Lebanon Loses a Trusted Super Hero and Gains a "Secret Society" at Tonight's Budget Committee Meeting.

Is this an "OPINION" piece??
I'd like to say it was, but it's not. It's the facts, with a little personal emotion thrown in because I'm still in shock and disbelief...........

LMTS returned home from the Lebanon Budget  Committee Meeting at 9:17 pm. At the time of this writing, it is just shortly after 10 pm, and for the first time in a long time, I think I am truly afraid of what is happening in the little nooks and crannies of the Town's Boards and Committees. If you like a great horror story, read on. If you're a little squeamish and have nightmares easily, it might not be the best article for you to read before bed.
On this evening's Budget Committee agenda, was the Lebanon Road Commissioner, Tom Torno.
To be honest, I expected a hard line of questioning, however, what I was handed has me completely aghast. YUP, I actually used the word "aghast". For those of you not brought up by a family of English Professors and Librarians, let me help you out a bit with that word.

 

a·ghast

əˈɡast/

adjective

adjective: aghast

filled with horror or shock.

"when the news came out they were aghast"

 

You will all have to excuse me for using such an odd expression when writing an article about a Budget Committee meeting, however, that's the feeling that you're left with when one of your personal "hometown hero" takes 5 minutes of his time and dashes everything you believed to be true of them.

A few minutes into the "old business" portion of the meeting, Budget Committee member, Chris Gilpatrick, requested that the Committee enter into "Executive Session". If you know anything about "Executive Session" a board or committee will use their rights of Executive Session to speak about such thing as an employee reprimand, personal and private records of a town resident, personnel files, or similar things which are covered under State Law.

Selectman Thompson asked Gilpatrick what the grounds were for entering Executive Session, and Gilpatrick stated that he had something to say to his fellow committee members that he didn't want anyone else to hear. Thompson related to Gilpatrick that he had to state the reason for Executive and that it had to fall into the guidelines set by Maine State Law. Gilpatrick then called for a legal ruling and Thompson whipped out the smart phone and called Town Attorney Ann Freeman, of Bernstein, Shur Law Firm, the Town's legal advisors.

Now, just saying, there was not one mention of the $265.00 an hour figure that is usually tossed about whenever someone asks for a legal decision..........Thompson was on that smartphone and the number was dialed faster than you can manage the words "LEGAL DILEMMA".

Thompson spent 17 minutes on speaker phone with Atty Freeman where the Attorney outlined the handful of reasons under which a committee could enter Executive Session and Gilpatrick's reason of "I want everyone here to know what's really going on here in town before they open their mouths," was not one of the valid reasons.

I personally questioned Mr. Gilpatrick as to why he didn't do what he was always saying others should do, and just get it out in the open. Put it out there. Tell the truth. Speak your mind.

But Mr. Gilpatrick used the same "tactics" that others have used to keep me quiet and told me I didn't have the right to speak.

There it went.

My respect for Mr. Gilpatrick, who wears his surname emblazoned in bright yellow across his chest like a great big SUPERMAN "S", my personal hometown hero, who says what he means, and means what he says, who I believed had no "hidden agenda", and who I thought would never hide behind a "public participation policy" to keep residents from asking a question, went RIGHT out the window.

And to make things even better, he took things a step further, calling for the Budget Committee members to leave their seats and head out into the parking lot with him for a "private conversation".

Budget Committee members stared at him blankly for a few minutes, Ms. Harris-Howard wondered aloud how they were going to keep the entire conversation out of the Committee minutes, and then as Gilpatrick left the building, unbelievably, three of the Budget Committee members left their meeting and followed him out into the parking lot. Laura Bragg, Skip Wood, and Bettie Harris-Howard dutifully followed outdoors into membership of the "secret society".

Could I have followed?? You bet. It's a public parking lot owned by the taxpayers of Lebanon. But thinking about it for a minute or two, I decided that my own call for transparency and an end to secrecy would be compromised if I followed. So I stayed put.

Other residents in attendance, Dana Coull, Jim Durgin, and non-resident Jeanette Lemay, exchanged a few glances with obvious nervous disbelief, and the remaining Budget Committee members, Corinna Cole, Jeri Brasko, and Nancy Neubert seemed to twist just a bit uneasily in their seats. Ms. Lemay's video camera remained rolling for the unscheduled break in the budget discussions.

I felt bad for Tom Torno, Road Commissioner, who was only in attendance to discuss his budget and was now somehow sucked into the drama that he tries so hard to avoid.

Selectman Thompson stated that if the missing members were out of the building more than 5 minutes, he was going to close the meeting and lock the doors, preventing the small group from returning, and Secretary Nancy Neubert went to the door to relay the information. Selectman Heath seemed to be non-plussed by the interruption to the meeting.

When the group returned, there was no further discussion, but the damage had been done. No more Superman in town government for me. AGHAST!!

I guess at that point, Tom Torno could have asked for a $20 million dollar cell phone stipend and it would have been okay with me. There was no more Budget Committee. There were the "secret society" and the few who were above the rumors and secret discussions and remained in their seats. Two totally separate groups. The ones I still had respect for, and the ones I no longer do.

There have been a lot of discussions regarding people who volunteer for the town, not getting paid to put in hours of their own time for the greater good of the Town of Lebanon, but not all those who volunteer feel the need to feed into the drama. And what about the residents? The residents sitting in disbelief that they had voted in a group of people and yet, are denied a voice. Our time at the Public Hearings listening to the "secret society" telling us how they are different and worthy of our vote, our time in heading to the polls to vote, all our volunteer hours were apparently not worth a minute's thought. The time several residents take to sit, listen, watch, and try and help figure out why the finances of Lebanon are spent the way they are, we mean nothing to them. For they are the Budget Committee, and we.......well....we are not.

I do have to say that Road Commissioner Torno did a good job of presenting his budget. Sure, he leaves a few questions in my mind, but then again, I'm not allowed to ask them. I'm only a resident.

While I sat listening to Tom answer questions regarding how many more years were left on the Town's backhoe, how much money it cost the town to operate and maintain the traffic lights at the corner of Depot Road and Rt. 202, how motor grease purchases could be listed under "office supplies", and how many times the Champion Street sign has been stolen in the last year, it all seemed so irrelevant. What difference do those things make when your personal super hero has turned out to be as scared of the truth as many of the others?

Questions regarding why the Town is paying to repave people's driveways were met with Selectman Thompson revealing that the practice is completely illegal, but "that's the way we've always done it in Lebanon", didn't even have me batting an eye.

Maybe I just need to accept that there is no one. Not one person, in our town government who I can count on 100% to tell it like it is.

There was a glimmer of hope when Committee member, and newly voted in Committee Chair, Jeri Brasko began sounding like a TRUE champion by asking the hard questions regarding the town's use of independent contractors at $60 an hour, and what the savings would be if the town operated a small fleet of trucks for work like cold patching, ditch digging, and picking up gravel, but when she began to question the practices of the Road Commissioner in his monitoring of independent contractors, Selectman Thompson gave her "the warning", telling her she needed to end that line of questioning. I guess even in the Budget Committee there are places you just don't go. Trying to figure out how to better budget taxpayer dollars is a very taboo subject these days.

I wish I could tell you that there were members who knew right away that the $28,800 of "voted savings spent" were the same $28,800 that Selectmen Heath and Nadeau gifted to the young Road Commissioner in the little "out of the back pocket" motion that had so many residents angry when it was the first order of business conducted by newly elected Selectman Paul Nadeau, but while another resident and I discussed it on the sidelines, the Budget Committee members took a 20 minute question and answer session trying to figure out where that money came from. Here's the answer. The Town voters had been convinced to fund a brand new backhoe for the Road Crew by being presented with the figure of $28,000 in savings to the Road Budget which, we were told, would go back into the General Fund at the end of the year. However, only a few weeks prior to the end of the fiscal year 2014-15, the team of Heath and Nadeau blind sided Selectman Thompson and the duo voted to give that $28,800 in promised "savings" to the Road Commissioner for his use. Torno then used the "savings" to pave less than a half a mile of Center Road. But it doesn't end there. The project was over budget, costing a whopping $37,000 and change, but no one even questioned WHO gave the authority to spend the additional money, or where that money was drawn from. Not even one Budget Committee member questioned that.

And of course, I can't. I'm not allowed, according to Mr. Gilpatrick.

By 9 pm the meeting was winding down.

I waited.

I waited for the motion to be made for the meeting to be adjourned.

And then I asked if residents were allowed to speak yet?

No one answered me, so I figured "No Comment" was better than a denial of my rights.

So I spoke.

I looked my fallen town government super hero in the face, noticing that the bright blazing yellow name looked just a little more faded and unimpressive than it usually does, and I told him just what I thought of him.

I won't say it here, as with all the crazy law suit threats that happen whenever a Lebanon resident speaks their minds, well........the word I used is not a nice one. Not at all nasty, or foul mouthed, but fitting for the circumstances, I assure you.

How can you call Selectman Heath nasty foul mouthed names for not speaking publicly, or for doing things behind the scenes when he is an elected official of Lebanon and then coerce others into joining you in a little "secret society" of your own?

How can you tell the Board of Selectmen that they have no right to silence you, and then use your elected position to silence me?

How can you tell me that you will stand up and say whatever it is you have to say, and not be afraid of others opinions, and then walk out of the Town Office doors with your little following to have "secret conversations"?

There are people in this town who have begged me to give up on Lebanon Town Government. Walk away. Stop trying to change things for the better.

Every once in a while, I begin to think they are right.

"This is the way it's always been done in Lebanon"

I truly thought there were people out there like me, who want to see the truth be told and have an end to "secret missions". A town where "secret meetings" containing statements passed on regarding "the truth of what's happening in this town" which are garnered from "secret private messages" from people with no name, are laughed about, until such time as they can be proven or disproven.

So I'd like to challenge Mr. Gilpatrick to do what he calls on others to do. Why not show us how much "gut" you really have, Chris Gilpatrick. Why not tell the residents what's "really going on in this town". Because I, for one, as a resident, would like to know. Finally. Once and for all. What the HECK is going on in this town???

No Guts, No Glory.

AGHAST!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Governor LePage 2016 State of the State Address to be Delivered in Historic Fashion

This year Governor Paul LePage will not deliver his State of the State Address to the Legislature. Instead, he will follow the more historical precedent of sending a written message to the Legislature.

An address to Maine Residents from your Governor...........

Hello, this is Governor Paul LePage.
The State of the Union was always delivered as a written message to Congress until President Woodrow Wilson began the modern tradition of delivering it in person to lawmakers.
I would rather talk with Mainers at my town halls. The truth is, I’ve delivered the State of the State to Legislators for five years —only to have it fall on deaf ears.
Last year, socialist legislators wasted more than six months of the taxpayers’ time and money on a political witch hunt. While Mainers were literally dropping dead from the drug crisis, these legislators were grandstanding for the cameras, hoping to score political points by attacking me.
Mainers did not send us to Augusta to play childish games. They sent us here to reform welfare, lower taxes, end the drug epidemic and find ways to keep our young people in Maine.
Mainers want their government to help them prosper and improve our state. That’s why I am bringing the issues directly to the people at my town halls and outlining my vision to make Maine prosperous.
If they truly want to work for the people of Maine, legislators should listen to the people who put them in office in the first place.
My vision is clear: Continue to reform welfare and strengthen the safety net for our most vulnerable; continue to lower taxes for all Mainers so they have more money in their paychecks; reduce energy costs for businesses so we can attract companies with good paying careers. Way too much money is spent on energy costs that could conversely go to wages; address the high cost of student debt that is burdening young people from living and working in Maine; and get tough on drugs by stiffening drug crime penalties, as well as cutting off the deadly drug supply by arresting traffickers who are crossing into our state.
The State of the State is about a long-term vision. Rather than deliver to Mainers once a year, I will continue to bring it directly to Maine people every week.
Thank you for listening.

Popular Sanford Restaurant Owner Draws 8 Month Jail Sentence for Stealing Sales Tax

01/27/2016 02:19 PM EST

AUGUSTA - Attorney General Janet Mills announced today that Christo Stratos, 69, of Wells, Maine, was sentenced to serve 8 months in jail after pleading guilty to multiple counts of: Theft by Misapplication of Sales Tax; Intentional Evasion of Sales Tax; and Failure to Truthfully Collect, Account, and Pay Over Sales Tax. Stratos committed the crimes in connection with his operation of the restaurant Christo's Place in Sanford.

From 1999 through 2014 Stratos collected sales tax from restaurant patrons, but turned over only a fraction of that tax to the Maine Revenue Services. Instead, he significantly underreported his gross sales and the resulting sales tax. Stratos stole a total of $243,902 in collected sales tax during this time frame. Stratos admitted to the Maine Revenue Services' criminal investigators that he thought it was "commonplace" for business owners to underreport collected sales tax.

York County Superior Court Justice Lance Walker sentenced Stratos to 4 years, with all but 8 months suspended, and 3 years of probation. The State already has recovered $100,000 from Stratos and will be recovering an additional $50,000 before Stratos begins his sentence on February 8, 2015. Stratos also was ordered to pay the remaining restitution of $93,902. Attorney General Mills commented, "Business owners are entrusted to collect sales tax on behalf of the State and properly pay it over to Maine Revenue Services. My Office will pursue and prosecute individuals who abuse this trust and steal these taxes." This case was investigated by the Maine Revenue Services' Criminal Investigations Unit. Assistant Attorney General Gregg D. Bernstein handled this matter for the Attorney General's Criminal Division.

An Interview with Lebanon Fire Department, Inc.... Some Honest Answers Aren't So Easy........

LMTS  has talked a lot about the Lebanon Fire and EMS department over the past year.  In fact, it was in learning the struggles and accomplishments of the Fire and Rescue Departments and then following their growth, achievement and success that LMTS found our backbone and started searching for the truth. We have remained as informative to the accomplishments and achievements of our Lebanon Fiire and Recue Departments  and the successful combination of the two,  for our entire 9 months of operation.

After the January 20^th Lebanon Budget Committee Meeting questions regarding the Fire Department Incorporation, it’s become pretty obvious that there is a misunderstanding of this group throughout the town, and that they are frequently used in name, to divert responsibilities off of the town’s Boards and Committees onto an “unknown” or “ghost” organization.

The truth of the “Fire Department Incorporated” is that they are actually anything BUT a “ghost” organization and the group is actually comprised of some pretty responsible people who live and work and protect the residents of Lebanon, Maine.

Chairman of the “Incorporation”, Joe Perron, reached out to LMTS on Tuesday evening,  January 26^th, to speak to me regarding the shape of today’s “Incorporation” membership, their goals and dreams of the future for their group, and in their role of support for the newly combined Lebanon Fire and EMS Department.  I met with Joe, and Incorporation Treasurer, Jessica Kelley, at Station 1 on Depot Road and sat down to ask, and get answers to, some pretty important questions.

First you must know about the group that they are completely separate from the Town of Lebanon, although they all work for the town’s Fire and EMS Department, and that is, in fact, required as part of membership in the non-profit group, they are not under the control of the Board of Selectmen or even under the Chief. They are a complete and separate non-profit organization.  If you leave the Fire and EMS Department employment, you are no longer eligible for a voting share in the incorporation. From what I understand, you can still remain as an observer or aid of the group, however, you can no longer be included as an officer, and you have no vote on the incorporation’s decisions.

The East Lebanon Fire Department, Inc. began its distinction as a corporation with the mission of raising funds to support the East Lebanon Fire Department in 1955. During this time, the Fire Department was strictly a volunteer fire company, and the members wanted a way to raise funds for necessary equipment and support that was not under the town government budget control, but a way for residents to participate and support the purchase of various things needed by the Fire Department.  According to Perron, a donation of land was secured, financial donations, and many suppers and events were held by the Incorporation Members, (who at the time were all male) and their subsidiary, the Ladies’ Auxiliary, in order to raise the money to build the Fire Station (now called Station 1) on the property located on the corner of Depot Road and Upper Cross Road. The site had originally housed an old school house, along with a 2 bay garage, which had been used to house the town’s fire apparatus prior to the time the new fire house was built. The new fire station was erected by the Incorporation in the late 70s, and the Lebanon Fire Department took over residence of the building.

Soon after the building of the Depot Road Station, during the early 1980s, the Town of Lebanon voters appropriated funding for a second and smaller fire station on Route 202 near the corner of Hubbard Road, in a small area of town known as Blaisdell Corner. A second Fire Department began housing their apparatus in that building, allowing them to respond more quickly and efficiently to emergencies on the NH border end of town. Two Departments, one town.

As laws and needs changed, and the Town of Lebanon grew and changed, the Blaisdell Corner Station (aka Station 2) was used to house the Lebanon Rescue Department, a group of EMTs and Paramedics, and the town’s ambulance. The Blaisdell Corner station remains completely in Town of Lebanon ownership.

The Fire Department on Depot Road has seen many fundraisers and celebrations. The Ladies’ Auxiliary would hold ham and bean suppers, a staple fundraiser for many churches and fire departments of the time, and Perron says when he started with the Department, the meeting room and equipment bays would easily be filled with residents and visitors from the extended community, all visiting, eating, enjoying one another's company, and supporting the fundraising efforts of the ladies, or of the incorporation members. However, as volunteerism and the economy have eroded over time, not only in Lebanon, or in Maine, but across the country, fewer and fewer people would attend the fundraisers and they became further and further apart. The group still sponsors their annual yard sale and golf tournament, and 2 years ago participated in the fundraising efforts for another town department by sponsoring a softball tournament. Perron says the softball tournament may make a comeback in 2016 as it was an event they all enjoyed and public  participation was high.

But, in answer to Budget Committee questions, and the resulting questions of local residents, the East Lebanon Fire Department, Inc. is alive and well and after the struggles of membership turnover and public scrutiny, they are hoping to come back stronger than ever in 2016.

Perron serves as Incorporation Chairman, with Jt. Harmon as their President, TJ Gagnon as Vice President, Jessica Kelley as Treasurer, Cindy Harmon as Secretary, and Tyler Thurber as  the “At Large” member of the officer’s group. What exactly is “At Large”? Well Thurber is charged to stand in and act on behalf of any one officer, in the event of that officer’s absence during Incorporation meetings. In addition, the incorporation enjoys the support and membership of 7 other firefighters, and are moving to change the incorporation charter to allow the members of the EMS side of the newly formed (June 2015)combined department.

The pair of officers also took the time to mention the hiring of Chief Meehan to lead the combined Lebanon Fire and EMS Department, stating that his work and dedication had created a combined department where there had once been two hopelessly separated departments only a year ago, making friends and family and side by side cross trained workers from two separate department’s members.  The cross training also makes it easier for EMS service responders to join the Fire Department Inc. as they become trained in fire fighting and added to the Department in that additional role.

Perron, Kelley and I had a long discussion of the financial position of the Incorporation, and the truth is that they’re working on it. The departing members of the Incorporation have not easily relinquished control over such things as legal documents, bank accounts, or checkbooks, but Perron is on top of that, actively working with the group’s bank and attorney to regain that control for the group.  This is a fairly young membership, but speaking with Perron and Kelley, it’s clear that the reins of the incorporation are in capable and responsible hands. 

The Budget Committee questioned the ownership of Station 1 and how the process was moving along on the desires of the Incorporation to turn the building over to the town. According to Perron and Kelley, that transfer of ownership is still in the works, but it has been very hard to backpedal and secure paperwork  and records from the previous incorporation officers.  Here are the problems the group is facing, and why the transfer has not been as easy as residents might think it should be:

The land on the corner of Depot Road and Upper Cross Road was donated for the use of the East Lebanon Fire Department, Inc. to build the Fire Station by a local couple. The deed, is in the name of the East Lebanon Fire Department, Inc.  However, the deed includes a “revisionary clause” which states that if, at any time, the East Lebanon Fire Department, Inc. becomes insolvent or intends to sell or transfer ownership of the building, the LAND reverts back to the ownership of the original donator, or their heirs. If the incorporation deeds the building to the Town of Lebanon, the heirs of the original donator would then regain ownership of the land that the station is built on. The heirs of the original family do not reside in Lebanon, or even within the State of Maine.  The Town of Lebanon does not want to accept the donation of the building into town ownership without also owning the land it sits on. This decision seems harsh, but business and legal-wise, it is truly in the best interest of the town.

 Discussions were begun with the heir of the property by the former officers of the corporation, and the family has been very generous in their agreements to turn over the property to the Town of Lebanon.  Meetings were held with the Selectmen and all seemed to be in order for an easy transfer of the deed.  A wrench was placed in the operations when the former officers left the Fire Department, the reasons of which I am not going to dispute on anyone’s behalf, and as such, forfeited their membership in the corporation.  All of this created a time delay in finishing the transaction, and leaving the incorporation with the legalities of regrouping, electing  new officers, and turning over responsibilities prior to their ability to continue discussions with the land owners’ heirs.

So where does the problem lie today? The incorporation is willing to give the building, and the heir to the landowner willing to donate the land, and it all seems like the perfect combination for a quick and easy transfer. Not so easy. There are deeds to be signed, transfers in probate to revert the land to the original  land owner’s estate and then on to the new heirs, clearing of the title to the land, and oh the lawyers!! Incorporation lawyers, lawyers for the heir, and the town’s lawyers. Who is going to pay all the lawyers? Court charges for all these transfers aren’t cheap either.  But the good news is that they are being worked on.

The Selectman’s assertion that this was all being handled by firefighter Jessica Kelley drew quite a reaction from the Budget Committee, but in fact, Jessica is only part of the equation. As the Treasurer of the Incorporation, Jessica needs to secure the vote of the incorporation membership to expend money,  and  then sign the check. That would be easier if she could secure the checkbook and banking account transfers from the former incorporation Treasurer without the need to involve incorporation lawyers to obtain it.  The thought that maybe this young lady was solely responsible for working with lawyers, transferring deeds and writing checks, drew lots of comments, but the truth is that this 21 year old young woman is responsible enough to enter a home engulfed in flames, find a resident, and bring them out to safety. This sobering smack of reality makes the thought of her being responsible for simple legal paperwork, not such a laughable matter.

In the meanwhile, discussions at the Budget Committee Meeting on Wednesday the 20th have brought forth a new obstacle.  The Code Enforcement Officer made a visit to the station on Tuesday afternoon,  January 24^th,  and there is a real concern that the back meeting room may actually be in danger of being condemned if work is not done to that meeting room soon. The Depot Road Fire Station is not in the best of shape structurally. The floor in the back meeting room has sunk to about an 8 inch difference from  outside edge to center and along one wall there is a full 2 inch gap between wall and floor. The hot water heater is leaking and there have been some pretty bad problems with rodents.  While the town debates moving forward toward a full time Fire and EMS Department, the building, through a lack of fundraising dollars, has slipped into disrepair. Chief Meehan and the Board of Selectmen have recently made repairs from the Fire and EMS budget to the overhead doors, and have repaired the furnace, but the Selectmen aren’t really keen on spending  a lot of money on repairs to a building that does not belong to the Town of Lebanon.  Again, this decision is not one that is not understandable, it’s just good business sense when being accountable with taxpayer dollars.

There are problems with the apparatus as well. The Forestry truck leaks in more places than there are Fire and EMS members’ fingers to plug them, and Engine 1 is also out of service for some pretty serious mechanical issues. During the Budget Committee meeting, former Fire Department members expressed concerns over dollar amounts being expended on repairs to the vehicles, wondering why the current department members didn’t do some of the maintenance themselves, “like we always did in Lebanon”. But the truth of the matter is that these engines are OLD. Some of them so old that their legality in carrying firefighters is in question due to safety changes and requirements in fire vehicles. LMTS was very concerned at a recent Selectmen’s Meeting when current trade-in values were discussed with regards to some of our equipment. There are some of our vehicles that are almost more money in scrap value than they are in trade-in value.  Discussion continues in other Committee meetings about the “millions of dollars” in equipment housed in Station 1, and truth is that we are lucky if that equipment is worth a few hundred thousand dollars.

Equipment and buildings do not appreciate in value, they depreciate. Buildings do not maintain  themselves. Without proper attention to maintenance and repair, buildings become dangerous and safety hazards. Those are simple truths.

At the end of the conversation with our East Lebanon Fire Incorporation Officers, we discussed what the officers would wish for if I handed them a magic lamp and a genie appeared offering them 3 wishes.

 I was surprised that answer number 1 was not for a brand new fire station.  Joe answered that he could live with the Station the way it was but that he was worried about the apparatus.  “I would wish for new trucks and equipment,” he stated, worrying aloud that people’s lives were depending on town owned equipment that is in some serious need of repair and upgrade.

Wish number 2 was for a new fire house, or at least for an addition that included a shower and gear cleaning capabilities. At this time, after each incident, the gear has to be brought to Sanford for cleaning, but according to Perron,  there are carcinogens and chemicals that go home on his clothing and skin associated with being inside a burning building. “We’re not only exposing ourselves, we’re exposing our spouses and children to this stuff.”

The third wish was for all the corporation members and Fire and EMS responders. “I would buy everyone a second set of gear,” Perron stated. His concern were if a member participated in a fire incident and their gear were in Sanford being cleaned and a second call came in, the responders would be without gear, and therefore, effectively out of service for the second incident. With the Mutual Aid community watching for Lebanon responses to remain at top levels, the worry over having a proper second set of turnout gear is weighing heavy on all the responders’ shoulders.

With the decline of attendance at Board and Committee meetings in town comes a blissful state that my mother likes to term as “Living in a cloud castle”. We have become increasingly unaware that having a top notch town government and through them, departments, depends on each of us. All of us as a community group, and each of us as individuals, identifying need and then determining what we personally can do to make things better. It’s easy to hear the truth spelled out in an article and make statements that “Somebody should do Something”.  It’s understandable that it’s  much harder after a hard day of work and errands to actually move ourselves back out of the house, into the car, and into a meeting room to pay a bit of attention to the care and maintenance of equipment and buildings that are unimportant in our own small little world, until the day comes when we, or our children, or our neighbors have to make that 911 call and wait for people to respond and do their best to save us, our family, our pets or our homes. On that one fateful day, the need for well maintained apparatus, well trained professionals,  with the best possible equipment becomes all too real.

If you had the choice between heading out to a soccer game, snuggling on the couch and watching a movie, or heading to the local Fire Station for a meal of ham and beans, where would you choose to be? My suggestion to my friends, neighbors and community residents is to take a moment to think hard on that answer. Talk to your spouse about their thoughts. Talk to your children. And then head to a Board or Committee meeting and ask questions. As a matter of fact, ask questions over and over and over again until the elected officials of your town, who are paid to provide these answers to you, give you some hard, but honest answers.

The East Lebanon Fire Department, Inc. is alive and well and doing their best to come up with the answers the public is looking for but they can’t do it alone or without the help of their Town and its residents. Stop in at the Depot Road Station 1 and ask questions. Head on over to the Budget Committee meetings on Wednesday nights at the Town Office and ask questions.  Stop in at the Board of Selectmen’s meetings on Monday evenings and ask questions. Keep asking. Keep searching for the truth.