LISBON TAXPAYERS LOSE AGAIN!!!! ------- by Larry Fillmore

At last night’s Town Council Workshop and Special Town Council meeting, the taxpayers lost again. The Town Council minus Councilor Dillon Pesce passed another budget that will raise our taxes for the fourth year in a row.

I want to commend Councilor Pesce for sticking to his beliefs and putting the taxpayers first. The Municipal Budget was penny for penny the same with the exception of the Town Manager cutting $6,035.00 out of General Government. Two Councilors who voted NO turned around and approved the budget last night. So what changed?????????? Whatever took place behind the scenes worked.

Chairwoman Ward continued her pressure on Councilors and denied the people the opportunity to speak during the Workshop and the meeting prior to the vote. This maneuver is typical when you are desperate to protect your mentor’s budget. Council Lunt suggested not replacing any Police vehicles this year at a previous meeting and was totally ignored by Chairwoman Ward. Other suggestions for making cuts in the budget were also ignored by Chairwoman Ward. This action by Chairwoman Ward shows how far she would go to protect the Municipal Budget.

Chairwoman Ward ordered that the Audience Participation portion of the meeting come after the vote on the budget. Normally, Audience Participation comes prior to the voting portion of the meeting. According to the Council Working Rules, the people have a right to speak on agenda item before the agenda item comes before the council for action. Now it does say that the order of the agenda maybe changed by the Chair. But denying the people the right to express their feeling to the council is wrong on so many levels. The fact she refused to allow the people to speak prior to the vote on the budget is a violation of the town’s mission statement and is an injustice to the people who elected her. The people have a right to participate in local government and to let their elected official know how they feel on issues before the council votes on them.

This is an abuse of position and Chairwoman Ward should be immediately removed as Chairwoman of this council.

Larry Fillmore

P.S. I personally believe, after listening to the people, that the approved Municipal budget has approximately $465,000.00 of excessive spending in it. This is an entire .mil rate. Thank you Chief Brooks!