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WATER !! WATER ? "Water"

Are you concerned/interested in Atkinson's water issue?
Visit the new water discussion forum.
http://www.just-goaway.com/
NEW PETITION ON FORUM
New Information and Updates Daily

Sunday, December 30

Has there been planning discussion about a mini-mall in Town center?

Welcome to another contributor under the publius byline

Publius, could you please consider posting this as a new article on the front page?

===================================
ATKINSON GETS A MINI-MALL?

Would you believe that someone is considering putting a mini-mall in Atkinson? Here it is, from the November minutes of the Conservation Commission:

http://www.atkinsonconservation.org/
==================================

"The house at Map 13, Lot 15, south of Pages Lane and West of Main Street burned down by the Fire Department: a preplanning presentation was given to get the opinion of the Planning Board on putting a minimall in that location."

===================================

Maybe I'm alone in this, but is a mini-mall really appropriate for an essentially residential section of Atkinson? My hope here is just to get word of this potentially innappropriate development in Atkinson out as early as possible so that people can have their say; God knows that the interests of developers, builders, and the real estate industry have enough represtentation all throughout our government...
Publish Reject

Tuesday, December 25

Who do you want to see the Town Annual Report dedicated to?

Anonymous said...
Publius,

Would you consider opening up another article for readers to respond to?

It's coming to that time when the Atkinson Annual Report is approaching and there has to be a decision of to whom to dedicate it to.

Recently, over the last several years it has been a disgusting political thing where political favorites or cronies of the selectmen are chosen or they honor themselves.

When I first moved to town, it was the TOWNSPEOPLE who did the selecting of who their annual report was to be dedicated to. They would submit names to the selectmen and it was one of the people's nominations of who was honored and not political friends, cronies, supporters of the selectmen.

The Annual Report belongs to the people. We should go back to the way it used to be of the townspeople picking who they want honored in their report.

Would you consider starting a new article which would solicit blog response nominations from the people


This is an excellent suggestion form one of our readers. For the last four years this honor has been as disgustingly assigned as the "citizen of the year"! In keeping with the principles of this blog, it should be the people who decide who is honored.

So think about it, decide who has been the town's unsung heroes for the last year, and who has been deserving of such an honor, and lets have the comments.

Thank you all, and have a fantastic holidays!

Friday, December 21

Public Service Announcement!!! An Officer lost his Gun!!!

MAcciard said;

Publius, please accept this as a public service announcement.

An Officer lost his Gun!!!

My home just received a recorded phone call from the superintendent of schools, in co-operation with the Atkinson police dept. This call notified all Atkinson parents that, while helping push someone out of the snow, an Atkinson police officer lost his gun. The call urged Atkinson parent to speak to their children about gun safety, and if the weapon is found please return it to the police dept.

Publius, Please warn all residents about the fact that somewhere in a snowbank in town is a loaded 9mm handgun. This is serious enough that everyone should be aware of it, and advise their children accordingly.

Once the weapon is found, then questions can be asked about the weapon safety practices of our officers, but in the mean time, the prioroty is to find the weapon before anything happens.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Mark Acciard

EDITORS NOTE: The comments on this section have been closed for now. This is a serious subject and we think it should be treated as such. Anyone finding a lost firearm should not touch it unless they are QUALIFIED. They should call our police department immediately. (Parents please tell the kids) .
Thank You

Wednesday, December 19

Merry Christmas to all!!!

MAcciard said:
Publius, please accept this as an article submission for Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all!!!

Merry Christmas Atkinson!, and I mean Merry Christmas, not Happy holidays, nor Seasons Greetings, Nor Happy Winter Solstice, Nor Happy Christmahanakwanzica, Nor anything else that our small minded politically correct mass media may think up. And what season would they be greeting, I wonder? Since they don't believe in the birth of Christ, it can't be Christmas, they can't even acknowledge the pagan origins of the tree, or gift symbols of the season, because paganism was a religion also.

Have any of you noticed, that as you go about your daily lives, no one says; "Merry Christmas" to you anymore? Not the lady at the Dunkin Donuts drive thru, not the clerk at Kohls, Not the Gas Station attendant, No one, not until you say it first to let them know it is OK, and they are not going to get their employer sued.

I remember a time when this was the happiest of seasons. It wasn't the presents, or the hole Christmas will blow in the family budget, or the bustle; it was the inherent niceness, that imbued everyone around this time of the year. It was one common to pass someone on the street, anywhere, and hear them say to you, even though you were a stranger to them, Merry Christmas!!! That this is Not a normal occurrence anymore, is our sad loss. It is political correctness' legacy to a world most of which never wanted it in the first place.

As I reflect on the meaning of Christmas, I realize once again, as I only seem to actively do, during this time of year, that the magic of the Christmas season, is not about either the money you have, or will spend, nor is it about the possessions you have or will acquire, but rather, it is about the general feeling of goodwill towards all, and the desire to actually take time out of our busy lives to actually help someone else, who is in need. For this is the one time of the year, that seems to make us all notice those in need more so than at any other time of the year, and desire to give of ourselves, and our precious time, rather than just stroke out the check.

So, this year, lets beat back the clarions of political correctness, and the career offended, and proudly say to all we meet, whether we know them or not, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! And maybe we will unconsciously brighten someone else's day.

Congratulations to the Atkinson Taxpayers Association!!

This just in;

Congratulations to the Atkinson Taxpayers Association, We have just learned that the Taxpayers Association website, which you can link to from the right side of our home page, has been recognized by the National Taxpayers Union!

The website atkinsontaxpayers.org has been added to the NTU's website under local taxpayer organizations reference list. The purpose of this list is to provide a reference for local citizens who wish to get involved with a local taxpayer organization to find out , and get invloved in tax, spending, and budget issues both locally and nationally.

Again Congratulations!

ANOTHER LAWSUIT????

This blog is hearing rumors around the town hall that the Town has been served with ANOTHER lawsuit!!! Sherrifs have been seen in town serving papers, If anyone knows the details, please post them here....

We anxiously await....

Monday, December 17

What qualities would YOU like to see in your elected officials?

Yes my fellow Atkinsonians, it is election time again!

That special time of the year when we all get together in the Dyke Auditorium to meet and greet, and debate with great passion and intensity, those warrant articles that are near and dear to our hearts.

It is also time for us to be looking at our elected officials who are up for re-election, and their likely opponents, and evaluate whom will meet our expectations, and who will fall short.

We have heard much complaining on this blog about the ways in which our elected officials conduct business. But, what we would like to hear, is any solid accomplishments you feel they have had in the past year or two, and especially the qualities you would like to see in a Selectmen, or a Budget Committee member, or a Planning Board member, We would like to know, and this is also your chance to et anyone planning on running know, what we the people, expect of them.

Have fun with this, but also this is a serious issue. Your comments may take the form of qualities you want in a candidate for public office, or any solid accomplishments you feel the current crop have earned.

Merry Christmas!

Tuesday, December 11

TOWN CLERK RESIGNS AFTER 29 YEARS?

Town Hall Insider said:
Publius please accept this as an article submission

TOWN CLERK RESIGNS AFTER 29 YEARS?

Last night, at the selectmen's meeting town clerk, Linda Jette, announced her retirement after 29 years of service to the town of Atkinson! And this board of selectmen that two years ago made such a show of giving Fred Thompson a plaque, and warm congratulations as his second three year term on the budget committee ended(the award was for his 9 years of service, and he had only actually served 6 years), took the announcement without batting an eye, or giving even a moment of sincere thanks for someone who has served so long.

Linda was too nice to tell why she is resigning. She only in passing expressed her hope that the incoming town clerk would have more support from the selectmen. What she was far too nice to say in public, is that the selectmen have given her no support for the last two years at least! What she was far too nice to say in public was that selectmen chairman Sapia, screamed at her in HER OFFICE, where he has no authority, in front of her staff, because she allowed a resident to come back to her desk! When this was revealed on this blog, and he started getting heat for it, he claimed that he was concerned because of sensitive information in her office. BULLSHIT! He never gave a gentlemanly apology for his infantile conduct! Even Lt. Baldwin, who was outside and heard him, came in and spoke to him about his conduct! Goo for Lt. Baldwin. To confront a bully like that. What Linda was far too nice to say in public is that she has gotten nothing but rude condescension from the town administrator, Mr. McAllister, who has been actively undermining her for two years. She also spared the selectmen mention of the fact that they and the town administrator were docking her pay this fall, an elected official! She also failed to mention that McAllister is rude and downright nasty to her and her staff at every possible opportunity. He talks to those town hall employees as a master would to a slave, and they just put up with it. They have filed complaints with the selectmen, the selectmen do nothing, just as they do nothing with complaints about chief Consentino. I remember Mr. Acciard was in the town hall, one day and heard Mr. McAllister in his normal rude and dismissive manner to Linda, and he spoke to Mr. McAllister about it, and also informed the selectmen, they did nothing. The selectmen refused to interview or hire anyone for a vacancy in the town clerks office for over 18 months! And even pressured the volunteer in there donating his time, to leave!

The selectmen have effectively forced this long serving town official into retirement, and I can only hope that the voter do the same to them in March.

Saturday, December 8

Mission Statement.

This blog has heard comments, (mostly made by public officials, who have been exposed on this site) that this site is nothing but ad hominum attacks on the powers that be. We have heard it said by our own police officers that this site will not publish anything positive.

NONE of the above is true!!!

Here is what we stand for;

The Atkinson Reporter is an open conversation about town government. This site was designed and founded to promote OPEN, TRANSPARENT, HONEST GOVERNMENT IN THE TOWN OF ATKINSON!!! And to expose those who violate these basic ideals.

Anyone may submit articles or comments to this site, to date, only comments that have amounted to unfounded, or slanderous ad hominum attacks have been rejected from publication. Given a certain town officials propensity for threatening and filing frivolous lawsuits in efforts to shut down dissent, we have no wish to add to the long list of those sued by him for slander, and everyone knows whom we are talking about.

The purpose of this site is to discuss EVENTS, that happen in town, and the conduct, and job performance of our public officials in relations to those events. This is the site for opinion journalism in Atkinson. Although we encourage people to either post under their own name, or a psuedonym, we understand the need to post anonymously, given the unique nature of the threat to critics in Atkinson, that has been amply demonstrated by our selectmen and police chief.

We want to engender open, public debate, about the goings on in our town, so that the public is truly informed about what they can not see in selectmen's meetings. As we said previously this is the site for commentary. To see the actual public documents that back up the discussion here you need to visit; www.atkinsontaxpayers.org This site is a document repository for any and all public documents! One place where you can go and get the whole story, in it's entirety.

So, please feel free to post and comment about any and all happenings in town. If there is a subject you would like to see written about, please submit it as a comment to an existing article, with the words article submission at the top of the entry.

Thank you, and we hope that you enjoy the upcoming political season. Check here early and often for the latest updates.

Thursday, December 6

Senator Sapia takes aim at child predators!

It was reported in the Eagle-Tribune today that when the Atkinson Republican Committee hosted an informational seminar on how the county taxes the taxpayers of Atkinson pay, are spent, County Attorney Jim Reams told the assembly that there wasn't adequate funding to investigate and arrest child predators, that arrest were routinely made every 9 weeks, when with more funding they could be made more frequently.

Our Republican? Senator..... what, you say?.... He ISN'T Senator yet?..... He is just a selectman? but how?..... never mind, that is not the point; when our republican? selectmen chairman, heard that there wasn't enough funding to accomplish everything that the county attorney wished to accomplish, his response was, We have to do more! How can we help? as if our taxes are not enough.....

Could we get a former selectmen, from times gone by, when the selectmen actually knew what their job was, to step in here and inform the current board, as to their duties?

Now, is this a noble and laudable pursuit for any individual? Yes it is! Is it within the selectmen's duties, no it is not!

Have we had cases of attacks by child predators in Atkinson, no we have not, Is it the selectmen's job to do the job of the county attorney, or law enforcement? No, it is not! Is there so little work for our four selectmen to do that they have to meddle in other elected officials jobs? apparently so, oh, and yes we said FOUR SELECTMEN!!! We are including our town administrator, because he acts much more like a fourth selectmen, than the glorified secretary, that he is.

We remember when Selectmen Sapia, stated in a selectmen's meeting that he was going to "work on the school finding crises" Hello, Earth to Jack...... The selectmen have NOTHING TO DO WITH SCHOOL FUNDING!!!, Just as you have nothing to do with the County Attornies office. Our selectman Chairman is ;

Unable to obey a town vote!

Unable to keep the town out of court!

Unable to protect town conservation land!

Unable to treat the boards critics with respect!

Unable to treat the town clerk with respect!

Unable to put the town administrator in his place!

Unable to discipline town employees!

Unable to perform the basic functions of his office, yet he can perform the functions of others offices, what is wrong with this picture? and is this what we pay our selectmen for?

Tuesday, December 4

So, it appears Atkinson is NOT unique, unfortunately.

This appeared in the Eagle-Tribune on Monday.


Published: December 03, 2007 12:00 am



Resident seeks restraining order against town officials



By Margo Sullivan , Staff writer

Eagle-Tribune





PELHAM - A Pelham woman has asked for a restraining order against the town's code enforcement officer and the planning director.



Paula Jarek of 378 Mammoth Road filed papers Thursday in Nashua Superior Court, saying she needed relief from "overly aggressive practices" which caused hardship for her family.



"I am in fear of my safety and the safety of my family," she wrote, saying Thomas Wakefield, the code enforcement officer, has "abused his authority as a town official to photograph my home and belongings/persons on countless occasions."



She also said that Wakefield is behind a state audit of the family business and an IRS audit, and tried to have her in-laws evicted from the in-law apartment on their property.



Wakefield could not be reached for comment on Friday.



The judge denied Jarek's petition for an immediate restraining order against Wakefield, but directed the clerk to set a date for a hearing, which will be held on Dec. 12.



Wakefield is the only named defendant, but Jarek also indicated that she wants a second restraining order against Jeff Gowan, the town's planning director. Jarek said Gowan is Wakefield's boss and likely not only knows about Wakefield's actions, but also might have encouraged him.



Gowan did not want to comment on the restraining order on Friday. He said Jarek and her husband, Nick, have complained to selectmen, and they have launched an investigation.



"The public has a right to their opinions and to pursue protections," Gowan said.



Jarek said the problems with Wakefield started 18 to 19 months ago when he cited her husband for selling cars from the family home. The couple was in violation of the zoning laws because their home is in a residential area, but they cooperated and stopped selling cars, she said. But she said Wakefield has not stopped checking their property and taking photographs.



"I feel I am being stalked," she wrote in the court papers. "I wholeheartedly believe Tom Wakefield has and will continue to intimidate me and harass my family."


The spectacle of a resident feeling persecuted by a town official is an all too familiar feeling here in Atkinson, Just ask, Mrs. Grant, or Mr. Acciard, or Mr. Kaye, or too many others to list here. Government is supposed to be responsive to the needs of it's constituents, not a vehicle boost the power hungry ego's of it's elected elite. However, it is somewhat comforting to know that Atkinson is not the only community in southern NH, where residents have to go to court to get their officials to do the right thing.

Sunday, December 2

What has happened to Christmas, and to my Country?

MAcciard said

Publius, please accept this as an article submission

What has happened to Christmas, and to my Country?

I was listenning to the news on Friday, and heard this story on the Surgeon General of the United States, at Children's Hospital in Boston, staing that Santa, needed to slim down, as he was not a good role model for children, because he is fat!

What the Hell is going on?


THis story was followed by the new rules being taught to dept. store santas, at Santa University;
No scooping up kids and putting them in your lap.
Keep your hands in sight at all times
No initating of conversation with kids
NO WISHING MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!
Only Happy holidays, or seasons greetings.

This country was founded upon the principle of the greatest good for the greatest number. Since when do the angry, irate, few get to dictate to the many? Happy Holidays???? So what holiday would you go to see Santa in celebration of? Chinese New Year? No, it is ridiculous to sweep christmas under the rug to satisfy the whims of the politically correct few! Their desires be damned! The majority of people in this country celebrate christmas, and the beauty of this country is, that if you don't wish to celebrate it, you don't have to! But you do not get to force that desire on those who DO wish to celebrate Christmas!

I am sick and tired of seeing the screaming children of political correctness forcing the rest of us to bow and scrape to their desires, while refusing to acknowledge that civil society has a few demands to place upon them as well., After all, Fair is fair!

If two men wish to go out with each other, that is their right, and It doesn't affect me, so I dont care what they do, but when the activists stand up and tell me how I HAVE to think about it, THAT IS WRONG!

If someone wishes to use abortion as a method of birth control, because they are too lazy or too stupid to keep their legs closed, or use a condom, that is their choice, but dont tell me that I have to ACCEPT that, and can not think that it is morally wrong.

If I choose to think that the job of a school is to educate! Not to assess my child feelings, how his home life is, whether or not his parents fight, drink, spank, or keep guns in the house, THAT IS MY RIGHT!

These very simpletons who preach tolerence are the most intolerant people on the face of the Earth! Do not be so quick to rob someone else of their right to Freedom of Speech, lest you find the day when someone robs you of yours!

If I wish to celebrate Christmas that is my right, and who are you to tell me that I can't wish you a merry christmas, because it offends you, how about you take the wish in the vein in which it is offerred and simply say thank you.

Thank you for putting up with my rant, and Merry Christmas!

or to the politically correct crowd... Happy Christmahanakwanzica! After all dont want to leave anyone out.

Monday, November 26

Atkinson Selectmen, Stand up and take notice...

This was in the Eagle-Tribune on Nov. 22, 2007.

Maybe our selectmen could take a lesson from Hampstead's selectmen! Oh to have selectmen who ACTUALLY care about their constituents problems making ends meet, all ours seem able to do is spend, SPEND, SPEND!

Published: November 22, 2007 12:00 am

Selectmen order staffers to trim proposed budget
By Penny Williams , Staff writer
Eagle-Tribune

HAMPSTEAD -
Selectmen were unhappy with the 7.54 percent increase in the town's draft budget and voted unanimously to require department heads to prepare a new, bare-bones budget.

The first draft budget came to $5.1 million, an increase of $354,111 - 7.5 percent - over the 2007 operating budget.

However, there are two caveats. First, the operating budget for 2007 was the default budget, which was more than $200,000 lower than the proposed budget of $4.9 million that voters rejected. Second, 2008 is the year in which there is an extra pay period, something that happens once every 13 years, Selectman Priscilla Lindquist said. The extra pay period amounts to almost $100,000 in salary and benefits.

Selectmen directed department heads to come back with a budget that's no more than 4 percent higher than last year's proposal. If department heads found they couldn't do that, they should come prepared to defend their numbers, Selectman Jim Stewart said.

Selectmen will review the new budget proposal Dec. 4, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Lindquist said the budget, as presented, does not include any cost-of-living adjustment for employees, with the exception of library workers. The library budget did include a 2.3 percent cost-of-living adjustment in the salaries. However, its overall budget showed only a 4.55 percent increase and that was attributable to the retirement of library director Judi Crowley, who had sick and vacation days to cash in.

The biggest budget increase presented that didn't result from a state mandate or legislative change was the highway budget, up more than 22 percent. The cost of salt has risen dramatically and unapproved salary increases for certain positions were included. But the back breaker for the highway budget is the $90,000 cost of the Marilyn Park Drive culvert replacement, which was eliminated last year due to the default budget.

Lindquist complained that the proposed budget is a bigger increase than the school side, and is simply unacceptable.

"We are risking voters handing us another default budget to deal with," she said.

Board Chairman Rick Hartung asked where the figures were for the default budget and was told it is still incomplete, but would probably be finalized by the Dec. 4 budget review date. The default budget isn't required to be available until January, but the board will presumably begin working on it at its next meeting, Monday, Nov. 26.

Now, in the above article, did anyone notice the following facts;

1.) Hampstead's budget is only 17% larger than Atkinson's while the town is 40% larger in terms of roads, business, and the size of it's police dept.

2.) The voters turned down the budget this year, and forced the town to accept the default budget.

3.) THE SELECTMEN requested the lower spending!!! That would NEVER happen in Atkinson!!

So our advice to the selectmen, is to forget about what your friends want. Forget about what YOU want. Forget about trying to please everyone, and feeling hurt when people are pissed at you, because all you are succeeding in doing is pissing off EVERYONE!

Just do the job we elected you to do! Just DO THE RIGHT THING! and continue to do it even when no one is looking. Then maybe you will find the definition of character.

Even the Eagle-Tribune ackowledges the problems with our selectmen!

Welcome to another contributor under the Publius byline

MAcciard said:

Publius, please accept this as an article submission.

Even the Eagle-Tribune ackowledges the problems with our selectmen!

This editorial appeared in the Eagle-Tribune today, November 26, 2007.

Published: November 26, 2007 12:00 am

Our view: Vietnam honor roll finally in place

Eagle-Tribune


We're pleased that the 73 veterans of the war in Vietnam from Atkinson, N.H., finally have their names listed on an honor roll outside Town Hall. It's a shame that so dignified a memorial to their service was such a contentious issue in town.

Atkinson voters first expressed their desire to honor the veterans at the 2005 Town Meeting. They voted to place two panels of veterans' names beside the Vietnam memorial already in place in front of Town Hall. But selectmen later decided not to place the panels, arguing that some residents wanted the existing memorial to remain unaltered.
Their decision prompted a long and bitter battle with Carol Grant, the chief proponent of the honor roll. The matter ended up in Superior Court before voters settled the dispute once and for all with a second vote in favor of the list of names at a Special Town Meeting in September.

The whole dispute could have been avoided had selectmen simply listened to the voters in the first place.

Let that dispute, like so many others about that war, be consigned to the past. Let us now simply give the war's veterans the thanks and respect they so richly deserve.

.....................................................................................................

Whoever this author is, Thank you! I couldn't have said it better myself! And a personal thank you to:

Carol Grant, Adele Dillon, Eleanor Zaremba, Evelyn Sawyer, Barbara Colcord, Martha MacDonald, Barbara Bird, and everyone else that I am forgetting to mention, but who hung in there and fought angainst everything the selectmen, and the chief could throw at you, and persevere!

Sunday, November 25

Are they talking about Lyndeborough, or Atkinson

This appeared on Channel 9 news over thanksgiving weekend.

Police Chief Finds Empty Station When Officers Walk Out
Officers Protest Chief's Reinstatement After Firing

POSTED: 5:31 pm EST November 21, 2007


LYNDEBOROUGH, N.H. -- The Lyndeborough Police Department has a staff of one since its chief was reinstated after he was fired and a walkout of the town's other officers who refused to work with him.

Chief James Basinas was put on paid leave in February by the town select board and then fired two months later. He was temporarily reinstated by a judge while legal arguments continued, but he returned to an empty building.

Selectmen said the chief is the one responsible.

"We've had at least one (officer) resign and a number out on leave," Selectman Andy Roeper said. "It's disturbing. We're extremely troubled, leaving the town without coverage."

Roeper said Basinas was placed on leave because of concerns that fellow officers and town officials had about his ability to get the job done.

Basinas was fired in April, and, according to court paperwork, some of the reasons included failure to follow purchasing policies or safe and appropriate booking procedures, not properly maintaining equipment and incorrectly reporting hours.

After months of legal arguments, Basinas was reinstated in October, only to be put on paid leave again for new concerns, including not filing fingerprint cards with the FBI and lack of evidence that substantiated hours worked by an investigator.

A week ago he returned to the office.

"He is here by court order, not by our choice," Roeper said.

Not only have Lyndeborough police officers left, but neighboring Wilton and Milford have pulled their mutual aid.

Basinas said he won't talk about personnel issues, but he said residents have no need to worry.

"The town is protected," he said. "I am on duty as police chief and I have state police as backup, so we are going to provide what's necessary for the town of Lyndeborough. I'll make sure of that."

The town plans to have final hearings on the chief's status starting on Feb. 11.




Notice the paralels, Working too many hours, failing to accurately report hours, failing to accurately manage budget, failing to follow proper purchasing policies, personality issues, etc.

All of these items have been reported repeatedly about our chief here in Atkinson!

I guess it is not JUST Atkinson, with these problems.

Wednesday, November 21

MY FELLOW ATKINSON TAXPAYERS

Publius: New article submission



MY FELLOW ATKINSON TAXPAYERS:

We are pleased to introduce the Atkinson Taxpayers Association, http://www.atkinsontaxpayers.org/

We've been watching property taxes and town budgets skyrocket in recent years and felt we could no longer afford to sit by and allow the "Tax & Spend" policies of our Selectmen to continue. We are particularly concerned about the lack of "Truth in Budgeting", fiscal mismanagement and professional misconduct demonstrated by town officials. Please read the following which are just a FEW examples. You can view all the actual, supporting documents on the Atkinson Taxpayers Association website.

DID YOU KNOW......WE LACK TRUTH IN BUDGETING?

Did you know the 2002-2007 budget summary given to taxpayers does not accurately reflect the true police dept budget of $902,000? It indicates the 2007 Atkinson PD budget cost taxpayers $752,892. NOT TRUE!! A "new" practice began in 2005 where line items like Police Dispatch and PD Insurance were moved off of the "Police Dept" budget which gave taxpayers the appearance the PD budget was not increasing when in fact, it was. This practice was repeated in 2006 & 2007. See the budget summary document at: http://www.atkinsontaxpayers.org/pdf/BudgetFY02-07.pdf

The actual 2007 PD budget of $902,000 represents an increase of
$356,000, or 70% since 2002!! We need Truth in Budgeting to see the
actual costs we pay! Why "move" these increases? Crime statistics
from our own PD do not support an increased workload since 2002 to
require 12 police vehicles and all the supporting staff. See the PD
statistics 2002-2005 at: http://www.atkinsontaxpayers.org/pdf/PDStats2002-Oct2005.pdf

Someone needs to explain to us the need for all these costs which
are SIGNIFICANTLY higher than all surrounding towns.

DID YOU KNOW.....THE ATKINSON COMMUNITY CENTER IS AT RISK?

WHY WOULD ANYONE RISK A TOWN ASSET WITH AN ESTIMATED REPLACEMENT COST OF OVER $1 MILLION!!

Did you know our Selectmen and ZBA put our own Community Center at risk by authorizing a commercial sign on Town Conservation Land where it is located. This violated deed restrictions (a right of re-entry for condition broken) which empowers the SOCIETY FOR PROTECTION OF NH FORESTS to take the property back. Skeptical? I hope you will read the documents at:
http://www.atkinsontaxpayers.org/atkinson/category/ZBA

Atkinson resident Leigh Komornick tried to bring the issue to light at a Selectmen's meeting but was rebuffed by Selectman Jack Sapia for numerous reasons that defy logic, many of which were inaccurate. She was also treated rudely by our Town Administrator, Russ McAllistor during the meeting. The video of the Selectmen's meeting is available at the Library. I hope you are skeptical enough to watch it. Stand by on this matter in coming weeks. Hopefully, we are not too late to lose this valuable town asset.

DID YOU KNOW......OUR LEGAL FEES HAVE TRIPLED?

Did you know our town has been sued so many times it is costing taxpayers a fortune in additional legal fees - and the cost of our town liability insurance increases with every additional
lawsuit. In fact, the retainer we now pay town counsel TRIPLED to
$42,000 because of the additional legal work (it used to be
$14,000). Legal costs (for court time above the retainer)
dramatically increased as well. See some of the court case
documents against our town officials at:
http://www.atkinsontaxpayers.org/atkinson/category/lawsuits
(more documents to be posted in the near future)

DID YOU KNOW.....THE OVERLAY BUDGET IS A MYSTERY TO OUR OWN BUDGET COMMITTEE?

Did you know there is a budget known as the "Overlay Budget" that is not overseen by the Budget Committee? Apparently, the oversight is by the Selectmen who apply a mysterious budgeting process for annual abatements. In 2006, the town UNDERESTIMATED this budget by $51,000. How will this shortfall be paid?? See the Overlay budget info at: http://www.atkinsontaxpayers.org/atkinson/category/spending

DID YOU KNOW....SELECTMEN INCREASED RISKS TO THE TOWN WITH
THE RECENT ASSESSMENT CONTRACT?

Did you know our Selectmen did not require a bond for this work in the
latest round of contracts? They made these contracts less stringent
than past Selectmen. Why should taxpayers be assuming more risk for
such a critical service? See the ASSESSMENTS analysis at: http://www.atkinsontaxpayers.org/pdf/PurvisYearly.pdf

DID YOU KNOW.....PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT IS TOLERATED BY OUR SELECTMEN IN ATKINSON?

Did you know about all of the complaints and lawsuits against Chief Consentino? There is a long and documented history distinct showing a pattern of harassment, intimidation and coercion. But don't take our word for it. Read the Police Labor Union complaints and those from other residents - and don't forget the lawsuits! Indeed, the Peak Vs. Consentino case reads stranger than ficition. The final settlement paid by the town to Wayne Peak was so large it is sealed under a non-disclosure agreement. See the Initial Pleading at: http://www.atkinsontaxpayers.org/pdf/peakvcons_initialC-836-84.pdf

Read the complaints at:
http://www.atkinsontaxpayers.org/atkinson/category/complaints/

Read the news articles (about 50) section at:
http://www.atkinsontaxpayers.org/atkinson/category/news/

Either a large number of people all conspired against this man with very similar allegations....or they are all telling the truth. There is no middle ground, here.

DID YOU KNOW.......OUR SELECTMEN DO NOT HEED THE WILL OF ATKINSON VOTERS?

Did you know the Vietnam Memorial was approved by voters two years ago? Town Counsel issued a written opinion that the warrant article was clearly written, yet it took a second, special town vote to get Selectmen to finally act after two+ years. This cost taxpayers significant legal fees and the cost to conduct a special town vote to finally get the memorial put in place. WHY??

Read Town Counsel opinion at:
http://www.atkinsontaxpayers.org/atkinson/category/vietnam-memorial/

Read why Consentino opposed it as Selectman Chair:
http://www.atkinsontaxpayers.org/pdf/ConsentinoBlocksVietnamHonor08-2005.pdf


We only ask that you, as a fellow taxpayer, read the facts in these publicly available documents and judge for yourselves. Like many of you, we have bills to pay and my property taxes are the highest ever - as are town budgets. We are asking you to join us in our efforts to bring fiscal sanity back to Atkinson. The Tax & Spend policies of our current town government, fiscal mismanagement and tolerance of professional misconduct must end. Please sign up for our newsletter and you may also submit documents to post on the website.

MORE ISSUES WE ARE TRACKING:

We predict the following spending bills will be proposed and recommended by the Selectmen and Budget Committee at the 2008 town meeting.
1) Addition to the town hall
2) Renovations to the police department building
3) New Communications tower

AT WHAT COST? After we just spent $2.7 Million on a new library, this
town owned (library) space needs to be better utilized to avoid an unnecessary addition to the town hall. Police spending must be brought under control before we should consider spending another DIME. Our prediction is the new Communications Tower will be proposed to be built on Hog Hill. At the October, 2007 Selectmen's meeting where the "independent consultant" contract was signed and hired to provide an "objective recommendation" to solve the town's alleged communication gaps, an eye witness saw Chief Consentino tell an associate "It's going up on Hog Hill" (inferring a new communications tower on Hog Hill was a foregone conclusion). So much for the $15K taxpayers just spent on said "independent" consult's impartial and objective opinion. And yes, the witness will testify to this fact.

Other Issues for upcoming newsletters

1) Problems with over assessments and the assessment process
2) Tax Rate shuffle and the General Fund (or is it the Revolving Surplus Fund?)this misleading tax rate number is another reason we need "Truth in Budgeting"
3) Town Liability Insurance cost increases
4) How town official's misconduct is related to fiscal mismagement
5) More on resident complaints and lawsuits
6) More documents and how you can help
7) More to come!

PLEASE, please forward this email to other Atkinson Taxpayers who care about their tax bills and this town. Please join us so that our voices will be heard LOUD and CLEAR from the Atkinson Taxpayers Association.

We thank you for your valuable time.

Sincerely,

Atkinson Taxpayers Association

"....a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right...."

Thomas Paine
Feb. 14, 1776
Author of "Common Sense"
===================================

Please copy and paste this article into an email and send it to all the Atkinson taxpayers you know. Please join our campaign to take back our town.

Monday, November 19

Selectman Sapia sinks to a new low!

We have gotten used to selectman Sapia's evidently insincere "moment of silence for the troops in harm's way" at the beginning of each selectmen's meeting. These seconds of silence would seem more sincere if Mr. Sapia had done them all along, instead of since he became chairman, or if he had not just spent two full years shitting on the very veterans, he professes to stand for.

But, tonight, during the selectmen's meeting, he sunk to a new low. He began by describing what he observed and gleaned from the Vietnam Honor Roll ceremony, held at the town hall on Veterans Day. This blog will give him credit for keeping his mouth shut on that august day, But his self-serving, pompous speech tonight, glomming off the inspiring words of Mr. Page Brown, were BEYOND DISPICABLE!

Mr. Sapia, stated that the speech he gave at the veteran's club breakfast, that morning, "mirrored" Page Brown's speech at the ceremony. While his blog finds it hard to believe Mr. Sapia, gave such a stirring speech that morning, it is made even more of a mockery by the fact that HE WAS FIGHTING THE VOTERS OF ATKINSON ON THIS ISSUE FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS!!!

Yes, that's right, Mr. Sapia, IGNORED the wishes of the voters who elected him, to side with his friends. It was this dishonorable practice that forced the town to file warrant articles for a special town meeting in Sept. And even then he was trying to fight having to place the memorials! So to have him try to insert himself into an event that he spent so much of his time trying to prevent, only for his own personal aggrandisment, is DEPLORABLE!

What Mr. Sapia can and will never understand, is that Mr. Page Brown is a much decorated combat veteran. He has a Purple Heart, and a Silver Star, among other medals. When he gives such a strring speech, it is stirring because of the imprimatur, that his character, and actions give it!

For Mr. Sapia, to try and insert himself into the proceedings by mimicing a great, heartfelt speech, by whining; "I gave a speech to, and mine was as good as his", is the desperate, and childish act of a boy who has not gotten enough attention! And all it serves to accomplish is to cheapen and continue the pattern of dihonor, which Mr. Sapia, has made himself famous for in town.

Mr. Sapia, it is time for this childish whining to stop! You need to pick up your marble and go home! Your 15 minutes are up!

Friday, November 16

1st Ammendment Awards, Not for OUR selectmen!

Welcome to another contributor under the Publius byline.

Patricia Goodridge said...

Perhaps the blog author might consider posting at least part of this article from today's Union Leader.

It is about honors given out last night to NH recipients at the First Admendment Awards Dinner in Manchester.

One award was about stopping secret town meetings another about money hidden in a town's budget.

Perhaps next year Atkinson should nominate someone from our town.
--------------------------------
First Amendment Awards: Fighting for freedoms
By SCOTT BROOKS
New Hampshire Union Leader Staff
4 hours, 32 minutes ago



MANCHESTER – The 2002 McCain-Feingold Act that put restrictions on campaign contributions and expenses is the most dangerous threat to the First Amendment in U.S. history, columnist George Will said last night in Manchester.

"I've been in Washington 37 years and I believe the worst law passed in my time in Washington is the McCain-Feingold Act," the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer said.

Will directed a host of gripes at both Congress and the media last night in a keynote address at the First Amendment awards banquet sponsored by the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications. In a half-hour speech, he lamented what he described as an "entitlement culture" in the U.S. and said the public has been ill served by journalists who write to entertain, but not always to inform.

"By detaching public discourse from facts, we are encouraging an entitlement mentality that produces a nation with an absurdly low 'think' threshold and an absurdly high amount of whininess in the public discourse," he said.

The annual dinner at the Center of New Hampshire in downtown Manchester put a spotlight on two Granite Staters who have fought against government secrecy. The night's top honor, the 2007 Nackey S. Loeb First Amendment Award, went to Dover City Councilor and former state Rep. David Scott, who took his city to court in an effort to unseal employee financial records.

Scott sued the city of Dover in 2004. A judge ruled in his favor, which led to the revelation, he said, that seven city employees were earning more than $100,000.


Columnist George Will speaks as New Hampshire Union Leader President and Publisher Joseph W. McQuaid looks on last night at the Nackey S. Loeb First Amendment Award dinner in Manchester. (DAVID LANE)
"I've heard people say you can't fight City Hall. I disagree," Scott, 78, said. "You can fight city hall and win."

Also last night, Littleton resident Sharon Craigie was named an honoree for challenging town selectmen who held a meeting they later conceded had not been properly posted.

"I believe you need to be open and up front with everybody," said Craigie, 62. "If you're open with the people and tell them what's going on, they won't think you're trying to hide something."

Craigie has taken an active role in Littleton politics since the selectmen's meeting in August. Her husband, former Littleton selectman Donald Craigie, proudly calls her a "pushy broad."

"Instead of yelling at me, she's doing something that accomplishes something," he said. His wife laughed at the joke.

Attorney Gregory Sullivan received a special First Amendment award in recognition for his work at the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications.

In an interview before the dinner, Will said he believes former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will make history by becoming the first Republican to win both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. Romney has been leading the polls in both states, though former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is far ahead in most national polls.

Will said Giuliani is spending enough money in New Hampshire to be taken seriously here, but he suspects the former mayor could "very easily" go 0-4 in nominating contests before voters in Florida have their say.

"That's what Mr. Giuliani is counting on, is a cascade effect that will simply overwhelm the earlier primaries," Will said.

In an odd twist, he said, Romney could still get a boost if Democratic Sen. Barack Obama pulls out a win in Iowa. Media coverage of an Obama victory would likely eclipse the Republican race, he said, and would prompt the lion's share of New Hampshire independents to cast their ballots in the Democratic primary.

That, Will said, would injure both Giuliani and Sen. John McCain.

The race for New Hampshire's Democratic delegates is not sewn up, Will said, despite polls that show Sen. Hillary Clinton, of New York, with a wide lead over both Obama and former Sen. John Edwards. He said many voters in New Hampshire are suspicious of Clinton's cautiousness as a candidate and her hesitation to take a firm stance on whether driver's licenses should be offered to illegal immigrants.

"She's incautiously cautious," he said. "It's costing her."

Tuesday, November 13

Have the Selectmen put the Community Center in Jeopardy?

Ok, by now most of us know the story. When the town bought the property the community center sits on, with the building itself, it was sold to the town for a song, but with "conservation deed restrictions". These restrictions prohibit, any building, or sign erection for any commercial purposes WHATSOEVER!

These restrictions are owned by the Forestry Society. And organization whose SOLE PURPOSE is the preservation of land in its natural state. This is an organization of over 10,000 members, with a multi-million dollar budget.

The Forestry Society warned the selectmen in two letters earlier in the year, about the deed restrictions. The selectmen, under the guidance of our Town Administrator, Russ McAllister, and Chairman, Jack Sapia, decided to ignore these restrictions to give Mr. Pappalardo permission to put a sign for his business on town property, violating these restrictions. But it gets better, They not only gave Mr. Pappalardo permission to put his sign there, when he went to the ZBA for his variance, the selectmen WENT TO THE ZBA, AS THE PROPERTY OWNERS, TO LOBBY ON BEHALF OF MR. PAPPALARDO!!! That's right, the selectmen you elected to represent YOU, the taxpayer, went before a town board to represent a resident against the town!!!
But wait, you haven't heard the best part....

When confronted, on camera, by Ms. Komornick, in a selectmen's meeting, Sapia claimed that Mr. Pappalardo, had had a pre-existing sign on that site for 25 years.

This was untrue! Call it a lie, call it what you want, but the DOT plot during the land taking from Mr. Pappalardo show that prior sign WAS IN PLAISTOW!!! Both Russ and Jack claimed that the prior sign was there, and they were just allowing him to put it back, this was untrue! The prior sign was in Plaistow!!! There never was a sign in Atkinson!

And better yet, when Mr. Sapia was asked by the Forestry Society when the board of selectmen gave Mr. Pappalardo permission to put his sign up, Jack told Mrs. Callahan that it was done in a posted meeting. This too was untrue! A review of all selectmen's meeting minutes for the year, show no discussion, or vote to give that permission.

Now the Forestry Society, if they so choose, have the right to take back the Community Center, and either place further restrictions on the property, or do what they wish, and why?????

BECAUSE OUR SELECTMEN, NAMELY, MR. SAPIA, CHOSE TO DO SOMETHING HE HAD NO RIGHT TO DO, ONCE AGAIN!

So it looks like at the least, we will be back in court again, more legal fees, and for what, to violate deed restrictions after being warned about thier existence.

A Note to Mr. Sapia;

YOU ARE NOT KING JACK!

YOU MUST FOLLOW THE LAW, AND ACT IN OUR BEST INTERESTS! Even if, ESPECIALLY IF, our interests diverge from your own.

It is time for a change!

Monday, November 12

What an event today!

For those of you who couldn't make it to the unveiling of the Vietnam Honor Roll panels in front of the town hall today, it was a very moving ceremony. The town owes a debt of gratitude to;
Carol Grant
Barbara Bird
Barbara Colcord
Adele Dillon
Martha MacDonald
Evelyn Sawyer
Eleanor Zaremba

Ladies, it has taken ovet two long years. You have sufferred the indignity of having to sue the town youe have lived in and served for many years, you have had to suffer through the endless defamation, and recriminations from the board of selectmen and the police chief, but finally, through all of those trials and tribulations, you have maintained your dignity, and class. You have taken everything our corrupt town leadership could throw at you, and you have prevailed!

Today was an awesome culmination of almost three years of struggle, and the entire(well almost the entire) Town's hats are off to you. The speeches were incredible. Page Brown was moving, and touched the hearts of all who attended.

Ladies take a bow! Your efforts have been rewarded. And the Atkinson Reporter would like to be the first to publicly say, THANK YOU!

Sunday, November 11

Please remember, 11th Hour, 11th Day of the 11th Month

Please take one moment to remember and be reminded. Thank You

Friday, November 9

What is Veteran's Day?

MAcciard said:

Publius, please accept this as an article submission, Thank you

What is Veteran's Day?

I have a friend who lives in Sarasota, Fl., She is a USAF Veteran. Her Husband is a USAF Veteran, and they come from an entire family of Veterans. Her daughter, who is in the 4th grade in public school, is in a class that is having a pagent to celebrate CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS!!!

I am fully aware that there are always pacifists in society, and I dont begrudge them their point of view. That is one of the things I wore the uniform to protect, but for a SCHOOLTEACHER to celebrate CO's on VETERANS DAY, makes a mockery of the day's intent.

Veteran's day, is supposed to be a day, in which we recognize the contributions of, and give a moment's thanks for, the integrity, and the bravery of our uniformed soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. This is a day, especially in this time when we are fighting a war, and make no mistake about it, we ARE fighting a war, and we have men and women in harms way, when we say a silent thank you, to those who volunteer to make a sacrifice so that the rest of us don't have to.

Our veterans who are serving now, as well as those who have gone before us, have and had a sense of duty, of purpose, and will have a sense of accomplishment that few outside of thie fraternity will know. These men and women know the greatness, the moral rectitutde, the generosity, and the strength of this, the greatest and most noble of Countries.

When they hear the academicians, the actors, the media, and unfortunately, yes, the spineless politicians, claim that America is flawed, that we are the problem in the world, that we need to do more, they know the truth.....

And that is that there is no other country on earth, that gives more of it's blood and treasure, for the freedom, and liberty of others,

That there is no other country on earth that rushes to the aid of another, even it's enemies, before the United States of America,

That there is no other country on earth that liberates without subjugating, or conquering, it's enemies,

That there is not now, nor has there ever been a Country more deserving of praise and gratitude than the United States of America, nor will there be.

That most of the countries on earth that currently spit on our men and women, owe their very lives and liberty to the United States of America,

These men and women know that our Flag is much more than something you stand and face before a football game, that it is the enduring symbol of freedom, strength, morality, and liberty in the world today, and that America is, in the words of President Ronald Reagan, truly "the shining city upon the hill" to the poor and huddles masses all over the world.

To all those who are serving this great land this Veterans day, I wish to say, from the bottom of my Heart, Thank you. And to my son, who is a United States Marine; ooh rah! Semper Fi!

Thursday, November 8

Monday, November 5

Where do the selectmen get off docking the pay of an elected official?

Our Town Clerk, Linda Jette, was in to see the selectmen, tonight, and revealed that they have been docking her pay.

Selectman Sapia, in his effort to appear impartial, asked her to "run this by " the Town Administrator, but, as anyone who knows the people in the town hall, knows, Russ barely talks civilly to most of the town hall employees, and can not speak civilly to anyone in the town clerks office. And furthermore, THE TOWN CLERK IS AN ELECTED OFFICIAL, AND DOES NOT REPORT TO THE TOWN ADMINSITRATOR!!!

And the Selectmen do not have the authority to dock her pay! The town clerk is not an employee, she is an elected official. She runs her dept., the selectmen have the authority to hire, and fire her employees, but THAT IS IT! They have no authority to set or modify operations within the town clerks office, nor do they have the constitutional authority to dock her pay!

Linda has been town clerk for 30 years! She has forgotten more about the town hall, than the selectmen will ever know. She is deserving of some respect. The fact is she was run ragged this summer because she was drastically short-handed. And the reason, she was short-handed....

Because the selectmen waited allmost 11 months to hire a replacement for Barbara. They know this, they also know that Linda did not have tthe time to take her comp. time, the following week. She hasn't had the time until recently.

Tell, me, 4 weeks ago, when Jack missed a selcetmen's meeting, was his pay docked?

This is Russ McAllister being a control freak! He nedds to pay attention to his own duties!

Sunday, November 4

Whoa Pardner, There's a new Website in Town...

For those of you doubting Thomases who have been questioning the veracity of the articles published on this site, you now have verification...

There is a new website, in town, atkinsontaxpayers.org

There is a link on the Atkinson Reporter home page on the right.

For those of you that have asked for the ACTUAL documentation, relating to the articles printed here. These public documents are published as PDA files on Atkinsontaxpayers.org

That site does not provide commentary, please feel free to post any commentary to the documents you see ther eon this blog, but all the documents the selectmen and the police chief do not want you to see are there, or will be there.

All the lawsuits!

All the newspaper articles!

All the citizen complaints!

All the selectmen responses!

All public documents are accepted!

You can read the documents and judge for yourself, not longer will you have to take the word of an anonymous blogger, and best yet.....

You will once, and for all, be able to independently verify which public officials have told you the truth, and which ones have LIED!

CHECK IT OUT!!

Friday, November 2

Are the Selectmen attempting to thwart the will of the voters AGAIN?

As reported in the Eagle Tribune today, The selectmen, sent letters to DES, PUC, and the Attorney Generals office, asking if the ordinance was enforcable. The Attorney Generals office replied back that they would not give a legal opinion, but that the matter would probably be settled in court.

This is all true, but what the selectmen once again fail to realize, is that the voters told them to do something, this means they are BOUND BY LAW, to do it UNTIL IT IS CHALLENGED IN COURT, and then THEY ARE BOUND TO VIGOROUSLY DEFEND THE ORDINANCE AGAINST CHALLENGE!

Our selectmen, however, are trying to pre-emp the process by getting a legal opinon up front as to whether or not they have to DO THEIR DUTY!

This is precisely why 74% of voters passed the Vietnam Memorial article, and 69% of voters passed the water ordinance!

WE DON'T TRUST OUR SELECTMEN TO DO THEIR DUTY!

Here is a short list of their MALFEASANCE, in recent years.

1.) Water Ordinance- Selectmen to AG; Do we really have to do this?

2.) Sign on Conservation land around Community Center- We own the land, we can give permission, deed restrictions don't matter.

3.) Vietnam Honor Rolls- Doesn't matter what the people say, our friend don't want them there! "the word area is too vague"-Jack Sapia, Parsing the word out of the phrase "the area between the flagpoles, up to and including the flagpoles themselves"

4.) 7 Complaints about conduct of chief of police- no action taken, no response for 17 months, and even then it is the complainants fault for not hounding them about it.

5.) Create the towns FIRST FT Police Lt. spot.- Town policy, if a position is vacant for more than 180 days it must be readvertised. Funy thing is at the same time they were doing this they were forcing Teddy to readvertise the assist. road agent position because it had been vacant for more than three months. HYPOCRITS!

6.) Refusal to allow town residents to plug their own scanners into the electrical sockets in town hall, to scan public documents, tells residents to bring their own generator.

SELECTMEN, Hear this, your are not kings, nor dictators, you are ELECTED REPRESETATIVES OF THE PEOPLE!

START ACTING LIKE IT OR WE WILL KICK YOU OUT AT THE NEXT ELECTION!

Thursday, November 1

Posted from the Plaistow Town Crier

This Plaistow blog has been very supportive of us throughout our first year, and we respectfully check out their site daily. Here is a post from the Plaistow Town Crier, that is very relevant to us, here at the Atkinson Reporter.

You can find a link to the Town Crier on the right side of the page.

"A Word Of Truth" The latest from atkinson-reporter.blogspot.com

I'm not a resident of Atkinson. I just have friends over there. And I would never post a message on their board directly as it would not be appropriate. However, I am a little concerned over their new-found civility. It sounds like a gesture to the politically squeamish. I myself wouldn't bother. But, maybe it make a little sense. Elections will be coming up fast and there's nothing more useless and tragic than a turned-off former voter.

All the neighboring towns are watching you folks with keen interest. We have elected and appointed officials in our towns too and we're all comparing notes. Do our Selectmen resemble this patriarchial and paternalistic tribe that's running your town? Do our Chiefs of Police confront residents on their own private property, at board meetings and on the streets, then harrass these same residents while they're trying to run their daily lives?

From here it looks like town officials and the blog have been drawn to a precipice and after looking over the edge, the blog drew back and blinked. I hope this isn't the case for some of you have now lost a major mouthpiece. I've been following the blog from its inception and I haven't seen even one comment that's been a turn-off for me. You've got it all wrong. It's the town officials that need to blink, again and again and again. Keep the pressure on. If they won't publish your comments over on the blogspot, bring 'em over here to "The Crier". We enjoy comments from all the area voters, even the "childish" and "immature" ones. Or not. Don't abandon the fight now, take heart. After a few recent hard-fought victories, maybe the folks running the blogspot just needed a breather and they'll loosen up a little as the 2008 town elections get closer.


Thank you, Mr. Herrick, We can not reveal our identities for obvious reasons. You have seen what our police chief does to people openly critical of him, such as, Mr. Acciard, Mrs. Grant, Mr. Kaye, and many others.

For your information and that of your readers, we have not blinked. We do however wish to have a growing voice, as the election season nears, and we Do wish this to be a place where people can learn that which they will not see at selectmen's meetings. And therefore we wish to keep to the moral high ground, if you will, and leave the open slander, to our selectmen, after all, they are really good at it!

Wednesday, October 31

A Word of Truth

We recognize a problem and it is us. The level of discourse has deteriorated to an un-acceptable level. The Anonymous comment we print below clearly expresses the problem and concerns, which we share. Thank you to the Anonymous poster. Satire and humor is effective communications but “nasty” comment is neither funny nor informative. Please, all, raise the level of your comments and think before you post.

"Anonymous said...
There are serious issues of the negligent and abusive use of power in this town, that's clear. No doubt, in not doing their job, the various "leaders" of this community have ticked off a lot of people, and I'm glad this blog is here to get the information out.But I have to be honest about the tone of many of the posts here; they're very immature. The aim of this board, to get this info out and remedy the abuses of power we all witness, is seriously hurt by the juvenile and vindictive nature of the majority of the posts here. It's too bad, because what's going to happen is that the people in the middle are going to be TOTALLLY TURNED OFF by the immature 4th grade tone of many of the posts here, and it's going to take much longer to get things done because of this. Important changes in government come when a critical mass of the public becomes energized around an issue and acts. That's less likely to happen because of the poor quality of posting around here.I still support the mission (which is why I'm posting this), but let's grow up people; we're not much better than the other side when we act like uneducated brats..."


Sunday, October 28

UP-HOLDING THE WATER WITHDRAWAL CONTROL ORDINANCE

Selectman, Sapia is once again, representing outside private commercial interests instead of the people of Atkinson.

After the townspeople overwhelmingly passed the Groundwater Withdrawal Control Ordinance by a 67% margin at Special Town Meeting, the Selectmen immediately had a legal responsibility to enforce it as representative of the legally voted mandate of a Town Meeting. That ordinance is in effect until and unless a N.H. court rules otherwise.

Instead, what did our Selectmen do right after the Ordinance passed? They tried to find a way to get out of having to enforce the Ordinance. On behalf of and representing the profit-minded private water company INSTEAD of the people of Atkinson, the Selectmen immediately and outrageously sent letters to the N.H. Dept. of Environmental Services, the Attorney General, and the N.H. Public Utilities Commission, asking each agency to hopefully intervene and say that they didn’t have to enforce the Ordinance.

Those agencies do NOT speak for the courts, nor have any authority to intervene or make legal rulings, but our selectmen still tried and continue to try to improperly use those agencies to get out of their enforcement responsibilities.

Our Town Counsel also does not speak for the judges in the N.H. Court system and
has no standing to attempt to do so. His personal opinion (never given) like that of the selectmen, doesn’t matter a damn. This is a democracy and the voted wishes of the people stand until over-ruled by the courts. Town Counsel, like the Selectmen, is required to defend the Town against any legal actions bought against it.

Also, the Selectmen and Town Counsel are NOT supposed to be representing a private commercial interest AGAINST THE TOWNSPEOPLE. The selectmen and Town Counsel have forgotten who pays their salaries

It is time for all residents to take charge again. We went through this in the 70’s. Selectmen and Planning Board and ZBA appointees who (pandered to, catered to, represented) special interests were not re-elected or re-appointed and were replaced by those who put the best interests of the townspeople first. Sapia and his cohorts were not in Atkinson during those times and have no idea what they are doing, or the severe impact their arbitrary and capricious actions are having or will most certainly cause Atkinson to suffer.

We must protect ours and our children’s health, access to clean and plentiful water, our qualities of life and our property values.

Thursday, October 25

Selectmen Malfeasance? The story develops!

We all saw the Selectmen's dismal performance with Mrs. Komornick on Monday night; But a little research combined with a couple of phone calls, and FINALLY the release of the minutes from the 10/10/2007 ZBA meeting, only 8 days late according to State Law! Wonder what the ZBA chair, Mr. Polito was trying to hide?, Have revealed this whole sordid affair, which places Atkinson's beloved community center in jeopardy.

What Mr. Sapia, in all of his smug condescension, Monday night failed to reveal, is that the board is in possession of two letters from the Society for the Preservation of NH forests, advising them of the deed restrictions on this property, and that the Town could not violate them.

What he also didn't reveal is that someone(a selectmen, perhaps)apparently told Conservation Chairman, Tim Dziechowski, that he "better not attend" that ZBA meeting. Why Not?

Jack also failed to reveal that a representative from SPNHF was there and Chairman Polito, refused to consider the fact of the deed restrictions. WHY?

The rub is that when the town purchased the community center property from the SPNHF it came with deed restrictions prohibiting any building or commercialism, on the property! Now I know Jack said it is a commercial zone, but he conveniently forgot to mention to all of us at home that the community center land is conservation land, which prohibits signage, AND HE KNEW IT!!!

He seemd afraid that Mr. Pappalardo would sue the town and win, but doesn't care that the OWNERS OF THE DEED RESTRICTIONS, THE SPNHF, are a state-wide organization with over 10,000 members, and an annual budget of multi-millions, and they exist for the SOLE PURPOSE of protecting NH land and forests! They cannot let this slide because it would set a precedent that would challenge their restrictions on every other piece of land under their control, and they control over 100,000 acres of land in NH! But this is the organization Jack feels will just go away! This lack of honor, integrity, of just basic logic, boggles the mind!

So to recap;
The selectmen violated RSA 91-A:2 by not posting notice of their meeting with the ZBA.,
they violated it again, by not posting the meeting where they decided to go to the ZBA, on Mr. Pappalardo's behalf.
They probably violated the town's code of ethics ordinance by representing a private interest before a town body.

And The Chairman of the ZBA, Frank Polito, yes the very same town moderator that failed miserably in his attempt to sue the town two years ago, stated at the meeting that he spoke with Town Counsel, Kalman, who advised the ZBA to deal with the zoning issue, and forget about the lawsuit, that will inevitably result from this negligence!

This is the type of faulty legal advice that has led this incredibly inept, and unknowledgable board of selectmen into court, ALMOST CONSTANTLY SINCE JACK WAS ELECTED SELECTMAN!

Anyone else see this connection?

And here's the best part.....

IT STATES RIGHT ONT THE DEED THAT THE SPNHF RETAINS THE RIGHT OF RECISSION IN EVENT OF VIOLATION OF THE DEED RESTRICTIONS!!!

This means that Ms. Komornick was right!!!

The SPNHF HAS THE RIGHT TO TAKE BACK OWNERSHIP OF THE COMMUNITY CENTER BECAUSE OF JACK SAPIA'S AND HIS BOARD OF SELECTMEN'S INEPTITUDE!!!

Tuesday, October 23

Selectmen Can't seem to act right! What is Sapia trying tohide?

Last nights meeting was interesting. Leigh Komornick came in to ask the selectmen about their procedures for allowing Mr. Pappalardo to place a NEW SIGN for his business on town CONSERVATION LAND!

Ms. Komornick had the covenants, had the original agreements, and had the letters from the Forestry Commission warning the selectmen about violating covenants.

Here is the story, that Sapia, Childs, and Sullivan evidently don't want you to hear;

DOT bought land adjacent to the roadway, when they were building the new bridge. They tore down Mr. Pappalardo's sign for 1 Main st. Now that the project is done, he wants to put a new sign up. Sapia calls it a pre-existing sign, which just shows that he can not read the towns sign ordinances. The old sign was much smaller, and was 50' further up the road towards the bridge. And none of that matters, because once it was torn down, in order to place a new sign, the owner must go through the process all over again.

The problem here is that when the community center was purchased, it came with conservation covenants on the land, which prohibit any further development of the land, and ESPECIALLY NO COMMERCIALISM! No SIGNS! Jack evidently sees this as ridiculous as he intimated last night, He said, "that is zoned a commercial district" "That is commercial land" completely ignoring that the community center sits on conservation land under the management of the Forestry Commission.

What happened, is that Jack and his buddies went to the ZBA, and lobbied on behalf of Mr. Pappalardo's sign. Now there are a number of problems with that.

1.) A quorum of selectmen were at a meeting discussing town business, and there was no posted meeting of the selectmen.
2.) At some point prior to that meeting they all decided to go there and speak, and there was no posted meeting for that decision either.
3.) Selectmen can not advocate for a private interest before a town board.


Jack tried to get around these restrictions by saying he was exercising his free speech rights, and he was there as a resident, not a selectmen(looks like Phil has taught him well) This tells us that Jack had to KNOW what he was doing was wrong, and tried to invent a false and flimsy cover story to explain it.

Can you say CORRUPT?

The problem with all of this is that if the covenants are violated, the NH Forestry Commission may have the right to take back ownership of the property, INCLUDING THE COMMUNITY CENTER! Jack says he doesn't believe this will happen, well thank you for that stellar legal opinion, Jack! Who was your legal counsel, Frank Polito? What Jack DID say was that if they didn't do this he was afraid Mr. Pappalardo would sue the town, and that he might win! Strange, Mr. Sapia, wasn't afraid when Mr. Acciard, filed suit and won, 3 times! He wasn't afraid of helping Phil to violate court orders, by letting him transact elderly affairs business out of the public eye.

AND THEN; Mr. McAllister, and Mr. Sapia, agreed that a judge would have to make the right decision!

MORE LEGAL FEES!!!

WHY DOES EVERYTHING WITH THIS BOARD HAVE TO END UP IN COURT?

WHY CAN'T THEY MAKE A DECISION THAT FOLLOWS THE LAW, SO THAT THEY DON'T HAVE TO GO TO COURT?

Then Mr. Acciard came in;

Sapia again went through his act of deciding if he would be allowed to speak! My God, THAT is what this whole thing is about, and Sapia is thinking of FURTHER restricting this guy's speech? How inept can one man be?

So He let Mr. Acciard ask his questions, at least a couple of them, and didn't answer any of them, and then SHUT HIM DOWN AGAIN!

SO WHY COULDN'T THE BOARD TELL WHAT STEPS THEY TOOK TO INVESTIGATE ACCIARD'S COMPLAINT?

I think the whole town would like to know that, because it is obvious that they haven't done anything!

And why couldn't he read the letter he gave them, We would like to know what was in it. Mr. Acciard, maybe you could leave that in the library, so that we, the people, can see what our board of selectmen wish to hide!

It is clear that everything this board does, smells! This needs to be looked at by some state agency, because there is no justice in Atkinson, under the current regime!

Friday, October 19

The Complaint against Chief Consentino

MAcciard said:

Publius, Please accept this as an article submission.

The Complaint against Chief Consentino.

I have heard many of my fellow townspeople who were understandably outraged at the official letter that Chief sent to me, ask exactly what was my complaint to the selectmen about this matter. Well, the complaint itself is a public document, and as such I have asked the Atkinson Reporter to post it here as they did, the letter itself.

The issue here is that I, and everyone else has a Constitutional right to question or criticize my government in just about any manner in which I choose. The government DOES NOT have the right to threaten or take away that right.

The fact that I didn't write the article he is complaining about is immaterial. The issue is that even if every word written here came from me, I HAVE THE RIGHT TO SAY IT! Law Enforcement does not have the right to stop, or curtail that right.

Now as you will see from the actual complaint if the Blog owner will post it, What I filed was not an administrative complaint, but a CRIMINAL COMPLAINT! This means that I am not coming to the selectmen saying "the officer stopped me and he was rude, and I want him punished." I am saying that there is AMPLE PROBABLE CAUSE to believe that the NH CRIMINAL CODE HAS BEEN VIOLATED by Atkinson's chief law enforcement officer!

This should be a big deal, especially to the selectmen! It should be of concern to everyone in town, because if he can do it to me today, and to Brian Kaye, and Carol Grant at will, then he can do it to you, the next time you criticize him.

This is unacceptable, and the selectmen are probably negligent in their duties to supervise and curtail this behavior.

For the last three years I and my family have put up with the indignities of hearing myself slandered in live selectmens meetings, the lies and mischaracterizations broadcast by our selectmen to the entire town. I have read defamatory remarks written about me and published in the town report. I have sufferred the outrage of having my company's main vendor, and customer ask me why I was "under investigation by the Police" after having received a phone call from Chief Consentino, informing him that I was. Now ask yourself; Would YOU be angry if the chief of police called your boss to tell him you were under investigation by the police, when there were no open cases against you? I have had MY Honor and integrity called into question for asking my town officials to obey the law, and getting a court to do so when they refused, and the very people defaming me are the same town officials, that evidently think laws do not apply to them.

I have gone away, moved on, gone back to my life, or whatever other euphemism Jack would like to use, 8 times in the past three years, and they keep coming back to harm myself and my family again, and again. Like cockroaches they will not go away. Well, I will not back down again. Their abusive behavior will stop here!

Wednesday, October 17

Selectmen DO NOTHING! AGAIN! Consentino free to continue Threatening Resident at his leisure!

Publius, Please accept this as an article submission.

Selectmen DO NOTHING! AGAIN! Consentino free to continue Threatening Resident at his leisure!

Ok, we all now know about Chief Consentino's letter threatening me with legal action if I don't stop exercising my 1st Ammendment right of Freedom of Speech.

It really doesn't matter that I didn't write the Article he is whining about, What matters is that I and every one of you, have the ABSOLUTE right to question, or criticize your government in any manner in which you choose.

Look at it this way, President George W. Bush is burned in effigy every single day in every major newspaper in the country. Now just imagine how the public would react if he sent the Secret Service to threaten legal action against each and every one of his critics? He would be compared to Hitler with his Gestapo!

But that very same behavior seems to be ok, when it is committed by Atkinson's Chief of Police!

How would any of you feel, if you saw your selectmen or police chief do something you felt was inappropriate, and when you criticized them for it, they used the town to threaten you with legal action?

How about if you sent a sound off in to the Eagle-Tribune, or a letter to the editor, should you be in court if you spoke the truth, but your bully of a police chief didn't like it, and has the power to abuse his office to threaten you?

This type of behavior has to stop! The selectmen are evidently either unwilling, or lack the testicular fortitude to stop it. As long as he is allowed to continue with this abhorent behavior people in Atkinson will have to live in fear of pissing off the police chief, and that needs to STOP!

Tuesday, October 16

So Ordered !!!!

Publius,
I'm the happiest person in the world today. Please accept and publish this as a separate article.

"SO ORDERED"

I've got in front of me the executed court order from Rockingham Superior Court ordering that the Vietnam Honor Roll panels be placed in front of Town Hall,-- exactly where Atkinson's Town Meeting voters have twice voted them to go.

I couldn't wait for the mail. It was worth a special trip to pick up the court order to see those wonderful words: "So Ordered."!!!

I'm estatic. It's taken over two and a half years of pain, anguish and heartache for the ladies of the Atkinson Vietnam Honor Roll Committee before right finally prevailed. And we owe it all to you wonderful Atkinson voters who came through for those 72 young people who left Atkinson to wear their country's uniform and serve under her flag during a tough period. You wonderful caring voters! You 74 % of the voters!
On behalf of the Honor Roll Committee, I'd like to give you our most heart-felt thanks. Also thank you to the donors and co-petitioners!
I'd love to hug you all !!

Carol Grant, Chairwoman
Atkinson Vietnam Honor
Roll Committee

NOTICE OF DECISION

05-E-0676 Carol A. Grant, Chairwoman, et al vs. Town of Atkinson, etal

Please be advised that on 10/10/2007 Judge Lewis made the following order relative to:

Amended Stipulation: Approved.
"So Ordered"

10/15/2007 Raymond Taylor
Clerk of Court

(Actually, the judge signed the
order SIX DAYS AGO !!)

AMENDED STIPULATION

NOW COME, the parties in the above-entitled matter, and having previously entered into a Stipulation, now as a result of a duly petitioned and Special Town meeting held on Wednesday, September 12, 2007, hereby amends said previous stipulation by replacing the terms thereof with the following:
1. In accordance with the September 12, 2007 Town Meeting Warrant Article Vote, the Vietnam Honor Roll panels will be placed directly in front of the Atkinson Town Hall, with one name panel to be positioned on each side of the existing "Vietnam map stone" within 8 feet of the "Vietnam map stone", with each panel positioned outside of and flanking the flagpoles, to be in place prior to Veteran's Day 2007.

Sunday, October 14

Addressing another example of Sapia-Consentino misuse of police power!

Welcome to another contributor under the Publius By-line.

Publius, An article for your blog. Thanks

ADDRESSING ANOTHER EXAMPLE of SAPIA-CONSENTINO MIS-USE of POLICE

By Ken Grant

I am telling this story now for 3 reasons. First, the subject is timely and need to be seen in the context of the problems coming to public attention now. Second, my story contains solid examples and reinforcement of Atkinson’s current pressing problems. And last, but not least, several people whose opinion I respect have suggested I do a short article which, in relating the story, certainly reinforces and highlights many of Atkinson’s current problems.

On November 9, 2005, Selectman Sapia and then-Selectman “police chief” Consentino, FOR POLITICAL REASONS, sent uniformed police to remove me from the Town Hall. They then notified and provided a series of defamatory statements to an Eagle Tribune reporter for the obvious intent of harming my reputation.

On that day, WMUR-TV sent their Anchor/Reporter, Kria Sakakeeny, accompanied by a news cameraman to Atkinson to conduct interviews concerning the Vietnam Honor Roll. The primary interview was to be of the ladies of the Atkinson Vietnam Honor Roll Committee in front of the map-stone.

During those interviews, the reporter stated that she also wished to view and photograph the two Vietnam Honor Roll panels. She was given directions to the storage place but said that she was unfamiliar with the area and could someone show her the way. I was volunteered for the job. I remained at Town Hall solely because I had the responsibility of guiding the news crew to the panels’ location upon completion of their interviews in town.

A second interview of one of Sapia’s anti-panels group, was to take place inside the main meeting room in Town Hall after the interview of the ladies, so I was asked to hang around until after that second interview was completed.

There is no LESS private place on this earth than in an open public government meeting room with a group of people in front of a Television camera while being interviewed by a reporter with a microphone in her hand.

I have personally observed or participated in numerous similar interviews. The behind-the-camera observing audience is often large. But, in Atkinson my quiet and non-intrusive arrival some how provoked the ire of the interviewee, a Sapia ally. He immediately singled me out and demanded “Get him out of here”, referring to me. Sapia and McAllister, amongst others, were also watching the interview, but only I was singled out to leave. I IMMEDIATELY left and returned to the atrium of Town Hall after having been present at this second interview FOR NO MORE THAN 10 – 15 SECONDS. After all, if anything newsworthy was forthcoming it would be available on the evening news.

Within a few minutes a uniform officer arrived, immediately asked me “what is the problem” . The officer thereafter stuck to me like glue even when Sapia came outside to the front sidewalk to taunt me. The officer did or said nothing as I recall. While I waited in the center atrium area, Consentino entered and did a kabuki dance around me as I ignored him and did not acknowledge his presence.

Lt. Baldwin also arrived. To my recollection, I had NEVER met him before. As I recall, we met at the Town Clerk’s counter. I asked him what was going on and why were they all there? I had no idea at that time that they were there in response to a Sapia/Consentino call. Baldwin just gave me a telling smirk and would not give me the basic courtesy of an answer. I have seen him react similarly on another occasion. Why? When a person reacts like that they are either part of the problem or don’t care. He left a bad first impression.

By piecing together the police report with comments by McAllister, Sapia and Consentino in the next day’s Eagle Tribune article, I learned that Sapia had, as usual, totally over-reacted in using police against residents for political reasons, by directing Town Administrator McAllister to call the police against this resident. McAllister then EXAGGERATED and HYPED IT UP by falsely reporting that my presence was “intimidating behavior” and that I “tried to insert(myself) “during an interview
in a forceful manner.” Since when is a resident JUST STANDING THERE WATCHING AN INTERVIEW in a public area “trying in insert” himself or acting “in a forceful manner.”?

McAllister’s call to the police must have been to Consentino because it was Consentino who made the request dispatching an officer to Town Hall. The arriving police officer’s report states that he was told over the radio by Consentino “that there was a potentially volatile situation festering at Town Hall.” Consentino added his own hyping-up of the situation by characterizing a nothing situation as a “potentially volatile situation.” The total over-reactions by Sapia, McAllister, and Consentino in their mis-use of the police against a resident was documented by the police officer’s official report which states that “there were NO incidents of violence or any other type of disorderly outbursts. The interviews took place and NO POLICE INTERVENTION WAS NEEDED.”

The problem: We have Selectmen, two of which were installed in the office by the campaigning efforts of, the “Chief of police”, Director of Elderly Affairs, then Selectman Consentino. As the saying goes, “You dance with the one who brung you”. Call it what you will but “they” work tirelessly administrating (politically) on each others behalf. That is just wrong.

The problem: The people we now employ are not qualified to meet our needs or expectations.

The problem: Going beyond the debate on certification, appointment, and “grand-fathering” claims to office, Atkinson has not had a qualified chief of police for years. The current standards, requirements and expectations for that office are fundamentally different and more advanced than they were 30 years ago. We, Atkinson, need a temperamentally qualified, educationally qualified, physically qualified, administratively qualified person leading our police department under the guidance of the community and NOT a continuation of an arcane system of empire building. We expect the Selectmen, who hold that responsibility, to do what is necessary and proper. This is a very important governmental defect needing solution now.

The problem: We, the voters, decided to allow a “Town Administrator” to be hired with the understanding that this would “save us money” locating resources, application for grants and bringing good administrative techniques and advice. I do not believe these expectations are being met. Yes, we were spoiled by previous T.A. Vic Richards when he set us on a good track. But, we have lost that direction with our current administrator.


Finally, I do not want to leave without solutions. Let’s look at solutions. The solution is definitely NOT to “DO NOTHING”. The solution lies in separation of the offender or incompetent from a continuing opportunity to perform offensively or incompetently . The list of satisfactory options can be wide. As examples:

A. Lateral Transfer – be creative and develop a position.
B. Early Retirement - the golden parachute.
C. Resignation.
D. Re-designate the position.
F. Appoint a replacement.
G. Suspension.
H. Termination for cause.
I. Etc.(Do Nothing, Which would be the Norm.)

Sunday, October 7

What is "Malfeasance", and how much of it is there in Atkinson's Government?

Here is the definition from Black Law Dictionary:

malfeasance
n. intentionally doing something either legally or morally wrong which one had no right to do. It always involves dishonesty, illegality or knowingly exceeding authority for improper reasons.


Now, how many instances of malfeasance have we seen in our town government?

1.) Government threatening a private citizen with lawsuit for criticism.

2.) Selectmen violating town ordinance by hiring the town first full time police Lt. without advetising the position.

3.) Selectmen using the police to evict people from the town hall for watching proceedings.

4.) Selectmen using the police to evict persons criticizing them.

5.) Selectmen conducting business in non-public session to circmvent Court Orders.

6.) Selectmen disparaging citizens in the town report.

7.) Selectmen failing in their duty to protect the reputations of any citizen in public selectmens meetings.

8.) Selectmen defaming, and demeaning residents critical of them in live meetings, and broadcasting same to entire town.

9.) Selectmen purchasing a $30,000 vehicle without voting to do so.

10.) Selectmen failing to obey a town vote!

11.) Selectmen refusing to accept complaints form a resident about a town employee.

12.) Selectmen refusing to exercise their duty to investigate and admonish town employee after numerous complaints.


Anyone have any others? Can anyone think of any other instances of malfeasance not lister here? If so feel free to comment.

Wednesday, October 3

What is the true cost of the Elderly Affairs program?

Publius, Please accept this as an article submission

MAcciard said:


Something Chief Consentino said Monday night made me think;

He said that the elderly affairs dept. had given 1100 rides so far this year! 1100 rides! So I checked the town website for the town budget, and here is what I found out;

The Elderly Affairs Dept. budget for 2007 is: $17,821
included in this is:
Payroll: $15,300
FICA: $ 949
Medicare: $ 222
Vehicle insurance: 0
Gas: $ 1,350

Then I found out that the drivers make approx. $12.50/hr.

Now: $15,300 / $12.50 = 1,224 manhours.

This means that the 1,100 trips the chief CLAIMS have been provided this year averaged no more than 1hr. 6min. per trip! This includes the driver picking up the car at the police staion where he presumably clocks in.

Then he drives to the residents house and picks them up.

He has to wait for the elderly person to get ready and get themselves into the car.

Then he drives to wherever. Waits for whatever they are doing and repeats the process in reverse.

ALL IN ONLY ONE HOUR! How is this possible when we hear about the regular trips to Lahey Clinic in Burlington, To Boston, To Parkland in Derry, To Exeter Hospital, etc.

Now lets look at the Gas usage:

$1,350/ $2.65 a gallon= 509 gallons. Police cruisers average AT BEST 15 mpg. 509x 15= 7635miles able to be driven within the budget.

7635 Miles/ 1100 trips = 6.94 miles average trip distance!
Distance from Police Station to the Holy Angels, without going to anyones house: 3 miles! ONE WAY!

This means a round trip DIRECTLY from the police station to Holy Angels and back is 6 miles!

By the way, There have been 195 weekdays between Jan.1 and Sept. 31! This means 1100 rides / 195 weekdays= almost 6 rides per day! EACH AND EVERY DAY!

Once again Phil is hamstrung by his own numbers!

In case you missed it this means SOMETHING DOESN'T ADD UP HERE! Phil always talks about his nuumbers; how many rides he gives, how many elderly are in the town, but here are the numbers!

FIGURES DON'T LIE!

Now Phil likes to tell people that everything about this program is open to public inspection, but that isnt true, HE HAS NEVER GIVEN VERIFIABLE INFORMATION AS TO HOW MANY RESIDENTS USE THE PROGRAM! He guesses for the budget committee. He pulls any old number out for the selectmen. He can not prove any of it.

Now I dont know anyone who wants to cut or eliminate this program, but the taxpayers DESERVE some accountability about how many people use it, and how often!

Tuesday, September 25

A Threatening Letter From Chief Consentino!

MAcciard said:

Publius, please accept this as an article submission.

A Threatening letter from Chief Consentino!

First, let me apologize up front if I offend anyone with my strident tone, but I am Very Angry!

I returned home from work today to find a certified letter from Atkinson's Chief of Police, on official stationary, threatening me with legal action if I keep criticizing his official actions on this blog!

Since Chief obviously reads this blog, and is incensed about what he reads here, I decided to respond here, publicly! So that everyone can imagine how they would feel if they received this threat from our Chief, I will first reprint this exactly as it was written to me. Afterwards I will respond;

"Dear Mr. Acciard, September 22, 2007

This letter is a long time coming. In the past I have put up with your untruths missinturpation of the facts and your blatant efforts to print these unwanted articles in your BLOG. Publius, or what ever cyber space name you are using, I feel it appropriate to place you on notice. If I am told that you are again printing false and misleading articles pertaining to me or any member of my family, I will be forced and compelled to seek legal relief from these slanderous articles in a court of justice.

I am sure by now you are saying what remarks have I made that would upset the Chief. Let me give you a quick trip through your slanderous and untruth statements.

When I spoke to you several weeks ago and advised you that the information you wrote about pertaining to how much I made in a year and the amount that the Chief from Hampstead made, I advised you that you had your facts all wrong. Let's go over that conversation. The Hampstead Police Chief is part-time the same as I am. For his 2007 budget he is projected to make $23,527. You listed my salary as $24,485. I advised you that for 2007 my budget indicated a sum of only $22,585.00. You made this look like I was making more that the Hampsted Chief. You were going to print a retraction, but to my knowledge that never occurred. You also list that Hampstead's Police Department Budget was $734,254.00 and Atkinson's Police budget was $778,128.00 I again advised you that our Police budget was $754,021.00. Again you continue to publish false information.

Your article FUZZY MATH is another example of your tireless action to try to discredit me in your BLOG. Let's start with your picture of a blue Ford cruiser. I have no idea were you got that photo from, but that car is in great shape and looks better than some of our older cruisers. Please look at the REAL 2000 FORD CRUISER that we traded in, I have attached several pictures of this vehicle for you to look over. This car is covered with rust, has over 165,000 miles on it and has been in several accidents. This is the oldest cruiser we had in our fleet, and was only used for police details. The inside was in deplorable condition and we could not get the engine light to turn off so we had to cover it up with a piece of black tape.

Every two years we trade in two old cruisers to Irwin Ford in Laconia. We generally get any were from $500.00 to a $1,000.00 for these old cruisers. This cruiser was going to be sent to the junk yard for it had absolutely no resale value at all. When my son asked me were it was going I advised him that we had already traded it in with Irwin Ford and that he was gracious enough to give us $300.00 as a trade in. I advised him if he wanted this car he would have to deal directly with Irwin Ford, and that he did do. How can you portray to folks and try to make them believe that there was something that did not pass the sniff test pertaining to the trade of this old cruiser?

You keep looking for that smoking gun, and it must be very frustrating to you and your small group of ill informed friends that everything in the Police Department and the Elderly Affairs Division is above board and is always open for inspection. Sorry, but maybe you should look in some other back yards to see if you can dig up and any dirt on other hard working town employees.

Getting back to my first comment I am officially placing you on notice, STOP YOUR SLANDEROUS ATTACKS AGAINST MY GOOD NAME, or legal action will sure to follow."

This factually challenged diatribe was signed Philip V. Consentino, Police Chief, Director of Elderly Affairs, and it was Cc'd to Attorney McKintrick, Attorney Giarrusso, Attorney Stine.


Now let me address the issues the chief raises in what I see as his rather heavy handed attempt to use the power and authority of his badge to muzzle any and all criticism of his actions;

BTW, Chief, did it ever occur to you that the reason people post anonymously on this blog, is that they DO NOT want certified letters threatening them like this one delivered to their homes, to upset their wives and families. They do not want tickets hand served by uniformed officer at their homes, thereby scaring their 6 year old sons into thinking they are going to take away his daddy. If you are so sensitive to a little criticism you should put yourself in my position, How would YOU like having your customers and suppliers called by the police chief and told that you are under investigation by the Atkinson police dept.?

First of all you need to know that I did not write the Fuzzy Math Article, nor did I write the Cost of the Police Dept. article, I commented to both, but my comments have my name attached to them and are readily visible. So you are threatening legal action over someone else's article. Second, when we spoke I thought you were addressing my comments about the Cost article, I went home and looked the article up, and saw that you were complaining about the details in the original article, not my comments, That is why I did not "publish a retraction"! I can't retract what I didn't say in the first place. Like I told you that day, if you contest facts on this blog, why don't you post your own response, that is what open debate is all about!

Now to the points in your letter;

1.) I am looking over my budget sheets for last year, and I have your salary @ $ 22,585.00, Wow, you were right, the article was off by $1,900. I have Hampstead's chief @ $23,527.00 You are absolutely right, he makes almost $1,000 more than you, for a town 25% larger. But that is balanced out by the fact that his second-in-command make about $20,000 less than yours in total compensation.

2.) Hampstead's total police budget this year is $735,855.20 with 7 FT officers, and 6 times the business of Atkinson, plus 25% larger town. While Atkinson's total police budget this year was $ 754,021.00 for a much smaller operation, and, be honest; THAT figure was only arrived at by taking out of the police budget over the last two years; -$18,758 for the dispatch contract, -$16,437 for insurance, and -$70,000 for details, plus the budget committee used -$20,000 if I am not mistaken out of the revolving fund to buy down budget items. So if you wish to be honest, and your budget had the same items as it did two years ago, it would be $125,195.00 higher for a total of $ 879,216.00 or 17% higher than Hampstead's for a much smaller job!

But again, I didn't publish the mistaken data, and your assessment of your budget is not totally honest, in my view, either.

Onto the Fuzzy Math article, which, again, I am not the author of, but when I read it and commented on it, I took the photo to be a stock photo of a blue cruiser, not the particular blue cruiser you traded in, and your son evidently bought shortly thereafter. BTW: Here is what 2000 Crown Vic Cruisers are selling for on Cars.com

http://www.cars.com/go/search/search_results.jsp?tracktype=usedcc&searchType=22&cid=&dlid=&dgid=&amid=&cname=&rd=&ddrd=30&zc=03811&makeid=14&modelid=169&pageNumber=0&numResultsPerPage=50&largeNumResultsPerPage=0&sortorder=descending&sortfield=PRICE+descending&certifiedOnly=false&criteria=K-%7CE-ANY%7CM-_14_%7CF-100000%7CH-%7CD-_169_%7CN-N%7CR-10000%7CI-1%7CP-PRICE+descending%7CQ-descending%7CY-_2001-2000_%7CX-popular%7CZ-03811&aff=national&aff=national

They even have a 2000 former cruiser with 166,000 miles for $3,800. Besides how can you say it "had absolutely no resale value" when it was resold in a matter of days for a 25% profit? By the way the three photos you included, were of two rust spots over the two front tires, one that looks to be about 5" in length, and the other looks to be about 10" long, That doesn't look "covered in rust" to me, but what do I know?

And, in closing, Chief, I have never attacked you personally. I asked the Court to order you to recuse yourself from dealing with police matters as a selectman, because you evidently did not have the honor or integrity to do it yourself. When you defied that Order, I notified the Court and you were found in Contempt. When you were dismissed from NH Supreme Court for lack of standing, I could have demanded that the town seek reimbursment for your personal legal expenses that the town paid, but had no laibility for(all expenses after first Court Order), I did not. All of this is in the past. I am over it. I do not attack you or your family, and I will not tolerate you threatening my family, or my business.

Get over yourself, if you don't like people criticizing you, then perhaps you should do the right thing, and don't use your position to attack your critics.

ATKINSON's Vietnam HONOR ROLL as VOTED and PASSED by 2005 Town Meeting and re-approved at Special Town Meeting Sept. 12

EDITORIAL-


A voice of compassion, an example of fairness and reasonable government.

One who believes in the strength and comfort you, your children and your family can draw from good government leadership.

A person who knows Atkinson is our home -- our most important possession that must be preserved and protected through fair taxes and sound community planning and where our children must be safe to grow to become a new generation of leaders.

One who knows that the citizens of Atkinson are all neighbors with her leadership to be dedicated and responsive to all.

One who believes that when those from Atkinson have served our nation and honors are deserved, those honors must be given.

In Valerie Tobin, we now have a leader we know we can entrust with these responsibilities because they are part of her character.

It is our honor to endorse Valerie for election to Atkinson’s Board of Selectmen.

Just a note for those who wish to count the deer.

In January 08 this blog had 16,000 hits and 1,500 unique visitors (for the month).

In 2007 this blog had over 100,000 hits and 5,750 unique visitors (for the year).

EDITORIAL-


"I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense . . ." [TP, 1776]

We take no small measure of umbrage at such a hostile official act against this BLOG’s patron. Therefore, a timely Editorial comment is both appropriate and necessary.

Discussion of Atkinson’s financial direction, from any viewpoint, is fundamental and encouraged and we will always attempt to limit and correct errors.

However, Righteous indignation towards purported error of such inconsequential nature is not appropriate.

The ENTIRE car deal is problematic. If it was caused by poor judgement, improper exercise of authority, neglect or mistake or even specious reasoning, this will never trump the facts that the entire questionable transaction started and ended within a very small circle of confidants.

We find the entire circumstances surrounding the disposition of the police Cruiser highly irregular at the least and the "explanations" somewhat trifling and exhaustive of our intellect.

Mr. Consentino: It’s time to go. Being Chief of Atkinson’s Police Department is NOT a birthright. That is a fabled legend of yesteryear.

Historically in Atkinson, police chief appointments were made "under the hand of the selectmen" for terms of one year at a time, as was also the case in the beginning of Mr. Consentino’s assorted and discontinuous stream of appointments to this position.

Your only remaining credential established on a claim of indispensability has faded.

So time is neigh. Plan a graceful exit, Clean out your desk, Accept the gratitude and tearful sentiments from some. We plan no editorial recriminations. It is time. Thank you for your service, We wish you a long and happy retirement. Bon Voyage.

LETTER


"To All Atkinson Residents,

I am writing to ask for your help. A member of the Atkinson Police Department needs our help. I am here to ask for your help in Corporal John Lapham's fight for his life. As you are aware, John has been diagnosed with Leukemia. He has been once again hospitalized with an infection that is threatening his life. He is one of the bravest people that I have ever met. He has never asked of anything from the residents of the town. Now is our chance to step up and help both him and his family out. As everyone is aware John has been out of work for a few months. His family has been busy helping John to get better. He needs our help, and I am hoping that this town can step up to the plate and help. From the moment that I met John, I have admired him. He does alot, but never asks for anything in return. He has helped so many people in this town. I for one am one of those people. Please help him.

There is a fund set-up in his name at TDBanknorth in Plaistow. Any amount will help John, while he is out of work. It would be great if this town could help ease a burden off his wife.

Thank You

Also if anyone would like to send a card, please address it to:

John Lapham
c/o Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Ctr.
Inpatient mail
75 Francis Street
Boston, MA 02115
United States

Please show Corporal John Lapham, that this community can stand up and show our support to those in need. I for one, miss John and can not wait until he can get better and return to work. Please show him that we support him. "