Let’s try to figure out which one might be breaking the law
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| Two of Frank Glista's co-conspirators (in clever disguises) |
By Will Collette
One of Jim Mageau’s current fevered fantasies is that he has uncovered a criminal conspiracy at town hall. He has said he believes there is a “shadow organization,” headed by Economic Improvement Commission Frank Glista, aided and abetted by Town Administrator William DiLibero and Parks & Recreation director Jay Primiano, plus other unindicted co-conspirators.
Mageau says they formed a bogus group, the Friends of Ninigret Park, and broke a bunch of laws by setting up a collection lock-box at the Rhythm and Roots Festival. The money collected was allegedly going to be used to help build a secret entertainment center at the Park (secret only if you didn’t read the Comprehensive Plan for the Park, available on-line here).
And Mageau offered proof - a 37 page collection of documents that seemed to have been randomly picked from one of Mageau's desk drawers since they show nothing, prove nothing. (Read them yourself here).
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| How clever to hide the secret plan in plain sight! |
The tool Glista and his gang used for the heist was a collection lock-box that was obtained without any authorization from the Town Council (except for their resolution on May 4 to add $500 to the EIC budget for them to do it, and the voters’ approval of that budget last June).
The amount the Glista gang reportedly collected was $23, an amount Mageau just can’t believe is true.
But we can compare the $23 take from the Ninigret collection box to another collection box - this one crafted by none other than Council member Lisa DiBello ’s big brother and mentor Mark Anthony DiBello. I’d be surprised if Mageau didn’t know about this, given how closely allied he and Lisa DiBello are.
In the course of doing the research for my series on the many controversies swirling around DiBello, I ran across how closely her brother Mark was involved in her non-profit's fund-raising.
Specifically, Mark Anthony DiBello created a fund-raising video for A Ray of Hope that featured Lisa DiBello winning a car on The Price Is Right and then pledging to donate the car to A Ray of Hope. Which she never did.
The video also shows brother Mark coaching sister Lisa (he calls her “La-La”) every step of the way through her Price Is Right victory.
Mark Anthony DiBello’s other fund-raising experience ties in, in an odd way, with this whole controversy over the Friends of Ninigret collection box.
You see, Mark Anthony DiBello did his own collection box (see photo, below, from his Facebook page). He too only took in between $20 and $30, so the $23 amount Glista reported seems on par.
Except in Mark Anthony DiBello’s case , the reasons WHY he set up the collection box differed greatly from Friends of Ninigret Park’s collection box. And so did the use of the money collected. Read what Mark Anthony DiBello wrote below the photo about the why and what.
FYI: The AIDS Foundation of America, which is based in Augusta , ME
I know Jim Mageau is trying his hardest to divert attention away from the issues with his protege, Lisa DiBello. But focusing on the Friends of Ninigret Park's collection lock box was probably not the way to do it.