In a State where, the government is answerable directly to the people, by law; it is disturbing to watch men elected by the people to manage the day to day affairs of the town, ignore the expressed wishes of the people in favor of their own ideas. New Hampshire law clearly states that the selectmen MUST execute voter passed warrant articles. Basically when the people say do it, selectmen MUSt do it!! They don't have the right to question or alter those instructions. Except in Atkinson, of course, where we have potentates not selectmen.
Let me explain, At town meeting in 2005, the voters passed two warrant articles. The first said put the Vietnam honor roll panels in front of the town hall either side of the flagpoles, and dont spend more than a dollar of taxpayer money on it. The second said, leave the existing memorial undisturbed, said memorial to be the area between the flagpoles, up to and including the flagpoles themselves.
The selectmen then claimed ambiguity, and asked town counsel to advise them. Town counsel wrote them a letter which said "There is no ambiguity in the two articles, simply put the panels either side of the flagpoles but outside of them". The selectmen then told Mrs. Grant and the historical society to go ahead and raise money and they would put them in front of the town hall.
Now here is the part that the selectmen refuse to acknowledge; 3 months later Mrs. Grant wrote a letter to the Attorney General that pissed the Chief off! On Camera, in a selectmen's meeting the Chief told Mrs. Grant that he would not place those panels in front of the town hall until she apologized. Mrs. Grant, in the same meeting, borrowed a piece of paper from the Eagle-Tribune reporter and wrote "I apologize" and walked across the room and handed it to the Chief, on camera, his reply..... "I don't care, I'm still not voting for it!"
Of Course, selectman Sapia, who has no mind of his own, in this blogs opinion, echoed his heroes decree, and has stood clearly between the voters and their vote for 18 months!
The selectmen spent thousands of taxpayer dollars to thwart the wishes of the voters. Budget Committee Chairman Acciard had it exactly right last night when he asked them "by what right did they feel that they could ignore the wishes of the voters?" and "If you refuse to do what the voters tell you to do then what makes you think you deserve to sit in those chairs?"