Isn't Mayor Walsh Greenwashing Orono? #callhimonit
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Isn't Mayor Walsh Greenwashing Orono? #callhimonit

What is Greenwashing?

That’s when a person or entity releases and/or promotes environmentally friendly messaging to help them look like they are helping and/or care about the environment. In reality they are not helping, and in fact, may be harming the environment.

Isn't it interesting that Mayor Walsh chose Earth Day, Week and Month to start his own apparent greenwashing campaign for himself and the City of Orono?

Read More
Orono and Mayor Walsh mixed Social Media Messaging
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Orono and Mayor Walsh mixed Social Media Messaging

Is Mayor Walsh employing Confusion? Control? Why is he reposting Orono City business posts with his own comments? Why not do that on the Orono City Facebook page? Or the Orono Fire page? As a public official is he misusing social media?

Is this further Citizen Suppression that Mayor Walsh seems to have a track record of implementing?

Remember when he changed Citizen comments from 5 minutes to 3 minutes? (contrary to #matthewjohnson's recent comments this move was due to Citizen unrest)

And then placed the Citizen comments at the very end of the meeting?

And in spite, he often schedules a 5 minute recess before the comment period so citizens have to wait that much longer?

Read More
Breaking News: Majority of Citizens do not want a Separate Orono Fire Department
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Breaking News: Majority of Citizens do not want a Separate Orono Fire Department

Breaking News: Majority of Citizens do not want an Orono Fire Department

During the 3/11/24 Orono City Council meeting, Orono Council member Alisa Benson presented a tabulation of the citizen comment cards. Calculations show that 26% were for the fire department, 60% were against the fire department and 11% had more questions regarding fire service.

Read More
Are Big Donors getting Tax Write-offs for developing Citizen owned Land?
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Are Big Donors getting Tax Write-offs for developing Citizen owned Land?

Are Orono Parks FOR SALE to big donors?

After the City of Orono held a public meeting without recording it nor broadcasting it, now we look at the agenda packet for the next City Council meeting and what do we see? Entire projects getting shoved through without public hearings including a large open air Pickleball complex in the Long Lake Holbrook neighborhood.

Read More
Is Mayor Walsh creating a Circus at the Orono Golf Course?
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Is Mayor Walsh creating a Circus at the Orono Golf Course?

What a difference a year makes. Last year a golf league was fighting to keep Pickleball courts and a Hockey Rink out of the Orono Golf Course. Now, they are planning on building their own extra large private picnic shelter apparently for themselves. Is this a clever move by Mayor Walsh in order to push forward development in Orono on public land again?

Read More
A Grand Opening without a Public Hearing Ever Held?
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

A Grand Opening without a Public Hearing Ever Held?

The Orono Duplicate Fire Department has been a huge debacle. First Walsh blames Long Lake whose Fire Chief was Van Eyll and then hires the same Fire Chief for the Orono Fire Department. Has anyone mentioned it’s the same guy? Or that maybe the same issues will travel with him? Or that this move along split the department?

Then Walsh says he’s running “the budget on his intuition” presumably because he doesn’t want the Citizens to know it’s going to cost tens of millions for what will be unproven and possibly unsafe service.

Read More
Is Year after Year Deficit Spending the new way in Orono?
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Is Year after Year Deficit Spending the new way in Orono?

2024: What happened to the Park Fund?

In the past six years, the Orono City Council has spent over $1.2 million on park capital projects creating a $500,000 deficit by the end of 2022. This deficit spending will have to be made up by levying additional money each year in order to get the fund back to zero in 2025.

What kind of fiscal management is this? Why can’t this Mayor and his majority on the council spend within the fund limits? Why do special interest groups get their park projects considered while the Orono taxpayers have to pony up each year to fund their ideas?

Read More
Court testimony reveals Firefighters not responding to a Heart call
Barbara Schmidt Barbara Schmidt

Court testimony reveals Firefighters not responding to a Heart call

The headline from today's Evidentiary hearing…

ORONO FIREFIGHTERS MADE A DELIBERATE CHOICE NOT TO RESPOND TO A HEART CALL DURING AN ORONO FIRE BUSINESS MEETING ONE BLOCK AWAY FROM THE INCIDENT.

Today in court it was revealed that on January 2, 2024, Orono Firefighters were attending a business meeting at Orono City Hall. 1.5 miles away a handful of Long Lake Firefighters and Chief Heiland were attending the Long Lake City Council meeting.

Read More