LISBON – Organizers behind a petition to recall Town Council Chairwoman Norma Wells will be out in force this weekend trying to get enough signatures before a Monday afternoon deadline, Dot Fitzgerald said Friday.

Fitzgerald is one of five people who swore to a recall affidavit on Aug. 7. They have until Sept. 8 to bring in 288 names of registered voters in Ward 2 or the effort to unseat Wells becomes moot.

“The recall for Norma Wells is the beginning,” Fitzgerald said. It’s the intent of the group Lisbon Concerned Citizens, of which she’s a member, to recall other councilors and return Lisbon to a town meeting-style of government, she said. The town made the change two years ago.

“Right now, it isn’t a democracy. Basically, it’s a totalitarian regime,” Fitzgerald said.

She said Wells, chairwoman for the last year, has been “disrespectful to taxpayers in the audience asking questions.” The affidavit also claims a conflict of interest.

The group had more than 100 signatures on Friday, she said, 188 short of their goal.

Wells said the town had outgrown the town-meeting style when Lisbon residents voted, by ballot, to make the change. One of the complaints against her, Wells said, is that she allowed department heads to overspend their budgets.

“I personally don’t have that power. It’s a council of seven people,” she said.

Wells’ term runs until November 2009. That organizers have had nearly a month and been unable to collect half the signatures, “I think it makes a statement the people in Lisbon don’t agree with them,” she said. Wells added that she’s had people approach her, saying, “‘I don’t understand why they’re doing this. You’re doing a great job.'”

Town Clerk Twila Lycette said the affidavit lists five names on the recall committee: Fitzgerald, Todd Comber, Robert Harrington, Heather Jameson and Lisa Conlon. If enough signatures are brought in, the town clerk has 20 days to verify the names then forward the petition to the town council. If they have enough information, the council has 30 days to schedule an election. If not enough signatures are delivered, the recall affidavit is up.

Fitzgerald said organizers collecting signatures will be at the transfer station starting at 7 a.m. Saturday and the Lisbon High football game at 1:30 p.m..