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The transformative time could be well upon us

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On Saturday the people of Lebanon have a wonderful opportunity to empower themselves like never before in recent history.

An open town meeting, no-holes barred democracy in action.

When the residents of Lebanon voted down the police budget about 25 years ago, it ceased to exist. Minus funding, there is no department, said Orlando E. Delogu, a professor emeritus at the University of Maine School of Law on Thursday.

However, we don't think any of the departments on the chopping block - Transfer Station, Fire and EMS or Code Enforcement Officer - should be eliminated. They're all vital to our town's function and safety.

However, as we have learned by looking at various towns around us, there is a vast array of ways these departments operate.

For instance, the code enforcement officer in Milton works just two days a week, not full time like was pushed for in the CEO budget rejected by Lebanon voters in May.

On the Fire and EMS side, fire and rescue chief salaries range from about $13,000 a year in North Berwick to $72,000 in Berwick with plenty of towns in between. Voters overwhelmingly rejected what the Lebanon chief wanted, some $47.476 annually plus benefits, roughly twice what the town paid him the year before.

We asked a local fire chief recently how it was that North Berwick's fire and rescue chiefs could do the work as part-time chiefs. He said they did it by delegating a lot of the administrative duties to per diems, workers who staff the North Berwick stationhouses on a daily basis.

And that's what we think Lebanon Fire and Rescue Chief Dan Meehan should do now.

Run and lead the department as a part-time chief as it is done in many towns like Alton, Wakefield, and Milton, N.H., as well as North Berwick.

In Milton, where they have an elected fire chief, Nick Marique is voted in easily every election. Marique, whose work week is based on 24 hours, is looked on as an outstanding chief and administrator. In March he cobbled together enough support by town voters to get a new $2.8 million fire station approved. It is now under construction.

So if we pay Mr. Meehan the same $2,400 a month as we did last year and limit him to 24 hours a week, that'll be about $25 an hour. Not bad for a part-time job. With the money saved from the chief's salary line item, we can put that back into per diem and night coverage shifts as well as the needed breathing apparatus maintenance and training that he took out of his initial budget.

Even if we return funding to those other line items, the town will still save money because the insurance and benefits cost line item will go down.

And if the chief doesn't like it, that's his decision. Remember, there were many applicants who wanted the Lebanon chief's job who had stronger credentials than Mr. Meehan, The Lebanon Voice was told by former Lebanon Fire Chief Skip Wood in April. According to Wood, an independent board formed to provide Lebanon selectmen with a pool of qualified candidates had several others ahead of Meehan. Among those on that board were former Lebanon Fire Chief Glen Gerrish, Sanford Fire Chief Steve Benotti and Berwick Fire Chief Dennis Plante.

So there's no reason to think that if Mr. Meehan decides to quit because he can't get a full-time salary and benefits here in Lebanon, that there won't be another qualified pool of applicants ready at the door.

From the response we got last time there was an opening, there appears to be plenty of qualified candidates out there happy to get $25 an hour or so to be a part-time chief here in Lebanon.
Here's a novel thought. Maybe we can even get one who lives in Lebanon.

Shifting gears to the Code Enforcement Office, when the current CEO came to Lebanon last year he was offered a 29-hour-a-week job that obviously, he said he could do or he shouldn't have taken it.

Then soon after he started, he realized he couldn't do it properly with so few hours and got the hours raised to 40, which included benefits, worth about $20,000 annually.

Voters roundly rejected that budget in May and he came back with a revised budget, slashing five hours from his 40-hour work week. However, the 35 hours still keeps him at full-time status with benefits that taxpayers have to pay for, many of whom are elderly and/or on fixed incomes.

If we, the taxpayers, don't put an end to this phenomenon where job applicants agree to part-time positions in our town, then swiftly bloom them to full time with benefits, then who will. Apparently no one.

So, instead of 35 hours a week, we would recommend 32 hours a week. That's three hours more than what he was getting, about a 10 percent raise. That's pretty generous. Who else out there got that last year?

Lastly, with the transfer station, I doubt those budget committee members who earlier this spring said they wanted to "transform" some of these departments ever thought that they were going to "transform" the transfer station to one less day open.

Here's how we should transform it tomorrow: Restore the hours to their previous four-day schedule, reduce the "manager's" $16 an hour salary to that of the other transfer station workers at $12 an hour and make the road commissioner the transfer station manager as part of his duties.

Above all, please take time out tomorrow to come to the Open Town Meeting.

We urge everyone to bring plenty of water, food, your civility and your patience and enjoy a heaping helping of democracy in its purest form.

- HT

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June 24, 2016 at 8:57pm
My opinion is that we just received the notice for this vote today; Friday! Voting is tomorrow and this wasn't enough notice since I have appointments. Another issue is, whomever wrote up the pamphlet sent around fails to indicate what the current pay for these referendums is so how can we figure out what we are voting on regarding the increase in pay? We cannot! This is a little sneaky on the town selectmen's part don't you think?
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