rogers.  Download proposed rules.

Read more HERE

Related:  Maine State Bar Association – 100 Years of Law & Justice (1891-1991)

 http://unmasker4maine.wordpress.com/2013/12/11/the-maine-board-of-overseers-of-the-bar-public-hearing-on-proposed-rules/

A Former Lisbon Falls Resident Puts the "Hammer Down" On 'Dumb' Democrat Citizen's Rant

"If You Bought It, A Trucker Brought It"

The Wheels of Social Justice have been put in motion Mr. Bolduc and I use Mr. instead of Representative, because surely you do not represent the hard working dedicated Professional Truck Drivers of America, Maine, or Auburn areas.

You may be certified to teach Social Studies but in the eyes of  someone that has almost two million miles looking out thru the windshield of a Truck, {including Extreme Heavy Hauling Off Highway Trucks, and I have driven in all 50 states, (not 57 like some other Democrat public figure thinks), besides Canada and other foreign countries,} you have proven yourself to be worthy of being "certified" in other areas as well.

As far as your comment regarding "brains", perhaps now would be a good time for you to 'get a grip' on reality as life goes merrily rolling on. 

"Sometimes people are just too damned dumb to know that they are stupid."

I offer you the following advice in respect to my fellow Truckers in hopes it might 'grind' into your sole about gearing down your thoughts before you try to jamb them into the transmission of public opinion. And they go like this:

American Indian Proverb – Never criticize a man until you’ve walked a mile in his moccasins.

 I add the following with it, "before you can do that though, you must be willing to take yours off first."

It is my opinion that a letter of apology is just that, a letter, what someone like you needs is a "Damned Good Taste of Reality".  I am certain that there are many Truckers that would be very happy to give you a RIDE!!!   Do it if ever presented with the opportunity, you just might get an education that money or votes can't buy. Then you could take that experience back to Augusta and work it for the "People of Maine".

Todd Comber
aka "Smoke-Stack"

A retired truck driver with a Bachelor of Science degree,  a torn up body as proof, and a mind full of matter.

"If you don't mind, It won't matter!"

Editor's note:  The views and opined letters, comments, etc. do not necessarily represent those of all participants in this website but are offered as OUR right to FREE SPEECH, for as long as WE shall have it.

A Lisbon Falls Resident Responds To "Truckers "Don't Have A Lot Of Brains In Their Heads"

Jason Savage,

                In Regards to:  Maine Democrat State Rep Lets Rip: Truckers
"Don't Have A Lot Of Brains In Their Heads" 

Democrat Rep. Brian Bolduc of Auburn attacks
working Mainers in email rant

Here is the perfect example why our schools and our legislature are in such sad shape.  I may be a truck driver, but I can spell a lot better than this teacher. Anytime Mr. Bolduc wants to match wits, you just send him on over to see this old truck driver.

Leon Bard      Lisbon Falls

The Maine Wire: “TMW Editorial: On human trafficking, Cain’s leadership missing” plus 1 more

TMW Editorial: On human trafficking, Cain’s leadership missing

Posted: 05 Nov 2013 11:14 AM PST

Six Democrats on the Legislative Council voted on Oct. 30 to block a bill that would help victims of human trafficking. If there is a single voice in Maine’s Democratic Party that could lead with reason, rather than partisanship, it’s that of Sen. Emily Cain (D-Penobscot). Yet she remains silent. The bill, sponsored by Rep. […]

 

Bennett: Democrat Chairman should apologize for sexist “ignorant personal attack”

Posted: 05 Nov 2013 11:05 AM PST

AUGUSTA – Republican Party Chairman Rick Bennett on Tuesday called on his Democratic counterpart to apologize for sexist remarks the top Democrat made regarding Rep. Amy Volk (R-Scarborough) and her bill to help victims of human trafficking. The comment came just days after Democratic leaders on the Legislative Council voted unanimously to kill Volk’s bill, […]

Driver's License Online A Scam, Warns Secretary of State

• AUGUSTA, Maine — The state’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles — the only place where Maine drivers can get or renew their driver’s license — has received complaints recently about websites scamming people out of money by claiming they can provide the same service.
  
  “These websites charge customers, but do not actually issue credentials,” Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap said in a press release warning residents about the scam. “The company implies that a credential can be ordered through the website for a fee; however, once payment is made the customer is simply directed to the BMV website.”
  
  A new Maine driver’s license can only be obtained through the Bureau of Motor Vehicles at its various offices and mobile units or through AAA New England locations.
  
  More to read here.

Are The Voting Taxpayers In Lisbon Getting Short Changed By Their Elected Representatives?

WHO DO OUR COUNCILORS REALLY REPRESENT?

During the discussion on the Worumbo Mill proposal, the people learned of a conversation that took place in the later part of 2010.  This conversation took place in, yet another illegal, Executive Session.  The primary councilors who did not want the mill to come down at the Millers expense were Dale Crafts and Gina Mason. 

Former Councilor now State Representative Dale Crafts

 Lisbon Town Councilor Gina Mason

 This question was never officially voted on by the council because the council did not want the people to know what was going on.  Now three years later, the council is trying to push the purchase and demolition of the mill onto the people of Lisbon.  What has changed and what deals have been made behind closed doors? 

Why wasn’t the proposal by Miller Industries back in 2010 brought to the people for consideration?  Why is it so very important to bring it to the people now?  The council stopped it before without going to the people or a referendum so why not stop it now at this point?

Anything the council does not want the people to know is discussed behind closed doors in Executive Session.  This is not right but there is no way to prove it until something like the 2010 Executive Session comes out because no one is supposed to discuss the contents of an Executive Session.  The only reason that this one came out is because it is three years later and there was no vote taken.  The fact is our councilors use the Executive Session privilege to keep the people from knowing what shady deals they are doing.   

Another shady deal was when the town sold 4 Campus Avenue to the Brunswick Housing Authority for $1.00 and over a million dollars Federal grant went with it.  There is no telling what other slimy deals have been made behind closed doors under the pretense of an Executive Session. 

 Town Manager Stephen G. Eldridge

 Vice-Chairman Lisa Ward

Now let’s look at the Public Hearing and what took place.  Both Town Manager Stephen Eldridge and Vice Chair Lisa Ward tried very hard to protect the interest of Mrs. Miller and Miller Industries.  

 Councilor Ward campaigned for election to help the elderly and those on fixed income.  She has kept this campaign promise that got her elected by voting during the past two years to raise taxes.  Now Councilor Ward is more concerned in protecting the interest of Mrs. Miller and Miller Industries than the interest of the people.  Mr. Eldridge would do anything to see this proposal approved even to the point of lying several times during the Public Hearing and was called out on it.  Who does Mr. Eldridge represent?

It is so strange to see councilors asking all the RIGHT questions because they know that something is not right and then vote to approve the item the previously had reservations about.  As a result of this practice, the town has approved two contracts illegally. 

These councilors were voted into office to provide their individual qualities and not to join a club.  Council Lunt and Councilor Pesce are the only councilors who have ever voted against anything.  I remember a time when two Councilors (Pomelow and LaRochelle) both said they did not feel that they had sufficient information to vote at this time and then voted to approve the item.  Where is the integrity?   Normally, when it comes to voting it is always 7-0.  How is it possible for everyone to agree on almost everything?  The people elected our councilors to represent the people and make the RIGHT decisions for this community. 

So tell me again, who do our councilors represent?

Larry Fillmore

Unmasker4Maine: Trial by Jury: Common Law

by: Lise from Maine

“What is the purpose in having a trial by jury according to the course of the Common Law?

First and foremost is to STOP the government (state and federal) from taking wrongfully the life, liberty, and property of the defendant (live people and not fictions) and to protect our Common Law government of laws from the whims of mere men and women (legislators, judges, prosecutors, etc).

Our Common Law disappeared in 1959 unlawfully by those privileged members of the Maine State Bar Association who voted among themselves to remove it.
Fraud! Fraud! Fraud!

 Read more here:
 http://unmasker4maine.wordpress.com/2013/07/28/trial-by-jury-common-law/

An Assimilation To Lisbon?; Kennebec Journal: Swan in-law paints different picture of abuse

By Betty Adams badams@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

BANGOR -- Jurors got a different picture of former Chelsea selectwoman Carole Swan on Thursday as her trial on federal fraud charges neared an end.

Related headlines

• Swan claims she was abused, misguided and misunderstood
• Carole Swan abused, severely disabled, mother testifies

Instead of a weak, battered woman baffled by government forms and beaten by her husband when she failed to do his bidding, Swan was described by her sister-in-law as sometimes angry, self-assured and highly competitive.

Roberta Jean Rood, the older sister of Marshall Swan, Carole Swan’s husband, was a rebuttal witness called by Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Clark. Swan faces five counts of tax fraud, four counts of false statements with regard to workers’ compensation benefits, and one count of fraud on a federal program in U.S. District Court.

The trial is to resume at 10 a.m. Friday.

Continue reading:  http://www.kjonline.com/news/Swan-says-she-cant-remember-details-of-project-award-to-her-husband.html?pagenum=1