A significant number of Maine towns are now controlled by a few town fathers who have little to no knowledge of education budgets, proper hiring practices, or even the basics of how local, state and federal governements interact with one another. Repeated in every region of our state, these people make a very big contribution to Maine's faltering economy. Nothing can grow in these toxic gardens.

And with no law to stop them from raising real estate taxes yearly, it is just becoming an obvious end game for the middle class we once had in Maine.

Bill Lawrence is going to be sorely missed, if for no other reason than his open and honest opinion's when asked. He always either gave you a straight, total and honest answer, regardless if it made one feel uncomfortable, or he would get the answer to you, even if it meant he had to send you to see someone better able to do so. And in Maine, more so than a lot of other place's, he didn't give a dam about the 'Speaking Truth to Power' menusha. Such is the type open and honest type character of Maine Town Official's, among other's as well, that we have come to expect, and should have at all times.

I have read many of your remarks of the various discussions and had thought that you were of above average intelligence until now. At first I thought you might be a very close relative but I think it's more to the fact and obvious that you don't know Bill Lawrence as well as you think you do. The man lacks integrity and most certainly credibility. All one has to do is listen, maybe ask him management questions or just let him talk and he'll tell you how smart he is, then you will know exactly how smart he is. You perhaps should review the definition of sociopath which should bring you to a different conclusion. In fact Bill is doing exactly what sociopaths do and that is not to drop your anchor for very long in any one port, a sense of self importance and lets not forget that everyone really wants his services (Such B.S.). Perhaps a review of his employment history would help you and you could start as close as Bangor. The story that Bill was highly sought after as the Bangor police chief was about as comical as it comes. There was a reason he was assigned as Bangor housing police liaison and it wasn't for his honesty and openness. If you attended the Council meetings on a regular basis you would have noted the fact that Bill often had no clue often deferring to others on a regular basis. Kind of like being in quicksand up to your neck and not being smart enough to know you were in trouble. Again that would now answer the question as to why council members were pressing him for answers to questions he should have had the answers to. Bill is not innocent, he is a victim of karma. All one has to do is look back at his very questionable actions and ethics all the way back to Bill Reed. Bill Lawrence is a predatory opportunists that pretends to be your trusted co-worker, employee or employer until you know longer fit into his grand scheme. Which is "What can I do to make me look good and take all the credit of what others have done or helped to do". By the way how can one have 5 to 10 year plans if you are constantly moving from one job to another ( access of 8). No Mike you perhaps should do more research before you attempt to enlighten all us not so dumb folk with your self absorbed dribble drabble. Bill will sorely be missed like a bad case of the flu.

Is this John or his mommy?

Wow. You are a very obsessed person, there, EEI. Been off the meds much, lately? Seems to me that the T---- family is the one with the wild and lunatic temperment. No?

In all fairness to Bill and Lincoln as a whole, one needs to remember why Bill Lawrence was hired. He came on as Town Manager after the Bill Reid mess, that the Town Council created out of BS and ego, and wound up seeing Reid leave with A VERY HEALTHY CHUNK OF LINCOLN MONEY in his termination agreement, regardless of what you want to call it. Bill Lawrence came on, got the Public Safety Dept. finally working, even with the East Millinocket Ambulance issue being argued over, and has now gotten, if anyone want's to go look, the BGS pipeline getting installed off 116 as we speak, He also got the business environment working, with the Dunkin and Collin's business both coming on line soon, that's going to generate both jobs but also revenue, as well as getting the traffic impact study done and paid for by the State DOT. And he did this all with a Town Council that seems to, at every turn, either want or expect Bill to be a rubber stamp for whoever's crazy idea comes down the road at any given time. The Town Council's responsibility is to govern thru local ordinance's and set Town Policy. It IS NOT THEIR JOB TO DO DAY-TO-DAY MANAGEMENT. That's what Lawrence is for, despite all of the nitpicking he has to put up with. And as far as a 5 year plan, that type of planning is a part of every Town Manager's job anywhere you go, that has to be coordinated with the Town Council but also the local business's as far as Town impact goes. Go ask the MMA and they'll tell you the same thing.

And as far as Lawrence and his 'nitpicking 'comment' goes, he's being far, far more polite than I would have been. When the Town Council starts sticking it's collective nose in to the Town Manager's day to day's then it's time for a SERIOUS 'SITDOWN' with the Council and some very clear guidelines need to be established. Me personally, I've been thru this at the Federal level with a Agency head and told him in no uncertain term's that if I'm the one to do the job then get out of the way and let me do it. That or or go find yourself a new 'boy' who's willing to be bent over the sawhorse so you can get your jolly's off whenever you feel the need. I didn't make a lot of friend's in the Agency headshed but I got the job done, usually on time and always under budget by using what was available to me, and not putting up with BS criteria that were put on me to set me up to fail from Jump 1. Lincoln's going to miss Lawrence and it's also going to find itself in jam if any new Town Manager applicant starts doing some serious research on Lincoln and it's municipal history. A rapid change in Town Manager's, such as Houlton is going thru right now, ala Gene Conlouge (with Butch Asselin filling in), is going to be seen and asked about and is a serious cause for any applicant to wonder just how much nitpicking they are going to have to put up with. Micromanagement is a sure fire HR killer and it's not hard to see why. Question is will the Town Council see it or are they doomed to repeat what happened here, over and over ?

Much what you have stated in this reply is spot on however there are a few pieces of the puzzle that you're missing. Bill Reid was not a good fit for Lincoln and you are correct, the council did create that no win situation. Reid didn't help his position with his liberal spending versus a long entrenched ultra conservative fiscal practice. However this was one of those situations where Lawrence after buddying around with Reid saw an opportunity and embarked on a strategy of undermining Reid. Lawrence self-righteously ran to the councils three major players (Clay, Carr, Ring) who clearly did not like him and positioned himself as an option to fill a void about to be made. In Lawrence's defense, he started off in an appropriate and effective way however it wasn't long that Bill came under the influence of his inherent authority and power progressively suffering from the "Me Syndrome". As far as the mistakes the council seems prone to repeat, there is no doubt due to ego and closed mindedness history will repeat itself. Lincoln seems unique to attracting managers that are capable of herding councilors activities their way. You seemed intent on believing that Bill operates with a high degree of integrity and credibility. I would encourage you to access opinions from current and past employees at all levels to obtain a more accurate representation of what is really going on and not what you may read about. There is no one outside of a few people that will miss Bill Lawrence and his practices of dissention throughout town government.

You sound about as mad as a drunk cop jumping up and down on the hood of a police cruiser.

You seem to think that Lawrence somehow didn't know how the politics of Lincoln worked before he stepped into some mess. Lawrence may not have caused the problems in Lincoln that preceded him, but he was the first to jump at the opportunity to sink the dagger into everyone he could to get ahead. et tu Brute?

It's the same thing over and over. Things won't change there until they clean out the management from the top on down. The towns people need to act or more of the same.

You can't be for real. All anyone needs to do is look at the way the council has treated most everyone in that town

What in the heck is going on in the small towns, they can not keep a manager. Seems like a good gig $70,000.00 a year!!!! Sinking ship I guess-bail out.

How much does that 70k job pay per hour? Subract the brain damge inflicted while dealing with all the local village idiots and the net gain is certainly not worth the effort. The citizens of Lincoln and other Maine towns deserve better. Even a new McDonalds manager must attend a two week course at their University. Town councilors/selectmen should have to have some reasonable education or qualifications as well as term and age limits.

They can't do anything right and are always out to get us, and we know what they're up to, and those few who pull the strings, and.... And.....

It's the council. These people cut public safety by cutting a fireman so now there is only one fireman on duty for somewhere around 16 shifts a month. on July 1 the call back fireman was a town away thats 15 or 20 minutes away.They jeopardize the people of town to save money to put into a road at the airport to aid how many? How about this new center turn lane? The council has been handling with Maine D.O.T. This will help 10 more business lots on West Broadway the reason is they say the town lost out on development because the prospective investors refused to pay the impact fees well isn't that special.How much is this going to cost? The impact fees range from 70$ to 250,000$ depending on the size of the business story has the cost around 1,000,000$ so these people think it's right to jeopardize public safety to subsidize business. You wonder why towns cant keep a manager?How would you like to work for this bunch? Glad it's not my tax money.

For whatever anybodys opinion of anyone is, it is clear that, with the price of heating oil, car registrations, car inspections, housing, real estate taxes, there is not much anymore to hold anyone here in Maine. $70,000 would go a lot further in Florida. If one is to be broke, it would seem rather better than to be broke where one does not freeze to death. After last winter, and with a totally out of control Governor, Maine, is becoming a damn tough row to hoe.

The problem here is not the Governor

That is arguable.

What is the obsession with retiring to Florida? It is nasty there.

Everyone is running to Flori-duh so that they can retire to paradise. The problem is, they paved over paradise in the 1970s, the groundwater is now saltwater, to drive one mile takes over and hour, you have to have year-round air conditioning because in most places the air is so foul that you can't breathe.

To get as far from this mess as one can.

I don't know where he won't be nit-picked. It is hard to work in the public sector. If he thinks the Florida rednecks will be an easy bunch, he'll soon wake up. I do wish him well.

He lived in Florida for a time and returned to Maine. The dream of Florida retirement or being near his wife's parents are not the issue as he immediate family in the Bangor area. He's blowing smoke in an attempt to justify in his mind the actions he's about to take. People like Bill need to have their "Me Meter" pegged, like to be the center of attention, have an unrealistic belief that everyone wants and/or needs him or several other symptoms of a social path. The walls are closing around him, people have figured him out and he's identified the need to move on. Get far enough away and no one there knows who you are and you don't have to face the people you screwed by being incompetent. The council will not do or say anything negative because it reflects poorly on their decision making process and everyone know how effective some those have been.

They won't be half as bad. How many town managers has Lincoln had in the last few years? This has to be some kind of record. They all could not have been that bad.The problem is still there.

The "Ship" is sinking!

No state income tax, I guess, is that the draw???