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TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT!
Charlie Arlinghaus: State spending could be more transparent right now
By CHARLES M. ARLINGHAUS
Union Leader Wednesday, Mar. 26, 2008
NEW HAMPSHIRE should become more like Alaska. Alaska's governor has created a simple and transparent online database to view the details of any government expenditure of more than $1,000. The complete transparency of every detail of government makes government accountable and responsible, is supported by politicians of every ideology, and would eliminate corruption issues that are an increasing feature of our daily news coverage.
New Hampshire's tiniest town has little in common with Alaska. The financial books of the town of Windsor were closed to the public until the Windsor Coalition of Taxpayers sued to open them to the public. The next steps were all too familiar to residents of other towns. Investigators then found financial irregularities and money that has yet to be accounted for. An investigative audit led to the town's records being turned over to the Attorney General.
But with modern technology, none of this should ever happen. A transparency movement is spreading across the country to open the doors of government. Many transparency initiatives were started by executive order, as in Alaska. But increasingly, lawmakers and local officials are passing laws and ordinances to make transparency Web sites permanent.
In towns and state agencies in New Hampshire, taxpayers are often forced to wait for an audit to know how much money was spent and whether it's all accounted for. The first step to transparency is simply posting the town or agency's check register online.
Right away, any taxpayer can look and see every dollar spent and to whom it was paid. The new Alaska database isn't much more complicated than that. It's an Excel spreadsheet organized by payee, department and type of expense.
In transparency, getting started is just as important as designing the perfect system. Alaska's administrative commissioner admitted that the system isn't perfect,"but we wanted to get something out there to get started."
This is a stark contrast to New Hampshire's perfect-or-nothing approach. We've waited more than 14 months for something as simple as monthly updates of total state spending. We could have updates today, but officials have decided to wait until the state has one glorious new computer system for everyone's report to look identical.
Today in New Hampshire, citizens have access to spending data when a newspaper files a right-to-know request for specific information and decides to publish its findings. This information should be readily available to anyone who wants to know what government is doing.
In the town of Windsor, we are told that "at least $43,000 in collected tax money could not be accounted for." If a simple spreadsheet of the town's check register were posted online, we would have known earlier. The register would have shown every taxpayer who cared to look the amount of each deposit and every check written or cash withdrawal.
Obviously very few taxpayers would take the time to scrutinize every jot and title of the town's spending. But a few watchdogs would and we would all benefit from their scrutiny. Anyone who wished could balance the town's checkbooks and complain if $4 of interest or $400 of miscellaneous expenses were left out.
The comptroller of Texas operates one of the best online portals to examine state spending in the country. She describes citizens as partners in their own government: "We're giving Texans easy access to information useful in deciding whether tax dollars are being spent in a responsible manner."
A fully transparent government will include a complete searchable database of every single expenditure and every state contract. It is a significant undertaking, but, like Alaska, we can start with something less than an ideal system.
Individual departments can behave like an individual town. A state agency can easily start by placing online a spreadsheet of each check, along with monthly totals of expenses compared to the budget.
The first steps will require no new computer equipment, no new software, and do not require an agency to do anything it isn't already doing. It merely requires the agency to show us.
Transparent, accountable government is spreading across the country. New Hampshire has always been proud of an open government close to the people. There's no reason that the state of Alaska should be more open than the town of Windsor or the state of New Hampshire. Like Alaska, we should do something to get started.
Charles M. Arlinghaus is president of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy, a free-market think tank in Concord.
For those who missed it this has been one of the overriding problems in Atkinson over the last three years, as well.
Monday, March 31
Friday, March 28
And you thought Atkinson had problems?... Check out Windsor!
This is reported on the CNHT website;
Ed Naile's At It Again. From www.nhinsider.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday We Got A Call From A Reporter And...
I spent five and a half hours Friday with the Windsor Coalition of Taxpayers and a visiting Boston Globe reporter who is interested in what a pure democracy looks like when it goes awry. That is definitely Windsor.
We showed the Globe reporter, with document after document, how, depending on who you are in that town, property taxes don’t have to be paid. This problem goes back to 2000, according to the Windsor town father’s own admissions, as well as NH Department of Revenue records. CNHT knows it goes back farther than that. We have been working on this and other bizarre municipal nightmares there since 2006. We made two successful trips to Superior Court – so far.
Speaking of dates.
It appears the Windsor Tax Collector was working in longhand, on scrap paper, without a calculator or receipts, and with a schedule derived from the ancient Mayan Calendar which ends in 2012. The town finances in Windsor have collapsed three years early.
After all the history, data, statutes, folklore and chocolate chip cookies were evenly distributed and digested among our group, the Globe reporter casually mentioned to us that she stopped by the Windsor Town hall (30’ x40’ capacity 50 odd souls) and saw a note on the door. She copied it down. It said, roughly:
“There will be a meeting of the Windsor Selectmen March 21, at 7 pm to have the Town Attorney contact the NH Attorney General’s Office with the town audit.”
WHAT!
It looked like the Windsor Selectmen were about to hold an emergency meeting on a Friday evening to pack up the supposed audit, more like a Polaroid snapshot, of the town tax records to take to the Dept. of Rev. Admin. and the AG – ASAP! About time.
But was this true? The only way to find out was to GO to the emergency meeting. So off went the key members of the WCNHT and THE GLOBE REPORTER (you can’t make this stuff up).
The Selectmen shuffled into the two car garage sized town hall, along with a few local pals who must have been tipped with a phone call. You might call it “immoral moral support.”
Our guys were there – with a video camera and reporter for this unpublished, except for a note on the door emergency meeting. You would think they expected no one would find out. Imagine their surprise when they asked the young lady whom they have never met what she was doing at their emergency! She tells them she works for the Globe!
Now for the rest of this story I should really sell tickets.
Apparently the Windsor Village Idiot was at this emergency meeting Friday. Remember him? He was the one quoted in the Union Leader, Tuesday last week, front page, above the fold, saying this is how we do business in Windsor, meaning, we use the tax system and our majority vote to take advantage our neighbors. And there was the usual blather about how long his relatives have lived in the area. Fine, I get that all the time. But we surmise the AG has waited long enough for Windsor to get off the tax crapper and this comment may have been a catalyst for some long awaited state action.
Here is the exciting part of our adventure.
Our story trails off with Mr. Idiot telling the reporter he wants an interview.
Now all we do is wait for that to happen. (with big smiles of course)
We also wait to see if the State of New Hampshire Department of Revenue will actually do something about a town that refuses to keep tax records for at least ten, probably twenty years. They could order an audit.
We wait for the AG to sit some of these Bozo’s down and get a statement as to what is going on, where all the money collected went, and how much is not collected.
And we wait for the Globe photographer to come get the pictures they want for the Windsor story.
Smile!
Posted on Saturday, March 22, 2008 at 10:17PM by Ed Naile | 11 Comments
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Reader Comments (11)
Next time you talk to that Globe reporter, ask her where she got the story idea for Windsor. If she and her paper have no integrity, you can be sure the story won't either.
March 24, 2008 | Anonymous
Excellent post, Ed. I guess this shows the downside of local control- sometimes the locals shouldn't be trusted.
In my town, the elected clerk/tax collector couldn't figure out how to use the tax software, so she simply made up the numbers she reported. Luckily for us, she sometimes reported too much, sometimes too little, so it pretty much evened out when the state audit was done.
March 24, 2008 | Mike Emm
Readers:
If for one nanosecond the STATE had done its job going back to 2000 when the DRA first started writing letters to Windsor about their lack of financial accountability and failure to file Municipal Services forms this could have been avoided.
If crooked public officials in municipalities were PROSECUTED once in a while instead of being given a free pass this would happen much less often.
CNHT had to work a full year, two superior court cases, one battle after another with town counsel, a total lack of a trustworthy press, and small group of activists brave enough to take the heat from neighbors to get this far.
Kelly Ayotte, our illustrious AG, may want to look like a hero coming to the rescue of beleagured taxpayers but the opposite is true.
The STATE dropped the ball and is untrustworthy at all levels from the top down until you find a good state employee in a department to work with. They are rare.
And these are the people that want a broad based tax to pay for more state government?
Imagine trying to root out and fix a situation like this at the STATE level!
The Gold Dome would be like giant cat litter box, cover, cover, cover, and never empty.
March 24, 2008 | Ed Naile
I guess it's just MOnday morning and not enough caffein, but both comments make no sense.
1) How can where a story idea comes from affect the integrity? Not that I am defending the integrity of a news source that is owned by the NYT becaseu both the Blobe and Times years ago to be bastions of journalism integrity.
2) Even if the State did this, a local entity would have to provide inputs. I'm Without keen eyed local people looking at this the problem would still be unknown. Pushing to further to the state would further hide it.
March 24, 2008 | dave
Dave:
We HAVE keen eyed locals but it is a town meeting form of government subject to intimidation and personel vendettas. So you need brave taxpayers to step in, as we have in Windsor.
We won two court cases so far. We are contemplating a new one aimed at the state should they fail to move forward.
It would be nice to see a new crop of selectmen in Windsor but that will not happen as the non-taxpaying crowd has the votes to win every time. We would suggest OUR guys NOT take ANY office as they will be hounded relentlessly at every meeting and by the local papers. Remember, the local papers LOVE these types of public officials and protect them.
Hence you need state help to effect change and get things back on track.
The DRA has statutory authority to aduit Windsor, compell witnesses to testify, collect any taxes over three years late, and to prosecute criminal action IF there was any.
CNHT went as far as possible without state help. Our expertese is in NOW being able to shine a light on this in a much broader way than back before the internet and our talk radio program.
I beleve the people we worked with in Windsor will tell you we said from the start THIS was how to procede. And they took our advice at each step.
Now we have to teach the town attorney that he represents the WHOLE town not just the crowd not keeping books, a part of this stroy we have been hankering to get on with from the start.
March 24, 2008 | Ed Naile
Good work Ed!
I remember a friend telling me the story of when a town treasurer (his mom, one state over) had a nervous breakdown and started randomly hiding uncashed tax payments in drawers around their house. By the time the family realized what was going on it was a catastrophe.
Sometimes you don't even need greed or conspiracy to cause things to screw up... it just happens. And covering it all up and sweeping it under the rug just makes it worse. There are times when everything is NOT Okay, even though the people themselves aren't bad people.
Ed is right to be vigilant.
March 24, 2008 | H
H:
When I became the head selectman in here in Deering after the NHMA employee/selectwoman left office, her hand picked secretary compressed and deleted everything on our computer and was gone five days before town meeting - the first I would be in charge of.
The townies managed to place the blame that and made up stuff on me. Fine, I understand that. This is how direct democracy works - the biggest liar wins.
But I went to the DRA for help and they let me hang. Joan Gerrard? was the DRA rep. for Deering back then.
Had I had one tiny bit of help, or even a letter from the state saying what happened I would not be running a statewide organization now.
I realized back then it was inaction by the State that leads to this type of municipal mismanagement.
And now in a roundabout way I am back to haunt them.
Should have stepped up to the plate in 1999, hey DRA?
Windsor isn't the only town we are working in.
Here is the great part. The Windsor guys have offered to help us in other towns.
March 24, 2008 | Ed Naile
WOW, Illegal meetings? Improper fiscal dealings? Selectmen putting their own agendas before the good of the town? Maybe Atkinson's selectmen for the last three years TRAINED THERE!
Ed Naile's At It Again. From www.nhinsider.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday We Got A Call From A Reporter And...
I spent five and a half hours Friday with the Windsor Coalition of Taxpayers and a visiting Boston Globe reporter who is interested in what a pure democracy looks like when it goes awry. That is definitely Windsor.
We showed the Globe reporter, with document after document, how, depending on who you are in that town, property taxes don’t have to be paid. This problem goes back to 2000, according to the Windsor town father’s own admissions, as well as NH Department of Revenue records. CNHT knows it goes back farther than that. We have been working on this and other bizarre municipal nightmares there since 2006. We made two successful trips to Superior Court – so far.
Speaking of dates.
It appears the Windsor Tax Collector was working in longhand, on scrap paper, without a calculator or receipts, and with a schedule derived from the ancient Mayan Calendar which ends in 2012. The town finances in Windsor have collapsed three years early.
After all the history, data, statutes, folklore and chocolate chip cookies were evenly distributed and digested among our group, the Globe reporter casually mentioned to us that she stopped by the Windsor Town hall (30’ x40’ capacity 50 odd souls) and saw a note on the door. She copied it down. It said, roughly:
“There will be a meeting of the Windsor Selectmen March 21, at 7 pm to have the Town Attorney contact the NH Attorney General’s Office with the town audit.”
WHAT!
It looked like the Windsor Selectmen were about to hold an emergency meeting on a Friday evening to pack up the supposed audit, more like a Polaroid snapshot, of the town tax records to take to the Dept. of Rev. Admin. and the AG – ASAP! About time.
But was this true? The only way to find out was to GO to the emergency meeting. So off went the key members of the WCNHT and THE GLOBE REPORTER (you can’t make this stuff up).
The Selectmen shuffled into the two car garage sized town hall, along with a few local pals who must have been tipped with a phone call. You might call it “immoral moral support.”
Our guys were there – with a video camera and reporter for this unpublished, except for a note on the door emergency meeting. You would think they expected no one would find out. Imagine their surprise when they asked the young lady whom they have never met what she was doing at their emergency! She tells them she works for the Globe!
Now for the rest of this story I should really sell tickets.
Apparently the Windsor Village Idiot was at this emergency meeting Friday. Remember him? He was the one quoted in the Union Leader, Tuesday last week, front page, above the fold, saying this is how we do business in Windsor, meaning, we use the tax system and our majority vote to take advantage our neighbors. And there was the usual blather about how long his relatives have lived in the area. Fine, I get that all the time. But we surmise the AG has waited long enough for Windsor to get off the tax crapper and this comment may have been a catalyst for some long awaited state action.
Here is the exciting part of our adventure.
Our story trails off with Mr. Idiot telling the reporter he wants an interview.
Now all we do is wait for that to happen. (with big smiles of course)
We also wait to see if the State of New Hampshire Department of Revenue will actually do something about a town that refuses to keep tax records for at least ten, probably twenty years. They could order an audit.
We wait for the AG to sit some of these Bozo’s down and get a statement as to what is going on, where all the money collected went, and how much is not collected.
And we wait for the Globe photographer to come get the pictures they want for the Windsor story.
Smile!
Posted on Saturday, March 22, 2008 at 10:17PM by Ed Naile | 11 Comments
View Printer Friendly Version
Email Article to Friend
Reader Comments (11)
Next time you talk to that Globe reporter, ask her where she got the story idea for Windsor. If she and her paper have no integrity, you can be sure the story won't either.
March 24, 2008 | Anonymous
Excellent post, Ed. I guess this shows the downside of local control- sometimes the locals shouldn't be trusted.
In my town, the elected clerk/tax collector couldn't figure out how to use the tax software, so she simply made up the numbers she reported. Luckily for us, she sometimes reported too much, sometimes too little, so it pretty much evened out when the state audit was done.
March 24, 2008 | Mike Emm
Readers:
If for one nanosecond the STATE had done its job going back to 2000 when the DRA first started writing letters to Windsor about their lack of financial accountability and failure to file Municipal Services forms this could have been avoided.
If crooked public officials in municipalities were PROSECUTED once in a while instead of being given a free pass this would happen much less often.
CNHT had to work a full year, two superior court cases, one battle after another with town counsel, a total lack of a trustworthy press, and small group of activists brave enough to take the heat from neighbors to get this far.
Kelly Ayotte, our illustrious AG, may want to look like a hero coming to the rescue of beleagured taxpayers but the opposite is true.
The STATE dropped the ball and is untrustworthy at all levels from the top down until you find a good state employee in a department to work with. They are rare.
And these are the people that want a broad based tax to pay for more state government?
Imagine trying to root out and fix a situation like this at the STATE level!
The Gold Dome would be like giant cat litter box, cover, cover, cover, and never empty.
March 24, 2008 | Ed Naile
I guess it's just MOnday morning and not enough caffein, but both comments make no sense.
1) How can where a story idea comes from affect the integrity? Not that I am defending the integrity of a news source that is owned by the NYT becaseu both the Blobe and Times years ago to be bastions of journalism integrity.
2) Even if the State did this, a local entity would have to provide inputs. I'm Without keen eyed local people looking at this the problem would still be unknown. Pushing to further to the state would further hide it.
March 24, 2008 | dave
Dave:
We HAVE keen eyed locals but it is a town meeting form of government subject to intimidation and personel vendettas. So you need brave taxpayers to step in, as we have in Windsor.
We won two court cases so far. We are contemplating a new one aimed at the state should they fail to move forward.
It would be nice to see a new crop of selectmen in Windsor but that will not happen as the non-taxpaying crowd has the votes to win every time. We would suggest OUR guys NOT take ANY office as they will be hounded relentlessly at every meeting and by the local papers. Remember, the local papers LOVE these types of public officials and protect them.
Hence you need state help to effect change and get things back on track.
The DRA has statutory authority to aduit Windsor, compell witnesses to testify, collect any taxes over three years late, and to prosecute criminal action IF there was any.
CNHT went as far as possible without state help. Our expertese is in NOW being able to shine a light on this in a much broader way than back before the internet and our talk radio program.
I beleve the people we worked with in Windsor will tell you we said from the start THIS was how to procede. And they took our advice at each step.
Now we have to teach the town attorney that he represents the WHOLE town not just the crowd not keeping books, a part of this stroy we have been hankering to get on with from the start.
March 24, 2008 | Ed Naile
Good work Ed!
I remember a friend telling me the story of when a town treasurer (his mom, one state over) had a nervous breakdown and started randomly hiding uncashed tax payments in drawers around their house. By the time the family realized what was going on it was a catastrophe.
Sometimes you don't even need greed or conspiracy to cause things to screw up... it just happens. And covering it all up and sweeping it under the rug just makes it worse. There are times when everything is NOT Okay, even though the people themselves aren't bad people.
Ed is right to be vigilant.
March 24, 2008 | H
H:
When I became the head selectman in here in Deering after the NHMA employee/selectwoman left office, her hand picked secretary compressed and deleted everything on our computer and was gone five days before town meeting - the first I would be in charge of.
The townies managed to place the blame that and made up stuff on me. Fine, I understand that. This is how direct democracy works - the biggest liar wins.
But I went to the DRA for help and they let me hang. Joan Gerrard? was the DRA rep. for Deering back then.
Had I had one tiny bit of help, or even a letter from the state saying what happened I would not be running a statewide organization now.
I realized back then it was inaction by the State that leads to this type of municipal mismanagement.
And now in a roundabout way I am back to haunt them.
Should have stepped up to the plate in 1999, hey DRA?
Windsor isn't the only town we are working in.
Here is the great part. The Windsor guys have offered to help us in other towns.
March 24, 2008 | Ed Naile
WOW, Illegal meetings? Improper fiscal dealings? Selectmen putting their own agendas before the good of the town? Maybe Atkinson's selectmen for the last three years TRAINED THERE!
Thursday, March 27
School Board Seals Minutes for 99 YEARS???
As reported in the Eagle-Tribune;
School Board's lips are as tightly sealed as meeting minutes; Attorney says 99 years violates spirit of the law By Meghan Carey
Staff writer
PLAISTOW — Ninety-nine years.
That's how long the nonpublic meeting minutes from last week's Timberlane Regional School Board meeting will remain a secret, something right-to-know experts said is done to protect someone, but could go too far.
The board interrupted its meeting March 20 to go into nonpublic session, citing the state statute that protects employees' reputations.
Retiring Athletic Director Dennis "Bucky" Tardif was with the board at the time, but officials said the meeting was not about him. They remain tight-lipped about who and what was discussed behind closed doors.
Timberlane Superintendent Richard La Salle said it is "very, very incorrect" to imply from the nonpublic session that Tardif had done something wrong. He said there were a number of administrators in the room at the time of the closed-door meeting.
Tardif said yesterday he's been in many nonpublic sessions during his 20-plus years in the district.
"I was part of a personnel issue on another matter," he said. "Just a normal thing for me."
But sealing minutes for 99 years isn't normal, said Bill Chapman, an attorney who specializes in right-to-know law. He said many districts and towns vote to seal minutes and don't put any explicit period of time on it.
Putting a time period on sealed minutes "violates the spirit" of the state's right-to-know law, he said. That's because the law first says nonpublic minutes must be disclosed in 72 hours, unless the meeting fits one of three criteria and a two-third's written vote ratifies the seal.
Minutes can only be sealed for specific reasons and can be unsealed after the circumstances pass. Anyone can request that minutes be unsealed, Chapman said.
"It's hard for me to believe that those circumstances would exist for 99 years," he said.
But school officials want whatever happened behind those doors to remain secret for almost a century.
Stephen Brown, School Board vice chairman, said the time frame was chosen because the board didn't think minutes could be sealed forever. He said 99 years was the "next best thing."
Rep. James Garrity, R-Atkinson, who served on the Legislature's Right-to-Know Committee, said there could be a good reason behind it all.
"For example, let's say an employee was falsely accused of something," he said. "Letting that info out to the public would unfairly hurt that person's reputation."
The School Board went into nonpublic session and sealed the minutes to avoid doing just that, Chairman William Baldwin said.
"When you are dealing with employees and you deal with certain situations, whatever the situation may be, you have to have all your facts and information," he said. "A lot of things go on and 90 percent of it is rumor."
Baldwin said 99 years didn't strike him because the board was trying to avoid a civil lawsuit. He said no action will be taken.
"There's nothing to it," Baldwin said. "At this point in the juncture, unless something else comes up, it's over."
99YEARS??? WOW, What the hell did they discuss? Or have they simply learned from watching Atkinson's selectmen during the last three years?
Now what does the law say about this?
91-A:3 Nonpublic Sessions. –
III. Minutes of proceedings in nonpublic session shall be kept and the record of all actions shall be promptly made available for public inspection, except as provided in this section. Minutes and decisions reached in nonpublic session shall be publicly disclosed within 72 hours of the meeting, unless, by recorded vote of 2/3 of the members present, it is determined that divulgence of the information likely would affect adversely the reputation of any person other than a member of the body or agency itself, or render the proposed action ineffective, or pertain to terrorism, more specifically, to matters relating to the preparation for and the carrying out of all emergency functions, developed by local or state safety officials that are directly intended to thwart a deliberate act that is intended to result in widespread or severe damage to property or widespread injury or loss of life. This shall include training to carry out such functions. In the event of such circumstances, information may be withheld until, in the opinion of a majority of members, the aforesaid circumstances no longer apply.
So.... it would appear that sealing the minutes definitely violates the spirit of the law, and the time frame violates the word of the law. What a wonderful School Board we have.
What about sunshine? Accountability? Truth in governance?
School Board's lips are as tightly sealed as meeting minutes; Attorney says 99 years violates spirit of the law By Meghan Carey
Staff writer
PLAISTOW — Ninety-nine years.
That's how long the nonpublic meeting minutes from last week's Timberlane Regional School Board meeting will remain a secret, something right-to-know experts said is done to protect someone, but could go too far.
The board interrupted its meeting March 20 to go into nonpublic session, citing the state statute that protects employees' reputations.
Retiring Athletic Director Dennis "Bucky" Tardif was with the board at the time, but officials said the meeting was not about him. They remain tight-lipped about who and what was discussed behind closed doors.
Timberlane Superintendent Richard La Salle said it is "very, very incorrect" to imply from the nonpublic session that Tardif had done something wrong. He said there were a number of administrators in the room at the time of the closed-door meeting.
Tardif said yesterday he's been in many nonpublic sessions during his 20-plus years in the district.
"I was part of a personnel issue on another matter," he said. "Just a normal thing for me."
But sealing minutes for 99 years isn't normal, said Bill Chapman, an attorney who specializes in right-to-know law. He said many districts and towns vote to seal minutes and don't put any explicit period of time on it.
Putting a time period on sealed minutes "violates the spirit" of the state's right-to-know law, he said. That's because the law first says nonpublic minutes must be disclosed in 72 hours, unless the meeting fits one of three criteria and a two-third's written vote ratifies the seal.
Minutes can only be sealed for specific reasons and can be unsealed after the circumstances pass. Anyone can request that minutes be unsealed, Chapman said.
"It's hard for me to believe that those circumstances would exist for 99 years," he said.
But school officials want whatever happened behind those doors to remain secret for almost a century.
Stephen Brown, School Board vice chairman, said the time frame was chosen because the board didn't think minutes could be sealed forever. He said 99 years was the "next best thing."
Rep. James Garrity, R-Atkinson, who served on the Legislature's Right-to-Know Committee, said there could be a good reason behind it all.
"For example, let's say an employee was falsely accused of something," he said. "Letting that info out to the public would unfairly hurt that person's reputation."
The School Board went into nonpublic session and sealed the minutes to avoid doing just that, Chairman William Baldwin said.
"When you are dealing with employees and you deal with certain situations, whatever the situation may be, you have to have all your facts and information," he said. "A lot of things go on and 90 percent of it is rumor."
Baldwin said 99 years didn't strike him because the board was trying to avoid a civil lawsuit. He said no action will be taken.
"There's nothing to it," Baldwin said. "At this point in the juncture, unless something else comes up, it's over."
99YEARS??? WOW, What the hell did they discuss? Or have they simply learned from watching Atkinson's selectmen during the last three years?
Now what does the law say about this?
91-A:3 Nonpublic Sessions. –
III. Minutes of proceedings in nonpublic session shall be kept and the record of all actions shall be promptly made available for public inspection, except as provided in this section. Minutes and decisions reached in nonpublic session shall be publicly disclosed within 72 hours of the meeting, unless, by recorded vote of 2/3 of the members present, it is determined that divulgence of the information likely would affect adversely the reputation of any person other than a member of the body or agency itself, or render the proposed action ineffective, or pertain to terrorism, more specifically, to matters relating to the preparation for and the carrying out of all emergency functions, developed by local or state safety officials that are directly intended to thwart a deliberate act that is intended to result in widespread or severe damage to property or widespread injury or loss of life. This shall include training to carry out such functions. In the event of such circumstances, information may be withheld until, in the opinion of a majority of members, the aforesaid circumstances no longer apply.
So.... it would appear that sealing the minutes definitely violates the spirit of the law, and the time frame violates the word of the law. What a wonderful School Board we have.
What about sunshine? Accountability? Truth in governance?
Monday, March 24
Equal Enforcement under the law?
We watched our police chief, the night before the election, speak out at the selectmen's meeting, on live camera, regarding the actions of Mrs. Grant in placing fliers on the outside of mailboxes. Even after being directed by selectman Sullivan, not to mention any names, he STILL revealed the name of his "suspect".
He went on and on about the "violation" of federal law.
He called the postmaster and the postal inspector, personally.
He pulled the resident over and read them the law, and then revealed the story to the newspaper.
Now flash forward to this past week....
We have another far more involved flier distribution scheme under way in town. Phil has not appeared to rail against this instance of federal postal regulation violation.
He had Det. Farrar collect some of the fliers and look into the distribution of the fliers.
He failed to mention this at the meeting tonight as he did when the culprit was a critic of his.
He failed to rail publicly over this practice.
He failed to call the postal inspector for this instance.
He failed to call the postmaster in this instance.
He failed to call the newspaper in this instance.
Why are the two instances of the same offense being treated differently?
Could it have anything to do with the fact that this latest "violation" is merely a landscaper looking for business, and not a critic of Phil's?
As Jerry Williams used to say...
It doesn't pass the sniff test!
He went on and on about the "violation" of federal law.
He called the postmaster and the postal inspector, personally.
He pulled the resident over and read them the law, and then revealed the story to the newspaper.
Now flash forward to this past week....
We have another far more involved flier distribution scheme under way in town. Phil has not appeared to rail against this instance of federal postal regulation violation.
He had Det. Farrar collect some of the fliers and look into the distribution of the fliers.
He failed to mention this at the meeting tonight as he did when the culprit was a critic of his.
He failed to rail publicly over this practice.
He failed to call the postal inspector for this instance.
He failed to call the postmaster in this instance.
He failed to call the newspaper in this instance.
Why are the two instances of the same offense being treated differently?
Could it have anything to do with the fact that this latest "violation" is merely a landscaper looking for business, and not a critic of Phil's?
As Jerry Williams used to say...
It doesn't pass the sniff test!
Wednesday, March 19
To All Atkinsonians
We are trying a modified format on the blog. This blog has been extraordinarily successfull at shining the light of public attention on events in town that otherwise would have remained unseen. But to date, whether from fear of reprisal, or just out of a sense of personal safety, the large majority of posters and commentors have remained generically anonymous.
We are trying to foster a conversation here, and we believe it would be easier to do with an identity. As many of you have noticed, there are a number of bloggers here that have Google accounts, and still post under a pseudonym. Contributors such as; LegalBeagle, DisgustedinAtkinson, Seenitdoneit, Fishgutz, Brutus, and many more that I am currently forgetting.
We would like to encourage all of our contributors to open a Google account, pick a nickname or psuedonym that you like, and continue to make this blog great! It will make conversation easier, and help each of you to "earn a reputation" with your fellow bloggers, for the accuracy, and validity of your remarks, Just like on other blogs. And it's easy, when you go to the post comment page, you will have the option to enter your psuedonm, or open a google or blogger acct., it takes about 2 mintues, and you can still remain anonymous, just with a psuedonym.
It's EASY, when you post your comment just register your chosen pen name, and blog away! Noone will see your email address, it will be as anonymous as it ever was, but there will be a name to reply to instead of Anon @ 2:45.
We had 100,000 hits last year, lets see if we can double that this year. Thank you
We are trying to foster a conversation here, and we believe it would be easier to do with an identity. As many of you have noticed, there are a number of bloggers here that have Google accounts, and still post under a pseudonym. Contributors such as; LegalBeagle, DisgustedinAtkinson, Seenitdoneit, Fishgutz, Brutus, and many more that I am currently forgetting.
We would like to encourage all of our contributors to open a Google account, pick a nickname or psuedonym that you like, and continue to make this blog great! It will make conversation easier, and help each of you to "earn a reputation" with your fellow bloggers, for the accuracy, and validity of your remarks, Just like on other blogs. And it's easy, when you go to the post comment page, you will have the option to enter your psuedonm, or open a google or blogger acct., it takes about 2 mintues, and you can still remain anonymous, just with a psuedonym.
It's EASY, when you post your comment just register your chosen pen name, and blog away! Noone will see your email address, it will be as anonymous as it ever was, but there will be a name to reply to instead of Anon @ 2:45.
We had 100,000 hits last year, lets see if we can double that this year. Thank you
Postal Service: No material in or on mailboxes without stamps
What this masterfully written story fails to mention is that our police chief, was the one pushing this story, even after being directed by the selectmen not to mention names. Even after selectmen pointed out that he had no authority, and why?
Because it was Mrs. Grant! He has never done this to the Boy Scouts, the Landscapers, the Baseball teams, the PTA, that hang flyers from the flags of our mailboxes.
Postal Service: No material in or on mailboxes without stamps
By Meghan Carey
Staff writer
ATKINSON — Carol Grant said she has been distributing fliers by rolling them up and wedging them between mailboxes and their flags for nearly 40 years. The U.S. Postal Service is advising her to stop doing it.
The state postal inspector made his way to town last week to stop a practice that has been happening for years, according to residents and officials.
Michael Blanchard met Wednesday with police, the local postmaster, and Carol and Ken Grant, whom police found putting fliers on mailboxes earlier this month. While the U.S. Postal Service will not prosecute, Blanchard said, he did give local officials letters explaining that the practice was illegal and should not be allowed.
"You can't put anything in or on a mailbox without postage," he said. "There's federal law to back it up."
According to the police log, the Grants were putting fliers on mailboxes on Maple Avenue on March 10. When pulled over, they denied doing so, and were sent to the local postmaster.
It's standard protocol to call in the postal inspector when there is a legal question, according to Todd Sculnik, communications coordinator for New Hampshire and Vermont post offices. He said the fliers were being hung on the mailboxes and didn't know how many had been distributed.
Carol Grant said she has distributed handouts for about 38 years and hasn't ever had a problem before. She checked with the last four postmasters and followed their rules, she said, but didn't get a chance this year to check with the new postmaster. She just followed the same rules — nothing in the mailbox or on the latch, she said.
According to the law, circulars and other mailable matter cannot be deposited in a letter box on any mail route without paying postage. The law was updated on March 8 — just days prior — to not allow anything on letter boxes either.
"I don't know if it's a warning, but more to alert them that if this activity continues, they could be subject to civil or criminal prosecution," Blanchard said.
Selectman Paul Sullivan said while he heard complaints about the fliers, he didn't think anyone thought they affected the election.
Perhaps Blanchard's visit and letter will prevent the incident from reoccurring in the future, he said.
"I'm perfectly satisfied with that," Sullivan said. "The law is clear. As long as everyone is aware of it, I'm just looking ahead positively for this year."
Because it was Mrs. Grant! He has never done this to the Boy Scouts, the Landscapers, the Baseball teams, the PTA, that hang flyers from the flags of our mailboxes.
Postal Service: No material in or on mailboxes without stamps
By Meghan Carey
Staff writer
ATKINSON — Carol Grant said she has been distributing fliers by rolling them up and wedging them between mailboxes and their flags for nearly 40 years. The U.S. Postal Service is advising her to stop doing it.
The state postal inspector made his way to town last week to stop a practice that has been happening for years, according to residents and officials.
Michael Blanchard met Wednesday with police, the local postmaster, and Carol and Ken Grant, whom police found putting fliers on mailboxes earlier this month. While the U.S. Postal Service will not prosecute, Blanchard said, he did give local officials letters explaining that the practice was illegal and should not be allowed.
"You can't put anything in or on a mailbox without postage," he said. "There's federal law to back it up."
According to the police log, the Grants were putting fliers on mailboxes on Maple Avenue on March 10. When pulled over, they denied doing so, and were sent to the local postmaster.
It's standard protocol to call in the postal inspector when there is a legal question, according to Todd Sculnik, communications coordinator for New Hampshire and Vermont post offices. He said the fliers were being hung on the mailboxes and didn't know how many had been distributed.
Carol Grant said she has distributed handouts for about 38 years and hasn't ever had a problem before. She checked with the last four postmasters and followed their rules, she said, but didn't get a chance this year to check with the new postmaster. She just followed the same rules — nothing in the mailbox or on the latch, she said.
According to the law, circulars and other mailable matter cannot be deposited in a letter box on any mail route without paying postage. The law was updated on March 8 — just days prior — to not allow anything on letter boxes either.
"I don't know if it's a warning, but more to alert them that if this activity continues, they could be subject to civil or criminal prosecution," Blanchard said.
Selectman Paul Sullivan said while he heard complaints about the fliers, he didn't think anyone thought they affected the election.
Perhaps Blanchard's visit and letter will prevent the incident from reoccurring in the future, he said.
"I'm perfectly satisfied with that," Sullivan said. "The law is clear. As long as everyone is aware of it, I'm just looking ahead positively for this year."
Police investigating Crash that knocked out power.
Crash darkens homes, closes road in Atkinson
By Meghan Carey
Staff writer
ATKINSON — A portion of Summit Drive was closed for about 11 hours Saturday and residents in the area lost power for half that time after a 17-year-old boy drove into a telephone pole, according to police.
The accident happened just before 3:30 p.m. near 26 Summit Drive, Lt. William Baldwin said. The driver — whose name police are not releasing because he is a juvenile — reached down to get an iPod wire from near his feet and missed a sharp turn in the road.
The 2001 Honda Odyssey he was driving snapped the pole where it hit it and again near a transformer at the top, Baldwin said.
The minivan could not be moved until Unitil and Verizon arrived. The two companies used machines to steady the pole and keep it from falling at both breaks, Baldwin said. In the meantime, police cleared the area in case the transformer or any live wires came down, he said.
The power didn't go out because of the accident. But once the minivan was removed, the power was shut down for about five hours while a new pole was installed and all wires were transferred to it, Baldwin said.
No one was injured in the crash.
The whole night — including pay for three utility companies and two detail officers — could end up costing the driver's family, Baldwin said. That decision will be up to Verizon, he said.
"This should be a good lesson to all young drivers," he said. "Never take your eyes off the road."
The accident is under investigation by the Police Department.
By Meghan Carey
Staff writer
ATKINSON — A portion of Summit Drive was closed for about 11 hours Saturday and residents in the area lost power for half that time after a 17-year-old boy drove into a telephone pole, according to police.
The accident happened just before 3:30 p.m. near 26 Summit Drive, Lt. William Baldwin said. The driver — whose name police are not releasing because he is a juvenile — reached down to get an iPod wire from near his feet and missed a sharp turn in the road.
The 2001 Honda Odyssey he was driving snapped the pole where it hit it and again near a transformer at the top, Baldwin said.
The minivan could not be moved until Unitil and Verizon arrived. The two companies used machines to steady the pole and keep it from falling at both breaks, Baldwin said. In the meantime, police cleared the area in case the transformer or any live wires came down, he said.
The power didn't go out because of the accident. But once the minivan was removed, the power was shut down for about five hours while a new pole was installed and all wires were transferred to it, Baldwin said.
No one was injured in the crash.
The whole night — including pay for three utility companies and two detail officers — could end up costing the driver's family, Baldwin said. That decision will be up to Verizon, he said.
"This should be a good lesson to all young drivers," he said. "Never take your eyes off the road."
The accident is under investigation by the Police Department.
Friday, March 14
What is "Abuse of Authority"?
MAcciard said...
Publius please accept this as an article submission.
What is "Abuse of Authority"?
So we have heard much over the past couple of years about abuse of authority, but what does that mean? Well the textbook definition is Abuse of authority is further defined as it relates to personnel. It is an arbitrary or capricious exercise of power by an official or employee that adversely affects the rights of any person or that result in personal gain or advantage to them.
That is a nice definition but again, what does this mean and how does this apply to Atkinson? Well the Town of Atkinson is currently embroiled in two lawsuits, alleging "abuses of authority" on the part of the "town" and it's "police chief", seeking multiple millions of dollars in damages. The issues are well known around town, and we have witnessed most of them unfolding, live and in color, as we watch our selectmen's meetings over the last few years.
So, would a police chief who pulls over people who are putting out political flyers, be abusing his authority in the process? Maybe yes, maybe no, without more details.
But what if he followed that action up by calling the US Postal inspectors service and demanding action?
What if he then revealed publicly on television, that this incident happened, and accused the person of committing a crime on television?
What about if he then called the newspaper to give the story out?
And what if he did not have the authority to detain the person in the first place?
Well, then probably yes, Most of us would consider that a governmental abuse of authority.
Would you consider it an abuse of authority if that police chief sent a private resident a certified letter on police stationary threatening legal action if that resident did not stop posting on this blog?
Well yes that would be an abuse of authority, especially once the selectmen admitted that they did not authorize such a letter.
Would you consider it an abuse of authority if that police chief called a residents employment and told them that the resident was "under investigation by the police dept."?
Most probably you would, especially if it were you.
So the question that comes from all of this is; What should the town do about this situation?
Well it just so happens that we find the answer in the town employee handbook, under employee discipline;
Publius please accept this as an article submission.
What is "Abuse of Authority"?
So we have heard much over the past couple of years about abuse of authority, but what does that mean? Well the textbook definition is Abuse of authority is further defined as it relates to personnel. It is an arbitrary or capricious exercise of power by an official or employee that adversely affects the rights of any person or that result in personal gain or advantage to them.
That is a nice definition but again, what does this mean and how does this apply to Atkinson? Well the Town of Atkinson is currently embroiled in two lawsuits, alleging "abuses of authority" on the part of the "town" and it's "police chief", seeking multiple millions of dollars in damages. The issues are well known around town, and we have witnessed most of them unfolding, live and in color, as we watch our selectmen's meetings over the last few years.
So, would a police chief who pulls over people who are putting out political flyers, be abusing his authority in the process? Maybe yes, maybe no, without more details.
But what if he followed that action up by calling the US Postal inspectors service and demanding action?
What if he then revealed publicly on television, that this incident happened, and accused the person of committing a crime on television?
What about if he then called the newspaper to give the story out?
And what if he did not have the authority to detain the person in the first place?
Well, then probably yes, Most of us would consider that a governmental abuse of authority.
Would you consider it an abuse of authority if that police chief sent a private resident a certified letter on police stationary threatening legal action if that resident did not stop posting on this blog?
Well yes that would be an abuse of authority, especially once the selectmen admitted that they did not authorize such a letter.
Would you consider it an abuse of authority if that police chief called a residents employment and told them that the resident was "under investigation by the police dept."?
Most probably you would, especially if it were you.
So the question that comes from all of this is; What should the town do about this situation?
Well it just so happens that we find the answer in the town employee handbook, under employee discipline;
First instance; Verbal Warning
Second instance; Written Warning
Third instance; Suspension
Fourth instance; Termination
So have there been multiple complaint of the same variety, alleging similar problems? most certainly.
Have those complaint come from different residents? Absolutely.
Have the selectmen addressed any of these complaints and have they taken any action at all? None! Nothing apparent at least.
Right now some of you may be thinking, sure how many have their really been? For this answer there are a couple of places that spell out the documentation;
1.) http://atkinson-reporter.blogspot.com/2007/09/atkinsons-recent-past-and-ongiong-legal.html
2.)www.atkinsontaxpayers.org click on the complaints link and the lawsuits link.
3.) There have been many documented complaints, and we have seen a lot of them on tv.
So do any of you feel that these instances rise to the level of an abuse of authority, if so, why?
conversation starts now.
Tuesday, March 11
How other NH towns handle assessing issues
Anonymous said...
Publius please accept this as an article submission
A quick update on assessing issues in Nottingham, NHA petitioned Special Town Meeting was held in Dec. 2007. All issues to be discussed were about a flawed reassessment done by Avitar of some waterfront properties around Pawtuckaway Lake. All issues passed in spite of Selectmen and the DRA shill who came to defend what had happened. (For the long version and details, go to : http://www.pawtuckawaylake.org/ )
The first result was that Avitar was banned by the people from having the assessing contract. Their contract expired on Dec. 31, 2007 and they were not allowed to bid again! Then came the Petition from taxpayers for a ballot question to all taxpayers/voters yesterday. It passes the control of Assessing from the Selectmen to an autonomous "Board of Assessors". This is allowed by a little used RSA. (Only four, now 5 municipalities have these Boards.) Here is the RSA: RSA 41:2-d Petition and Ballot. – Upon written petition of not less than 2 percent of the legal voters of any town, addressed and delivered to the selectmen not later than 35 days before any annual meeting, the following question, as requested in the application, shall be submitted to the voters at the meeting: ""Are you in favor of a 3-man board of assessors to be the legal assessing authority for the town?'' In towns having an official ballot the question shall appear upon the ballot, in accordance with RSA 59:12-a. In towns where no official ballot is used, the vote on this question shall be by special ballot. After the question, squares with the words ""yes'' and ""no'' shall be printed on the ballot in which the voter may mark his choice, in accordance with RSA 59:12-a. IT PASSED! 244 to 221 This gives us an opportunity to scrutinize and elect Assessors who have but one topic on their agenda. One task to be held accountable for.
One issue that Selectmen/Assessors did not take seriously enough! That is proper, fair and equitable assessing in our Town. We also have further articles on the Saturday's Town Meeting agenda.These deal with: 1. Mailing Property cards when changes are made by Town.2. Reducing charges for copies of public records to comply with 91-A "cost to copy".3. Required training for elected Town officials charged with Assessing.4. Required posting of all litigation including BTLA cases on a twice yearly basis.5. To forbid Selectmen/Assessors from forgiveness of interest on late tax bill payment (except for genuine poverty).
One further note, the Selectmen have created an "Assessing Advisory Committee" comprised of 5 community members. This is an admission that something big is wrong after years of denial and of a cozy relationship with Avitar.This move did no deter voters from taking "Assessing" from the Selectmen's duties... Background: Why are the Selectmen irked? I don’t know why for sure. But, the frowns, the exclamations of "oh my God!’, statements of resistance to change, suggestions of a "big government" mentality, inaccurate quotes of what the State Assessing Standards Board has said about Boards of Assessors, a fear by the Selectmen of a independent Board of Assessors providing values on neighbors properties, a fear that the Selectmen would no longer be able to provide tax relief to those they believe are in need, no longer able to provide interest free loans to late payers of property tax bills, and the Selectmen fear that the Board of Assessors would not be comprised of members that proportionally represent all parts of Town.
The Selectmen, me thinks, protest too much, and have no faith that anyone other then they are capable of holding office in fiscally responsible position. We disagree. Another issue for you to consider is your level of confidence in the existing Board of Selectmen/Assessors where one member of the Board will not allow the "professional" company to even drive down their driveway or enter the many buildings on the property to attempt a proper assessment !!!! So the "professionals" (as described many times by the Selectmen) are good enough for the rest of us, but when it comes to leading by example, I see inconsistent behavior with the words put out for public consumption.
The other two Board members are aware of this, but sit in compromised silence.Has this Board forsaken the majority of taxpayers for a few privileged? (Details of this are recorded on property cards maintained as public records.) We see all this as steps in the right direction at a local level while the State Department of Revenue and the Assessing Standards Board continue "to fiddle as Rome burns." I thank you all for encouragement, ideas, and communications.
Comment:Hopefully, with Mr. Paul Sullivan as Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, and the addition of Mr. Bill Friel as the newest addition to the board, they will take another look at the unfair assessment practices of our town. The Atkinson Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations would like to extend an invitation to them, to work with us in accomplishing this goal. The alternative would be to petition the town to set a special town meeting, to vote on warrant articles similar to Nottingham. Our committee is not opposed to HARD WORK.
Our Thanks go out to Mr. Gene Reed for keeping our committee informed as to what is going on in other parts of the State Of New Hampshire. Please note that he is Public Member of the NH Assessing Standards Board.Congratulations to Mr. Friel on his win as our newest member of the Board of Selectmen. Let us all observe his actions, to see if he is indeed the "Breath of Fresh Air" our board needs.
Sincere Regards,
Leon
Atkinson Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations Committee
Publius please accept this as an article submission
A quick update on assessing issues in Nottingham, NHA petitioned Special Town Meeting was held in Dec. 2007. All issues to be discussed were about a flawed reassessment done by Avitar of some waterfront properties around Pawtuckaway Lake. All issues passed in spite of Selectmen and the DRA shill who came to defend what had happened. (For the long version and details, go to : http://www.pawtuckawaylake.org/ )
The first result was that Avitar was banned by the people from having the assessing contract. Their contract expired on Dec. 31, 2007 and they were not allowed to bid again! Then came the Petition from taxpayers for a ballot question to all taxpayers/voters yesterday. It passes the control of Assessing from the Selectmen to an autonomous "Board of Assessors". This is allowed by a little used RSA. (Only four, now 5 municipalities have these Boards.) Here is the RSA: RSA 41:2-d Petition and Ballot. – Upon written petition of not less than 2 percent of the legal voters of any town, addressed and delivered to the selectmen not later than 35 days before any annual meeting, the following question, as requested in the application, shall be submitted to the voters at the meeting: ""Are you in favor of a 3-man board of assessors to be the legal assessing authority for the town?'' In towns having an official ballot the question shall appear upon the ballot, in accordance with RSA 59:12-a. In towns where no official ballot is used, the vote on this question shall be by special ballot. After the question, squares with the words ""yes'' and ""no'' shall be printed on the ballot in which the voter may mark his choice, in accordance with RSA 59:12-a. IT PASSED! 244 to 221 This gives us an opportunity to scrutinize and elect Assessors who have but one topic on their agenda. One task to be held accountable for.
One issue that Selectmen/Assessors did not take seriously enough! That is proper, fair and equitable assessing in our Town. We also have further articles on the Saturday's Town Meeting agenda.These deal with: 1. Mailing Property cards when changes are made by Town.2. Reducing charges for copies of public records to comply with 91-A "cost to copy".3. Required training for elected Town officials charged with Assessing.4. Required posting of all litigation including BTLA cases on a twice yearly basis.5. To forbid Selectmen/Assessors from forgiveness of interest on late tax bill payment (except for genuine poverty).
One further note, the Selectmen have created an "Assessing Advisory Committee" comprised of 5 community members. This is an admission that something big is wrong after years of denial and of a cozy relationship with Avitar.This move did no deter voters from taking "Assessing" from the Selectmen's duties... Background: Why are the Selectmen irked? I don’t know why for sure. But, the frowns, the exclamations of "oh my God!’, statements of resistance to change, suggestions of a "big government" mentality, inaccurate quotes of what the State Assessing Standards Board has said about Boards of Assessors, a fear by the Selectmen of a independent Board of Assessors providing values on neighbors properties, a fear that the Selectmen would no longer be able to provide tax relief to those they believe are in need, no longer able to provide interest free loans to late payers of property tax bills, and the Selectmen fear that the Board of Assessors would not be comprised of members that proportionally represent all parts of Town.
The Selectmen, me thinks, protest too much, and have no faith that anyone other then they are capable of holding office in fiscally responsible position. We disagree. Another issue for you to consider is your level of confidence in the existing Board of Selectmen/Assessors where one member of the Board will not allow the "professional" company to even drive down their driveway or enter the many buildings on the property to attempt a proper assessment !!!! So the "professionals" (as described many times by the Selectmen) are good enough for the rest of us, but when it comes to leading by example, I see inconsistent behavior with the words put out for public consumption.
The other two Board members are aware of this, but sit in compromised silence.Has this Board forsaken the majority of taxpayers for a few privileged? (Details of this are recorded on property cards maintained as public records.) We see all this as steps in the right direction at a local level while the State Department of Revenue and the Assessing Standards Board continue "to fiddle as Rome burns." I thank you all for encouragement, ideas, and communications.
Comment:Hopefully, with Mr. Paul Sullivan as Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, and the addition of Mr. Bill Friel as the newest addition to the board, they will take another look at the unfair assessment practices of our town. The Atkinson Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations would like to extend an invitation to them, to work with us in accomplishing this goal. The alternative would be to petition the town to set a special town meeting, to vote on warrant articles similar to Nottingham. Our committee is not opposed to HARD WORK.
Our Thanks go out to Mr. Gene Reed for keeping our committee informed as to what is going on in other parts of the State Of New Hampshire. Please note that he is Public Member of the NH Assessing Standards Board.Congratulations to Mr. Friel on his win as our newest member of the Board of Selectmen. Let us all observe his actions, to see if he is indeed the "Breath of Fresh Air" our board needs.
Sincere Regards,
Leon
Atkinson Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations Committee
Election Day in Atkinson!
And here are the results from today's voting;
Winner's are in Red.
SELECTMEN:
Bill Friel: 579
Valerie Tobin:542
Rich O'Leary:164
BUDGET COMMITTEE:
Jim Blackadar:824
Harold Morse:836
MODERATOR:
Frank Polito:856
Brian Boyle(write-in):199
CONFLICT OF INTEREST:
Jim Hazlett:766
Jack Sapia:585
Mark Acciard(write-in):191
LIBRARY TRUSTEE:
Joan Goff:1021
TRUSTEE OF THE TRUST FUNDS:
Barbara Snicer:1060
SUPERVISOR OF THE CHECKLIST:
Martha MacDonald:1097
CEMETERY TRUSTEE:
Don Murphy: 1065
WARRANT ARTICLES:
2008-02: Planning Change:
Yes:1014
No:221
2008-03: Zoning Change:
Yes:1022
No:211
2008-04: Operating Budget:
Yes:908
No:360
2008-05: Walker rd. Paving:
Yes:853
No:423
2008-06: Washington rd. Paving:
Yes:829
No:448
2008-07: Shim and Overlay:
Yes:824
No:451
2008-08: Police Dept. Driveway:
Yes:728
No:560
2008-09: Communications Tower($683,000):
Yes:352
No:920
2008-10: Communications Tower($100,000 Cap.Res.):
Yes:451
No:825
2008-11: Communications Tower($484,000):
Yes:269
No:1004
2008-12: Fire Dept. Cap. Res.:
Yes:862
No:430
2008-13: New Ambulance:
Yes:901
No:395
2008-14: Recreation Cap.Res.:
Yes:783
No:516
2008-15: East rd. Development:
Yes:727
No:541
2008-16: East rd. Construction:
Yes:727
No:540
2008-17: Mosquito Control:
Yes:1103
No:175
2008-18: Cemetery Mapping:
Yes:757
No:511
2008-19: Cemetery Design:
Yes:684
No:578
2008-20: Assist. Road Agent:
Yes:407
No:856
2008-21: NH Special Ops. Unit:
Yes:900
No:377
2008-22: Police Dept. SPOTS Terminal:
Yes:939
No:348
2008-23: Records Management:
Yes:334
No:929
2008-24: Town Office Addition($659,000):
Yes:176
No:1111
2008-25: Town Office Addition($50,000 Cap.Res):
Yes:435
No:847
2008-26: Hitchcock Rd. Acceptance:
Yes:860
No:390
2008-27: Destroyed Petition:
Yes:653
No:578
2008-28: Destroyed Petition:
Yes:785
No:440
2008-29: Destroyed Petition:
Yes: 738
No:397
2008-30: Destroyed Petition:
Yes: 854
No:318
2008-31: Destroyed Petition:
Yes: 778
No:409
2008-32: Destroyed Petition:
Yes: 1021
No:215
2008-33: Destroyed Petition:
Yes: 626
No:566
2008-34: Destroyed Petition:
Yes: 642
No:555
2008-35: Election Polling Hours:
Yes: 583
No:638
Congratulations to all the winners of offices, we hope and are confident that you will all perform the duties of your office with honor, and integrity, following the rules, and decorum. Again Congratulations.
Winner's are in Red.
SELECTMEN:
Bill Friel: 579
Valerie Tobin:542
Rich O'Leary:164
BUDGET COMMITTEE:
Jim Blackadar:824
Harold Morse:836
MODERATOR:
Frank Polito:856
Brian Boyle(write-in):199
CONFLICT OF INTEREST:
Jim Hazlett:766
Jack Sapia:585
Mark Acciard(write-in):191
LIBRARY TRUSTEE:
Joan Goff:1021
TRUSTEE OF THE TRUST FUNDS:
Barbara Snicer:1060
SUPERVISOR OF THE CHECKLIST:
Martha MacDonald:1097
CEMETERY TRUSTEE:
Don Murphy: 1065
WARRANT ARTICLES:
2008-02: Planning Change:
Yes:1014
No:221
2008-03: Zoning Change:
Yes:1022
No:211
2008-04: Operating Budget:
Yes:908
No:360
2008-05: Walker rd. Paving:
Yes:853
No:423
2008-06: Washington rd. Paving:
Yes:829
No:448
2008-07: Shim and Overlay:
Yes:824
No:451
2008-08: Police Dept. Driveway:
Yes:728
No:560
2008-09: Communications Tower($683,000):
Yes:352
No:920
2008-10: Communications Tower($100,000 Cap.Res.):
Yes:451
No:825
2008-11: Communications Tower($484,000):
Yes:269
No:1004
2008-12: Fire Dept. Cap. Res.:
Yes:862
No:430
2008-13: New Ambulance:
Yes:901
No:395
2008-14: Recreation Cap.Res.:
Yes:783
No:516
2008-15: East rd. Development:
Yes:727
No:541
2008-16: East rd. Construction:
Yes:727
No:540
2008-17: Mosquito Control:
Yes:1103
No:175
2008-18: Cemetery Mapping:
Yes:757
No:511
2008-19: Cemetery Design:
Yes:684
No:578
2008-20: Assist. Road Agent:
Yes:407
No:856
2008-21: NH Special Ops. Unit:
Yes:900
No:377
2008-22: Police Dept. SPOTS Terminal:
Yes:939
No:348
2008-23: Records Management:
Yes:334
No:929
2008-24: Town Office Addition($659,000):
Yes:176
No:1111
2008-25: Town Office Addition($50,000 Cap.Res):
Yes:435
No:847
2008-26: Hitchcock Rd. Acceptance:
Yes:860
No:390
2008-27: Destroyed Petition:
Yes:653
No:578
2008-28: Destroyed Petition:
Yes:785
No:440
2008-29: Destroyed Petition:
Yes: 738
No:397
2008-30: Destroyed Petition:
Yes: 854
No:318
2008-31: Destroyed Petition:
Yes: 778
No:409
2008-32: Destroyed Petition:
Yes: 1021
No:215
2008-33: Destroyed Petition:
Yes: 626
No:566
2008-34: Destroyed Petition:
Yes: 642
No:555
2008-35: Election Polling Hours:
Yes: 583
No:638
Congratulations to all the winners of offices, we hope and are confident that you will all perform the duties of your office with honor, and integrity, following the rules, and decorum. Again Congratulations.
WOW, What a Meeting!
The first half hour was great entertainment! Paul was in great form, as he reigned in Phil's latest excess, and pointed out that Jack was..... um..... stating an untruth? Hopefully that is politically correct.
It all started out quiet enough, with Phil requesting money from the Donation acct., although STILL no money for one of his own, corporal Lapham! You will remember Mr. Acciard coming before the board 9 WEEKS AGO to request a $10,000.00 withdrawal to benefit cpl. Lapham, and for the first time, the selectmen questioned a withdrawal form this slush fund. That meeting even contained the unbelievable statement by Phil, that the donation acct. was not to be used for that purpose, because it would shortchange the elderly! One of his own men! Unreal!
Anyway, from that point tonights meeting disintigrated before Jack's very eyes. Phil proceeded to explain how he pulled over two residents for placing flyers in newspaper boxes and on the outside of mailboxes. He even stated that he had pictures of the residents doing this. This is how our tax dollars are spent, evidently, Phil has appointed himself, a United States Postal Inspector. They are the only people who enforce postal regulations, and only at the request of the postmaster. The postmaster stated that he had no problem with the flyers, and assumed that something political was going on, when Phil stormed into the post office last week to search the regulations. This is obviously another case of Phil using the authority of his position to "go after" someone that he doesn't like. Phil claime dhe had gotten "so many" complaints that he investigated, the postmaster stated he had received no complaints from anyone other than Phil. So who do YOU believe?
Paul was right to point out that as a local police chief, he has no authority to investigate any potential FEDERAL offense. This is the guy who is currently a defendant in a federal civil rights violation suit, and he is still doing the type of things that got him and the town sued in the first place.
The meting then progressed to Paul admitting that the selectmen were wrong to order the blog signs taken down. He said he had done his research and the signs were legal. There was extended discussion with Jack trying to gavel Paul down, telling him that he was out of order! Tell me, why is it that whenever anyone says something Jack doesn't like, they are out of order? And how can a selectmen discussing town business EVER be out of order? Jack kept claiming it was his meeting, Guess what, Jack..... It is not YOUR meeting, it is the Selectmen's meeting, the People's meeting as you claimed when you were running for that office. Paul was right again, especially when Jack claimed, once again, that he had "spoken to Sumner(town's attorney)and Sumner siad to take them down", to which Paul replied that HE had called Sumner, and Sumner told HIM that he had told Jack NOT TO TAKE THEM DOWN! Once again, who do you believe?
You really can't make this stuff up!
It all started out quiet enough, with Phil requesting money from the Donation acct., although STILL no money for one of his own, corporal Lapham! You will remember Mr. Acciard coming before the board 9 WEEKS AGO to request a $10,000.00 withdrawal to benefit cpl. Lapham, and for the first time, the selectmen questioned a withdrawal form this slush fund. That meeting even contained the unbelievable statement by Phil, that the donation acct. was not to be used for that purpose, because it would shortchange the elderly! One of his own men! Unreal!
Anyway, from that point tonights meeting disintigrated before Jack's very eyes. Phil proceeded to explain how he pulled over two residents for placing flyers in newspaper boxes and on the outside of mailboxes. He even stated that he had pictures of the residents doing this. This is how our tax dollars are spent, evidently, Phil has appointed himself, a United States Postal Inspector. They are the only people who enforce postal regulations, and only at the request of the postmaster. The postmaster stated that he had no problem with the flyers, and assumed that something political was going on, when Phil stormed into the post office last week to search the regulations. This is obviously another case of Phil using the authority of his position to "go after" someone that he doesn't like. Phil claime dhe had gotten "so many" complaints that he investigated, the postmaster stated he had received no complaints from anyone other than Phil. So who do YOU believe?
Paul was right to point out that as a local police chief, he has no authority to investigate any potential FEDERAL offense. This is the guy who is currently a defendant in a federal civil rights violation suit, and he is still doing the type of things that got him and the town sued in the first place.
The meting then progressed to Paul admitting that the selectmen were wrong to order the blog signs taken down. He said he had done his research and the signs were legal. There was extended discussion with Jack trying to gavel Paul down, telling him that he was out of order! Tell me, why is it that whenever anyone says something Jack doesn't like, they are out of order? And how can a selectmen discussing town business EVER be out of order? Jack kept claiming it was his meeting, Guess what, Jack..... It is not YOUR meeting, it is the Selectmen's meeting, the People's meeting as you claimed when you were running for that office. Paul was right again, especially when Jack claimed, once again, that he had "spoken to Sumner(town's attorney)and Sumner siad to take them down", to which Paul replied that HE had called Sumner, and Sumner told HIM that he had told Jack NOT TO TAKE THEM DOWN! Once again, who do you believe?
You really can't make this stuff up!
NEW - CAMPAIGN WATCH-DOG!
A NEW watchdog - OLD Watchdog is in archive.
We need to keep a closer watch on the campaigns for atkinson’s offices. Use comments to inform and report:
a. Sign activity, Removals
b. Mailings and circulars
c. News articles and letters
d. Telephone vote solicitation
Comments which neither inform nor report will be deleted and noted in comment section.
We need to keep a closer watch on the campaigns for atkinson’s offices. Use comments to inform and report:
a. Sign activity, Removals
b. Mailings and circulars
c. News articles and letters
d. Telephone vote solicitation
Comments which neither inform nor report will be deleted and noted in comment section.
Selectmen Candidates... Start your engines!
As most of the offices this year are unopposed, and as the selectmen's race appears to be the focus of so many, The Atkinson Reporter would like to extend an invitation to Mr. Friel, Ms. Tobin, and Mr. O'Leary to post position papers here. Please feel free to post your positions on issues, your feelings about the past, present, and future conduct of the Board of Selectmen, and where you wish to take the town.
Please tell us what you think, why you are running, what you wish to accomplish, and what your qualifications are.
Free Publicity is waiting. Good Luck.
_________________________________________
First submission:
Publius- please accept this article as a submission to "Selectman Candidates"
Valerie Tobin said :
Dear Residents ,
I would like this opportunity to introduce my self to those of you who do not know me. My name is Valerie Tobin, I have lived here in town for 26 years along with my husband of 30 years, and two children, Kyle 24, and Katelyn 15. I'm running for the office of selectman.
I am running for this office because I too, have watched the circus over the last three years, and I believe this town's business can, and should be conducted better, more honorably, with more integrity, and with much, much, more respect for the residents, employees or other elected officials who come before the board for any reason at all.
More and more I have heard from residents that they do not want to go into selectmen's meetings, they don't even want to watch them on T.V. because of the general level of disrespect they see exhibited. I believe that anyone should feel comfortable that if they come before the board with anything, even it it is a critical comment, they should be treated with respect, thanked for coming in, and listened to. And if their issue is something that the board can help with, then we should look into it and report back.
I believe that town business should be conducted in open before the public at all times other than those SPECIFICALLY listed under the Non-Public Meeting Section of the Right To Know Law. I believe that out town government exists to serve ALL the people, not just some of them. And if you can not treat a resident with respect, even if you, personally, dislike that person, then you have no business being an elected official.
I believe that the selectmen should not refuse to do the right thing, because a court has not told them they have to. They should do the right thing, without anyone having to tell them.
I know people are worried about specific issues, so here is my take on them. I am not in favor of a special town-wide re-evaluation. I am in favor of asking our state reps, to look into these assessing standards (or lack thereof) at the State level, where they belong. In town here, I think that we have to continually strive to eliminate mistakes, and over assessments when and where we can, but I believe with good management we can do this without encumbering the town with extraordinary expense.
I understand the critical nature and issue of the water withdrawal ordinance because water quality and quantity is a vital resource for a bedrock community who has no other resource to draw water from. The Board of selectman and planning board should be well instructed on this issue and do what is necessary to protect our water and ultimately the values of our properties. The people of Atkinson, passed a water withdrawal ordinance at town meeting last year, and until someone challenges that ordinance and wins, the selectmen are duty bound to uphold the expressed wishes of the majority of the voters. I believe that once the voters speak, debate ends, and we do what they say. I know this will be unpopular in some quarters, but I am running to do what is right, not what is popular. Our board of selectmen has done that for three years, and ended this town in lawsuit after lawsuit, with no appreciable gain for the taxpayers.
I believe that the disposal of town property, no matter what it is, should be as open, and yield as much money to the taxpayers as possible, after all, would you sell something for a song, if you knew you could get more for it? We, as stewards of the town, have a responsibility to cost our taxpayers as little as possible, in the governing of out town, and I intend to do just that.
With regard to Elderly Affairs, as a female candidate for selectman, I am uniquely suited in understanding the needs of the elderly. I understand the dynamics of the elderly on the family and their needs. I would like to expand the Elderly Affairs Department, to more than just giving rides, to include, but not limited to, all resources available to the Town, free of charge, that are outside the boundries of the Town of Atkinson, I would like to make sure that ALL residents have access to these services, and help/information that is important to their lives and needs.
I believe that all information should be made public, such as posting the selectman's agenda, budgets for each department and monthly expenditures to name a few.
The town website should be expanded to make this and all information easily and readily available, along with streaming video. I would call upon residents who have knowledge and expertise in this area to work with the Board to improve this service so that there would be no cost to the taxpayers.
I hope that this has given you some insight into who I am and what I am about. I apologize if I have been to long winded, but I am passionate about my beliefs. If anyone should have any questions that I have failed to answer, I will be at candidates night, 2/20 from 7-9:30, or feel free to call me at 603-362-5402.
Thank you for reading this and please
VOTE FOR VALERIE!!
____________________________________
No general comments please. Place comments with other articles. Thank you.
Please tell us what you think, why you are running, what you wish to accomplish, and what your qualifications are.
Free Publicity is waiting. Good Luck.
_________________________________________
First submission:
Publius- please accept this article as a submission to "Selectman Candidates"
Valerie Tobin said :
Dear Residents ,
I would like this opportunity to introduce my self to those of you who do not know me. My name is Valerie Tobin, I have lived here in town for 26 years along with my husband of 30 years, and two children, Kyle 24, and Katelyn 15. I'm running for the office of selectman.
I am running for this office because I too, have watched the circus over the last three years, and I believe this town's business can, and should be conducted better, more honorably, with more integrity, and with much, much, more respect for the residents, employees or other elected officials who come before the board for any reason at all.
More and more I have heard from residents that they do not want to go into selectmen's meetings, they don't even want to watch them on T.V. because of the general level of disrespect they see exhibited. I believe that anyone should feel comfortable that if they come before the board with anything, even it it is a critical comment, they should be treated with respect, thanked for coming in, and listened to. And if their issue is something that the board can help with, then we should look into it and report back.
I believe that town business should be conducted in open before the public at all times other than those SPECIFICALLY listed under the Non-Public Meeting Section of the Right To Know Law. I believe that out town government exists to serve ALL the people, not just some of them. And if you can not treat a resident with respect, even if you, personally, dislike that person, then you have no business being an elected official.
I believe that the selectmen should not refuse to do the right thing, because a court has not told them they have to. They should do the right thing, without anyone having to tell them.
I know people are worried about specific issues, so here is my take on them. I am not in favor of a special town-wide re-evaluation. I am in favor of asking our state reps, to look into these assessing standards (or lack thereof) at the State level, where they belong. In town here, I think that we have to continually strive to eliminate mistakes, and over assessments when and where we can, but I believe with good management we can do this without encumbering the town with extraordinary expense.
I understand the critical nature and issue of the water withdrawal ordinance because water quality and quantity is a vital resource for a bedrock community who has no other resource to draw water from. The Board of selectman and planning board should be well instructed on this issue and do what is necessary to protect our water and ultimately the values of our properties. The people of Atkinson, passed a water withdrawal ordinance at town meeting last year, and until someone challenges that ordinance and wins, the selectmen are duty bound to uphold the expressed wishes of the majority of the voters. I believe that once the voters speak, debate ends, and we do what they say. I know this will be unpopular in some quarters, but I am running to do what is right, not what is popular. Our board of selectmen has done that for three years, and ended this town in lawsuit after lawsuit, with no appreciable gain for the taxpayers.
I believe that the disposal of town property, no matter what it is, should be as open, and yield as much money to the taxpayers as possible, after all, would you sell something for a song, if you knew you could get more for it? We, as stewards of the town, have a responsibility to cost our taxpayers as little as possible, in the governing of out town, and I intend to do just that.
With regard to Elderly Affairs, as a female candidate for selectman, I am uniquely suited in understanding the needs of the elderly. I understand the dynamics of the elderly on the family and their needs. I would like to expand the Elderly Affairs Department, to more than just giving rides, to include, but not limited to, all resources available to the Town, free of charge, that are outside the boundries of the Town of Atkinson, I would like to make sure that ALL residents have access to these services, and help/information that is important to their lives and needs.
I believe that all information should be made public, such as posting the selectman's agenda, budgets for each department and monthly expenditures to name a few.
The town website should be expanded to make this and all information easily and readily available, along with streaming video. I would call upon residents who have knowledge and expertise in this area to work with the Board to improve this service so that there would be no cost to the taxpayers.
I hope that this has given you some insight into who I am and what I am about. I apologize if I have been to long winded, but I am passionate about my beliefs. If anyone should have any questions that I have failed to answer, I will be at candidates night, 2/20 from 7-9:30, or feel free to call me at 603-362-5402.
Thank you for reading this and please
VOTE FOR VALERIE!!
____________________________________
No general comments please. Place comments with other articles. Thank you.
Part #2- Continue Please use this article to post any comments about the Selectmen's Candidates positions
Please continue to post comments here. Part #1 (below) is now "Read Only" for comments
Part #1-Please use this article to post any comments about the Selectmen's Candidates positions
Part #1 In the above article the candidates are free to post their position papers, please use this article for comments on those positions.
Monday, March 10
AGELESS WIT AND OBSERVATIONS (and Truisms)
Anonymous said...
Publius- please accept this as a submission article
AGELESS WIT AND OBSERVATIONS (and Truisms)
"If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed."Mark Twain
Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress....But then I repeat myself.-Mark Twain
I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.-Winston Churchill
A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.- George Bernard Shaw
A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. -G Gordon Liddy
Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. -James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)
Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.-Douglas Casey, Classmate of Bill Clinton at GeorgetownUniversity
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.-P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian
Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.-Frederic Bastiat, French Economist (1801-1850)
Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
Vote for Valerie Tobin, and help put an end to the insanity at town hall.
Atkinson Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations Committee
Publius- please accept this as a submission article
AGELESS WIT AND OBSERVATIONS (and Truisms)
"If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed."Mark Twain
Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress....But then I repeat myself.-Mark Twain
I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.-Winston Churchill
A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.- George Bernard Shaw
A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. -G Gordon Liddy
Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. -James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)
Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.-Douglas Casey, Classmate of Bill Clinton at GeorgetownUniversity
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.-P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian
Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.-Frederic Bastiat, French Economist (1801-1850)
Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
Vote for Valerie Tobin, and help put an end to the insanity at town hall.
Atkinson Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations Committee
Atkinson Taxpayers for Fair Evaluations Recommendations
Publius- please accept this as a submission article
SUBJECT: Your committee’s recommendations for three important Town office positions this year at the ballot box
GOOD MORNING ALL ATKINSON TAXPAYERS FOR FAIR EVALUATIONS COMMITTEE MAILING LIST PEOPLE
There are three important town positions on the ballot this year. One Selectman seat, one Town Moderator seat, and one Conflict of Interest seat. Jack Sapia, Fred Childs, and Frank Polito were instrumental in blocking your committee’s efforts to get fair and proportional property tax assessments for all town property owners.
Mr. Sapia decided not to run for his selectmen’s seat (which is good for the town) but is running unopposed for the Conflict Of Interest Committee. (Not good for the town)
Mr. Polito is running unopposed for the Town Moderator seat, and that isn’t good for our goals.
There are three people running for the open selectman’s seat. Valerie Tobin, Bill Friel, and Richard O’Leary. Mrs. Tobin was the only one that filed position papers. (Please take a moment to read her paper and biography at the end of this email), Mr. O’Leary admits he has NO PLATFORM, and Mr. Friel was asked to run by Mr. Sapia. Your committee has a problem with that. (We don’t want a Jack Sapia "Look Alike" in that position. Mr. Friel is new comer to to our community, and Mrs. Tobin has lived here for 26 years.
Accordingly, we would like to ask for your vote in favor of Mrs. Tobin. In addition, we (like other committees in town) are asking you to write in Mr. Brian Boyle for Town Moderator, and Mark Acciard for Conflict Of Interest Committee. We know that a write in candidate is usually a ‘long shot" to win, but this year is different. With your help, we believe we can win those seats, but taking the time to write these names on the ballot will be the only way to do it.
Thank you for taking your time to consider these recommendations, and we look forward to seeing you at the Voting Booth this Tuesday.
Sincere regards,
Atkinson Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations Committee.
Valerie Tobin's POSITION PAPER
Dear Residents
I would like this opportunity to introduce my self to those of you who do not know me. My name is Valerie Tobin, I have lived here in town for 26 years along with my husband of 30 years, and two children, Kyle 24, and Katelyn 15. I'm running for the office of selectman.
I am running for this office because I too, have watched the circus over the last three years, and I believe this town's business can, and should be conducted better, more honorably, with more integrity, and with much, much, more respect for the residents, employees or other elected officials who come before the board for any reason at all.
More and more I have heard from residents that they do not want to go into selectmen's meetings, they don't even want to watch them on T.V. because of the general level of disrespect they see exhibited. I believe that anyone should feel comfortable that if they come before the board with anything, even it it is a critical comment, they should be treated with respect, thanked for coming in, and listened to. And if their issue is something that the board can help with, then we should look into it and report back.
I believe that town business should be conducted in open before the public at all times other than those SPECIFICALLY listed under the Non-Public Meeting Section of the Right To Know Law. I believe that out town government exists to serve ALL the people, not just some of them. And if you can not treat a resident with respect, even if you, personally, dislike that person, then you have no business being an elected official.
I believe that the selectmen should not refuse to do the right thing, because a court has not told them they have to. They should do the right thing, without anyone having to tell them.
I know people are worried about specific issues, so here is my take on them. I am not in favor of a special town-wide re-evaluation. I am in favor of asking our state reps, to look into these assessing standards (or lack thereof) at the State level, where they belong. In town here, I think that we have to continually strive to eliminate mistakes, and over assessments when and where we can, but I believe with good management we can do this without encumbering the town with extraordinary expense.
I understand the critical nature and issue of the water withdrawal ordinance because water quality and quantity is a vital resource for a bedrock community who has no other resource to draw water from. The Board of selectman and planning board should be well instructed on this issue and do what is necessary to protect our water and ultimately the values of our properties. The people of Atkinson, passed a water withdrawal ordinance at town meeting last year, and until someone challenges that ordinance and wins, the selectmen are duty bound to uphold the expressed wishes of the majority of the voters. I believe that once the voters speak, debate ends, and we do what they say. I know this will be unpopular in some quarters, but I am running to do what is right, not what is popular. Our board of selectmen has done that for three years, and ended this town in lawsuit after lawsuit, with no appreciable gain for the taxpayers.
I believe that the disposal of town property, no matter what it is, should be as open, and yield as much money to the taxpayers as possible, after all, would you sell something for a song, if you knew you could get more for it? We, as stewards of the town, have a responsibility to cost our taxpayers as little as possible, in the governing of out town, and I intend to do just that.
With regard to Elderly Affairs, as a female candidate for selectman, I am uniquely suited in understanding the needs of the elderly. I understand the dynamics of the elderly on the family and their needs. I would like to expand the Elderly Affairs Department, to more than just giving rides, to include, but not limited to, all resources available to the Town, free of charge, that are outside the boundries of the Town of Atkinson, I would like to make sure that ALL residents have access to these services, and help/information that is important to their lives and needs.
I believe that all information should be made public, such as posting the selectman's agenda, budgets for each department and monthly expenditures to name a few.
The town website should be expanded to make this and all information easily and readily available, along with streaming video. I would call upon residents who have knowledge and expertise in this area to work with the Board to improve this service so that there would be no cost to the taxpayers.
I hope that this has given you some insight into who I am and what I am about. I apologize if I have been to long winded, but I am passionate about my beliefs. If anyone should have any questions feel free to call me at 603-362-5402.
Thank you for reading this and please
VOTE FOR VALERIE!!
____________________________________
Biography of Valerie Tobin
I was born in a small town in Vermont, and raised on a family farm with 4 other siblings. My mom and dad worked hard to raise all of us kids with good values, morals and "to do unto others as they would do unto you". During my childhood, I worked with my mom and dad, tending the gardens, running the household, and working in the fields with my bothers baling hay. We were taught that hard work was good for the soul, thus my work ethic of working long days, and usually 7 days a week. I didn't know what a vacation was because there was no time to take a vacation, and no money to vacation. But you never miss something you never had. It was a great way to be raised and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I graduated from Chelsea High School in 1974, received the Principle's award as a leader and many awards in spots. I went on to the University of Vermont and graduated there with a BS degree in Consumer and Homemaking Education and Consumer Economics in 1978. I minored in law. I married my husband, Garry, that year, and we moved to Derry, NH lived there for 2 years, then moved to Methuen, MA where we resided for 3 years, before settling in Atkinson. I taught high school for 3 years and they started selling real estate in Salem. From there, I worked with relocation companies to help sell property for people that were moving, and help those that were moving into the area. I ventured out into Commercial Development until the market crashed in the early 90's. I worked with the federal agencies, banks, planning boards and the Attorney General's office to create performing assets. I currently work for First Call Mortgage in Andover, Massachusetts as a mortgage originator as well as finishing a 55+ elderly housing development in Sandown, and expect that I will be working on this project for a few years. Our son, Kyle, was born in 1984. He has graduated from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, in Electrical Engineering and is half way through his masters. He currently works for Sun Microsystems in Burlington, MA. Our daughter, Katelyn, was born in 1992, and is currently enrolled at St. Thomas Aquinas in Dover, NH. She, like her brother, is an aggressive learner and is in the honors programs, and plans to further her learning in College as a veterinarian. Katelyn currently competes at a national and international level in the Morgan circuit as a hunt seat rider. I've always been interested in politics. As a high school student, the school ran mock elections, and of course I participated- giving speeches on my platforms. I went to Girl's state and participated in the government process. I'm very concerned the way our community, state and federal government is being run, and want to participate to help make changes that can brighten the future of my children and yours.
An Outstanding assessment of this year's ballot
-
Publius: Article Submission.
Should have done this earlier but better late than never. Here's how I'm voting Tuesday.
Selectman - Topic has been beaten to death. Time for change. Valerie all the way.
Conflict of Interest - Jack Sapia - Puleeeeeeeese, gives us a break. If he is elected anyone going before that board should immediately insist he recuse himself. Write in Carol Grant
Moderator - Tough job but needs to be done better.Write in - Mark Acciard
All the others, no problem.
Warrant articles-
Item 4 - Thought the budget committee did a good job of presenting it but next time the supporting documentation would be nice. I vote yes, but the police budget needs a close review. Has anyone seen how many cruisers are sitting in the PD parking lot, not to mention what the chief has at home? If only one car is on duty at any one time, why so many cars? And the donation accounts are screaming for oversight.
Items 5, 6 and 7. Road construction and repair -Yes.
Item 8 - New PD driveway. Get that house in order before any improvements. - No.
Item 9 - Communications Tower - Poorly conceived, poorly presented, ripped apart on cross examination, all to solve a problem that has not been fully characterized. Cheaper alternatives were rejected out of hand and the plan as presented is way overkill and way expensive. Most definite NO.
Item 10 - Capital reserve fund for communications system. Money will likely need to be spent. Hopefully not nearly as much as Item 9 asks for. Might as well accept it and start setting aside some funds. - Yes
Item 11- The committee was charged to come up with two proposals. They came up with bad and worse than bad. It should not even be on the ballot. - NO.
Items 12 and 13 - FD capital reserve and new ambulance. Chief Murphy did his homework and presented a convincing case. - Yes.
Items 14, 15, and 16 - Recreational stuff. Don't use any of it. Most of the money appears to be there so why not - Yes.
Item 17 - Mosquito Control. When I was a kid mosquitoes were just pests. Now they kill. If anything, we should be spending more here - Yes.
Items 18 and 19 - Cemetery stuff. Dale Childs did a good job presenting but then she started taking her last name to heart. All that was missing was her throwing fruit at the speakers. Can't trust a word out of her mouth anymore. - No.
Item 20 - Road Agent Assistant. Here is a case of Ted trying to do the right thing and he got badgered for it. A yes in my book.
Item 21 - NH Operations Unit. Sure, why not - Yes.
Item 22- Spots terminals for 3 crusiers. I'm fine with this as long as one does not end up in the Chief's car. No gunny, no Spotty. - Yes.
Item 23 - Records Management System - Time to come into the 21st century - Yes.
Item 24 - Town hall addition. Not this year. Things are tough and getting much tougher for all of us. Maybe next year - No
Item 25 - Capital reserve fund for Town Hall addition - Sure
Item 26 - Road acceptance. Guess this means they can get plowed now - Yes.
Items 27, 28 and 29. Not what Leon wanted but he did it to himself. Refer to the my submission in http://atkinson-reporter.blogspot.com/2008/02/deliberative-session-rules-show-up-or.html regarding how to present a petition. Too many of these guidelines were not followed. Rethink the goals and try again next year - No
Item 30 - Working in harmony - What a fricking joke. A perfect example of what is broken in the Deliberative Session process - No
Item 31- Frivolous Lawsuits - Jack and the chief seemed to get extremely excited when this passed. Not a good sign. - No
Item 32 - Disposing of capital equipment. Started with the cloud surrounding the cruiser trade-in. Why is it the chief had to beg the dealer to take the car in trade, and yet his son buys it the next day. Fails the smell test. - This is a Yes but watch the "trade" part of it. That is what got us into this mess. Someone else should be assigned to negotiate cruiser trades.
Items 33, 34 - Not what Carol wanted but, again, I refer her to http://atkinson-reporter.blogspot.com/2008/02/deliberative-session-rules-show-up-or.html and keep trying - I believe she wanted a No on these.
Differ if you want. Just my opinion.
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ATKINSON's Vietnam HONOR ROLL as VOTED and PASSED by 2005 Town Meeting and re-approved at Special Town Meeting Sept. 12
Publius- please accept this as a submission article
Subject: THE COMPLETE COPY OF THIS YEARS ATKINSON'S BALLOT
To: Atkinson Taxpayers Mailing List & Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations Committee Mailing List
Fr: Atkinson Taxpayers Committee
Subject: Atkinson's Voting Day Is This Tuesday. Your vote is important.
Listed below is THE COMPLETE COPY OF THIS YEARS BALLOT to assist you in voting. Please print out this ballot and share it with others via email. You can use it as a reference and take it to the voting booth if that helps.
Please vote. This may be the most important year ever for your vote to count.
State of New Hampshire
Town of Atkinson
Amended 2008 Town Meeting Warrant
Article 2008-02
Are you in favor of the following Amendment proposed by the Planning Board, which would amend the following sections of the Atkinson Building Codes in accordance with NH RSA 155-A.
Section 610:1 to read as follows "All conventionally constructed buildings shall conform to and comply with the New Hampshire State Building Codes."
Section 610:2 will be deleted because the State Building Codes are more stringent.
Section 610:3 and 630:1 will be deleted, as they would be included in the amended section 610:1.
Article 2008-03
Are you in favor the following Amendments to the Zoning Ordinance proposed by the Planning Board which would replace the existing Floodplain Conservation District Ordinance section 420:1 to 420:5 with the Floodplain Management Ordinance, which will update the ordinance to federal standards in order to bring the Town of Atkinson into compliance with the requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program and to update Section 300, Definitions, accordingly.
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations
Article 2008-04 Operating Budget
Shall the Town of Atkinson raise and appropriate as an operating budget, not including appropriations by special warrant articles and other appropriations voted separately, the amounts set forth on the budget posted with the warrant or as amended by vote of the first session, for the purposes set forth therein, totaling four million eighty eight thousand five hundred fifty dollars ($4,088,550). Should this article be defeated, the default budget shall be four million seventy-one thousand four hundred forty-two dollars ($4,071,442), which is the same as last year, with certain adjustments required by previous action of the Town of Atkinson or by law or the governing body may hold one special meeting, in accordance with RSA 40:13,X and XVI, to take up the issue of a revised operating budget only. NOTE: This Warrant Article does not include appropriation in any other warrant article. (Majority vote required)
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen
Recommended by the Budget Committee
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations Let it go to default budget
Article 2008-05 Walker Road Paving
Shall the Town vote to raise and appropriate the sum of one hundred forty-five thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine dollars ($145,889) for reclamation, paving and drainage for 2,600 feet of Walker Road? All work will be done under the supervision of the Road Agent. This article is in addition to Article 2008-04, the operating budget.
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen
Recommended by the Budget Committee
Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations
Article 2008-06 Washington Road Paving
Shall the Town vote to raise and appropriate the sum of forty-two thousand and ninety dollars ($42,090) for reclamation, paving and drainage for 1,003 feet of Washington Road? All work will be done under the supervision of the road agent. This article is in addition to Article 2008-04, the operating budget.
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen
Recommended by the Budget Committee
Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations
Article 2008-07 Shim and Overlay
Shall the Town vote to raise and appropriate the sum of one hundred thirty-five thousand dollars ($135,000) for shim and overlay work on Atkinson Farm Road, Spickett Valley Road and Providence Hill Road? All work will be done under the supervision of the Road Agent. This article is in addition to Article 2008-04, the operating budget.
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen
Recommended by the Budget Committee
Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations
Article 2008-08 Police Department Driveway
Shall the Town vote to raise and appropriate the sum of fourteen thousand seven hundred dollars ($14,700) to construct a driveway exit from the back parking lot of the Police Station onto Academy Avenue. All work will be done under the supervision of the Road Agent. This article is in addition to Article 2008-04, the operating budget.
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen
Recommended by the Budget Committee
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations
Article 2008-09 Communications Tower
Shall the Town vote to raise and appropriate the sum of six hundred eighty three thousand dollars ($683,000) for the construction and erection of a 120’ monopole communications tower and for the purchase, and professional installation of the public safety communications equipment needed as described in Option-4 of the CDCG engineering study of 2007, and to be constructed on Town owned property located behind the Atkinson Fire Station. The tower will be designed for the use of Town Emergency Communications equipment, with room for future expansion as the need arises, and will be maintained by the Town. Should this article pass, Article 2008-10 is null and void. This article is in addition to Article 2008-04, the operating budget.
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen
Not Recommended by the Budget Committee
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations
Article 2008-10 Communications Tower
Shall the Town of Atkinson vote to establish a Capital Reserve Fund for the Town’s public safety communications system and raise and appropriate the sum of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000) to deposit in the newly established Public Safety Communications Capital Reserve? Should Article 2008- 9 pass, this Article, Article 2008- 10, is null and void.
Recommended by the Budget Committee
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations
Article 2008-11 Communications Tower
Shall the Town vote to raise and appropriate the sum of four hundred eighty four thousand dollars ($484,000) for the purchase of public safety communications equipment needed and the professional installation of the public safety communications equipment on a monopole tower with a maximum height of 180’ in height located on Town owned property behind the Atkinson Fire Station as specified by Option-2 of the CDCG engineering study of 2007. The monopole tower shall be erected by a Commercial Communications or Development Company who shall be responsible for the construction costs and maintenance of said tower. Said Commercial Communications or Development Company shall secure the primary site location of Atkinson emergency communications equipment and microwave communication linkage equipment on said tower. Should either Article 2008-9 or Article 2008-10 pass this Article, Article 2008-11 is null and void. This article is in addition to Article 2008-04, the operating budget.
Not Recommended by the Budget Committee
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations
Article 2008-12 Fire Department Capital Reserve
Shall the Town vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Sixty Thousand Dollars ($60,000) to be added to the Fire Department Capital Reserve Fund previously established for the purpose of acquiring fire equipment and vehicles as determined by the Board of Engineer’s Capital Improvement Plan. The approximate current balance is one hundred eighty six thousand twenty-four dollars $186,024. This article is in addition to Article 2008-04, the operating budget.
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen
Recommended by the Budget Committee
Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations
Article 2008-13 New Ambulance
Shall the Town vote to appropriate the sum of one hundred forty seven thousand nine hundred fifty dollars ($147,950) from the Fire Department Capital Reserve Fund for the purchase of a new ambulance as part of the regular Fire Department equipment replacement program? This article is in addition to Article 2008-04, the operating budget.
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen
Recommended by the Budget Committee
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations
Article 2008-14 Recreation Capital Reserve
Shall the Town vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Twenty Five Thousand Dollars ($25,000) to be added to the Recreation Capital Reserve Fund. The purpose of the fund is for the acquisition, design, renovations, and development of the recreation area including fields and playgrounds. This article is in addition to Article 2008-04, the operating budget.
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen
Recommended by the Budget Committee
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations
Article 2008-15 East Road Recreation Development & Design
Shall the Town vote to appropriate the sum of thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) for survey engineering/design site plans to include septic design, test well, road cut for state approval, parking lot design, 1 full athletic field, ½ play field, bocce/horseshoe area, walking paths at the East Road Recreation area (Map 15; Lot 27) and authorize the withdrawal of thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) from the Recreation Capital Reserve Fund created for this purpose. No tax dollars need to be raised for this warrant article. This article is in addition to Article 2008-04, the operating budget.
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen
Recommended by the Budget Committee
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations
Article 2008-16 East Road Recreation Construction, Phase I
Shall the town vote to appropriate the sum of forty five thousand dollars ($45,000) to begin construction of the new East Road Recreational area, (Map 15; Lot 27) and authorize the withdrawal of forty five thousand ($45,000) from the Recreation Capital Reserve Fund created for this purpose? No tax dollars need to be raised for this warrant article. This article is in addition to Article 2008-04, the operating budget.
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen
Recommended by the Budget Committee
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations
Article 2008-17 Mosquito Control Program
Shall the Town vote to raise and appropriate the sum of forty thousand five hundred thirty three dollars $40,533 to be added to the Mosquito Control Expendable Trust Fund? This is the total expended last year. The current balance is seven thousand four hundred sixty seven dollars ($7,467). The established cap for the fund is forty eight thousand dollars ($48,000). This article is in addition to Article 2008-04, the operating budget.
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen
Recommended by the Budget Committee
Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations
Article 2008-18 Cemetery Mapping
Shall the Town vote to raise and appropriate the sum of ten thousand two hundred fifty dollars ($10,250) to have the cemetery and burial lots mapped? Such mapping activities will store internment information for the deceased, provide available inventory, sales and purchase history and record deed information. This article is in addition to Article 2008-04, the operating budget.
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen
Recommended by the Budget Committee
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations
Article 2008-19 Cemetery Design & Development
Shall the Town vote to raise and appropriate the sum of forty thousand dollars ($40,000) for the layout, design and development of a new section of the cemetery? This article is in addition to Article 2008-04, the operating budget.
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen
Recommended by the Budget Committee
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations
Article 2008-20 Assistant Road Agent
Shall the Town vote to authorize the conversion of the Assistant Road Agent position from part to full-time, and to raise and appropriate the sum of ten thousand six hundred fifty dollars ($10,650) to fund the additional costs of health insurance, retirement, and salary. Funding for the position will be included in the 2009-operating budget. This article is in addition to Article 2008-04, the operating budget.
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen
Not Recommended by the Budget Committee
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations
Article 2008-21 Membership in NH Special Operations Unit
Shall the Town vote to raise and appropriate the sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) for the purpose of funding Police Department membership in the Southern New Hampshire Special Operations Unit, a regional mutual aid organization. This article is in addition to Article 2008-04, the operating budget.
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen
Recommended by the Budget Committee
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations
Article 2008-22 Police Department SPOTS Terminal
Shall the Town vote to raise and appropriate the sum of two thousand two hundred forty nine dollars ($2,249.00) for the purpose of adding the State Police Online Telecommunication Systems (Spots) to the existing laptops in three police vehicles. The FY 2009 budget will be two thousand eight hundred dollars, ($2,800.00) for wireless plans and Annual Maintenance agreement and be included in the operating budget. This article is in addition to Article 2008-04, the operating budget.
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen
Recommended by the Budget Committee
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations
Article 2008-23 Records Management System
Shall the Town vote to raise and appropriate the sum of six thousand dollars ($6,000) to hire a records management consultant to inventory, survey, and analyze town records for the purpose of creating a records management system, defining the storage space needs associated with records retention to meet the statutory requirements for records storage, retention and destruction as defined under RSA 33-A. This article is in addition to Article 2008-04, the operating budget.
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen
Not Recommended by the Budget Committee
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations
Article 2008-24 Town Office Addition
Shall the Town vote to raise and appropriate the sum of six hundred fifty-nine thousand dollars ($659,000) to expand Town Hall and to include the building and equipping of a cable studio for Atkinson Community Television, and to authorize the withdrawal of three hundred nine thousand dollars ($309,000) from the Atkinson Community Television Capital Reserve Fund established for such purpose to offset the cost of the expansion with the remaining balance of three hundred fifty thousand ($350,000) to be raised by taxation? This article is in addition to Article 2008-04, the operating budget.
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen
Not Recommended by the Budget Committee
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations
Article 2008-25 Town Office Addition
Shall the Town of Atkinson vote to establish a Capital Reserve Fund for an addition to Town Hall and raise and appropriate the sum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) to be deposited in the newly established Town Hall Addition Capital Reserve Fund. If Article 24 passes this Article is null and void.
Recommended by the Budget Committee
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations
Article 2008-26 Road Acceptance
Shall the Town vote to accept Hitchcock Lane as a Town road. (Majority vote required.)
Recommended by the Board of Selectmen
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations
Article 2008-27 By Petition
To see if the Town will vote to direct the Board of Selectmen/assessor to investigate making the taxpayers property tax card available online.
Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations
Article 2008-28 By Petition
To see if the voters will direct the selectmen/assessor to make available to each property owner a copy of their tax card on April 15th of each year.
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations because it was not the original intent of the Citizens Petitioned Warrant Article. You can see your Tax Card Anytime you want now. Please see the original intent listed at the end of this section
Article 2008-29 By Petition
To see if the Town will vote to direct the Board of Selectmen to follow assessing standards set by DRA.
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations because it was not the original intent of the Citizens Petitioned Warrant Article. . Please see the original intent listed at the end of this section
Article 2008-30 By Petition
To see if the voters will vote to direct the position of Town Administrator to work in harmony with the Board of Selectman and the residents of Atkinson.
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations because it was not the original intent of the Citizens Petitioned Warrant Article. Please see the original intent listed at the end of this section
Article 2008-31 By Petition
To see if the voters will vote to direct the selectman to vigorously pursue countersuits for damages for legal fees and lost productivity costs to the Town against any entity or citizen who files frivolous suits against the Town or its officials.
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations because it was not the original intent of the Citizens Petitioned Warrant Article. . Please see the original intent listed at the end of this section
Article 2008-32 By Petition
To see if the voters will direct the selectmen to dispose of capital equipment (vehicles, computers, furniture, etc.) by public auction or trade, as many other towns do. This will ensure taxpayers reach the widest possible market, and receive full market value for their equipment [sic]. When passed, this warrant article will become effective immediately.
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations because it was not the original intent of the Citizens Petitioned Warrant Article. . Please see the original intent listed at the end of this section
Article 2008-33 By Petition
Will the Town of Atkinson strictly adhere to New Hampshire RSA’s as they pertain to water withdrawal.
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations because it was not the original intent of the Citizens Petitioned Warrant Article. . Please see the original intent listed at the end of this section
Article 2008-34 By Petition
Will the Town of Atkinson strictly adhere to New Hampshire RSA’s as they pertain to water withdrawal and quality.
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations because it was not the original intent of the Citizens Petitioned Warrant Article . Please see the original intent listed at the end of this section
Article 2008-35 State Election Polling Hours
To see if the Town, pursuant to RSA 39:3 shall change the polling hours for State Elections. And upon an affirmative vote, the governing body of the town shall notify the secretary of state, by the filing deadline established in RSA 655:14, of the approved times for the question to be printed on the next state general election ballot. Polling hours in the town of Atkinson are now 7:00 am to 8:00 pm. Shall we place a question on the state election ballot to change polling hours so that polls shall open at 7:00 am and close at 7:30 pm for all regular state elections beginning in November 2008
.
Not Recommended by Taxpayers For Fair Evaluations
ORIGIONAL INTENT OF CITIZEN PETITIONED WARRANT ARTICLES
Article 2008-25 By Petition
To see if the Town will vote to direct the Board of Selectmen/assessor to immediately mail a copy of any changes made to a taxpayer’s property tax card, with the reason(s) as to why it was changed. (This would allow every taxpayer to have advanced notice to any changes that would effect [sic] their [sic] tax bill.) When passed, this warrant article will become effective immediately.
Article 2008-26 By Petition
To see if the voters will direct the selectmen/assessor to mail each property owner a copy of their tax card on April 15th of each year. This is because there are so many mistakes on tax cards, and would allow afford [sic] each property owner time to review and correct the information. When passed, this warrant article will become effective immediately.
Article 2008-27 By Petition
To see if the Town will vote to direct the Board of Selectmen to work with local residence [sic] taxpayer group(s) to set and adopt uniform assessment methods and criteria to be used for evaluations of all property within the Town’s borders. Selectmen shall schedule municipal workshops immediately passage, in order to set uniform standards for fair and proportional assessments. Work to be completed by June 15, 2008.
Article 2008-28 By Petition
To see if the voters will vote to eliminate the position of Town Administrator (employee at will). Said position to be replaced by a selectmen’s clerk at a salary of $48,000 per annum to start. (This would save the town Approximately $42,000.00 in salaries/benefits a year.) When passed, this warrant article will become effective within 30 days of passage.
Article 2008-29 By Petition
To see if the voters will vote to prohibit the selectmen from spending taxpayer money on public officials personal legal fees which the taxpayers have no [sic] direct liability for. When passed, this warrant article will become effective immediately.
Article 2008-30 By Petition
To see if the voters will direct the selectmen to dispose of all capital equipment (vehicles, computers, furniture, etc.) by public auction on Ebay, as many other towns do. This will ensure taxpayers reach the widest possible market, and receive full market value for their equipment [sic]. When passed, this warrant article will become effective immediately.
Article 2008-31 By Petition
We, the undersigned residents and registered voters of Atkinson, do hereby petition that the below Warrant Article be included on the ballot for the 2008 Town Meeting:
Whereas, the residents of Atkinson have a duty and responsibility to safeguard Atkinson’s ground water supplies for the health and welfare of current and future town residents, and
Whereas, at Sept. 12, 2007 Special Town Meeting by vote of 753-368, Atkinson’s voters overwhelmingly adopted the "Atkinson Water Withdrawal Control Ordinance", and
Whereas, the New Hampshire Legislature passed N.H. RS41:8 which states that "the selectmen SHALL manage the prudential affairs of the town and perform the duties by law prescribed…" and
Whereas, the courts have ruled that the selectmen’s right and responsibility to "manage the prudential affairs of a town", includes their adoption of any ordinances deemed necessary to protect the health, welfare and safety of the townspeople, and
Whereas, an adequate supply of fresh and clean water for drinking, cooking, bathing and other household used is necessary for the health and welfare of current and future generations of Atkinson residents,
We, the undersigned, petition that at 2008 Town Meeting, the people vote
"To see if the Town will vote to direct the Board of Selectmen, in their capacity as selectmen or as the Board of Health, to adopt the Atkinson Water Withdrawal Control Ordinance as an Atkinson Health Ordinance, (in addition to continuing to be a stand-alone ordinance.)
Article 2008-32 By Petition
We, the undersigned residents and registered voters of Atkinson, do hereby petition that the below Warrant Article be included on the ballot for 2008 Town Meeting:
To see if the Town will Vote to adopt the below-listed THREE AMENDMENTS to the ATKINSON WATER WITHDRAWAL CONTROL ORDINANCE which was passed at the Sept. 12, 2007 Special Town Meeting.
1. AMEND the FIRST SENTENCE under "SECTION 2, AUTHORITY:" to read as follows:
"This Ordinance is adopted and enacted pursuant to the inherent, inalienable, and fundamental right of the citizens of the Town of Atkinson to self-government and under the authority granted to the people of the Town by all relevant state and federal laws including, but not limited to the following:
2. AMEND "SECTION 4. STATEMENT OF LAW," by ADDING the following
sub-section:
Section 4.1. Rights.
All residents of the Town of Atkinson possess a fundamental and inalienable right to access, use, consume, and preserve water drawn from the sustainable natural water cycles that provide water necessary to sustain life within the Town. Natural communities and ecosystems possess inalienable and fundamental rights to exist and flourish within the Town of Atkinson. Ecosystems shall include, but not be limited to wetlands, streams, rivers, aquifers, and other water systems.
3. Amend "SECTION 6. ENFORCEMENT." by ADDING the below-listed 8 sub-sections:
Section 6.1.
Civil Rights: Any person acting under the authority of a permit issued by the Department of Environmental Services, and corporation operating a State charter or certificate of authority to do business, or any director, officer, owner, or manager of a corporation operating under a State charter or certificate of authority to do business, who deprives any Town resident, natural community, or ecosystem of any rights, privileges, or other laws, shall be liable to the party injured and shall be responsible for payment of compensatory and punitive damages and all costs of litigation to satisfy that liability, including, without limitation, expert and attorney’s fees.
Section 6.2.
Environmental Protection: It shall be unlawful for any corporation or its directors, officers, or managers to interfere with the rights of natural communities and ecosystems to exist and flourish, or to cause damage to those natural communities and ecosystems. The Town of Atkinson, along with any resident of the Town, shall have standing to seek declaratory, injunctive, compensatory, and punitive relief for damages caused to natural communities and ecosystems within the Town, regardless of the relation of those natural communities and ecosystems to Town residents or the Town itself. Town residents natural communities, and ecosystems shall be considered to be "persons" for the purposes of the enforcement of the civil rights of those residents, natural communities, and ecosystems.
Section 6.3.
Civil Rights Enforcement: Any Town resident shall have standing and authority to bring an action under this Warrant Article’s civil rights provisions, or under state and federal civil rights laws, for violations of the rights of natural communities, ecosystem, and Town residents, as recognized by this Warrant Article.
Section 6.4.
Town Action Against Presumption: The foundation for the making and adoption of this law is the people’s fundamental and inalienable right to govern themselves, and thereby secure rights to life, liberty, property, and pursuit of happiness. Any attempts to use county, state, or federal levels of government to pre-empt, amend, alter, or overturn this Warrant Article or parts of this Warrant Article, or to intimidate the people of the Town of Atkinson or their elected officials, shall require the Board of Selectmen to hold public meetings that explore the adoption of other measures that expand local control and the ability of residents to protect their fundamental and inalienable right to self-government.
Section 6.5.
Strict Liability: Persons using corporation to engage in water withdrawal in a neighboring in a neighboring municipality shall be strictly liable for all harms caused to the health, safety, and welfare of the residents of Atkinson from those activities, and for all harms caused to ecosystems and natural communities within Atkinson.
Section 6.6.
Liability: No permit, license, privilege or charger[sic] issued by any State or federal Regulatory Agency, Commission or Board to any person or any corporation operating under a State charter, or any director, officer, owner, or manager of a corporation operating under a State charger[sic] , which would violate the provisions of this Warrant Article or deprive any Atkinson resident, natural communit6y, or ecosystem of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by this Warrant Article, the N.H. Constitution, the U.S. Constitution, or other laws, shall be deemed valid within the Town of Atkinson.
Additionally, any employee, agent or representative of any State or federal Regulatory Agency, Commission or Board who issues a permit, license, privilege or charter to any person or any corporation operating under a State charter, which would violate the provisions of this Warrant Article or deprive any resident, natural community, or ecosystem of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by this Warrant Article, the N.H. Constitution, the U.S. Constitution, or other laws, shall be liable to the party injured and shall be responsible for payment of compensatory and punitive damages and all costs of litigation, including, without limitation, expert and attorney’s fees.
Section 6.7.
Future Lost Profits: Within the Town of Atkinson, corporate claims to "future lost profits" shall not be considered property interests under the law, and thus, shall not be recoverable by corporations seeking those damages.
Section 6.8.
Prohibition on Board of Selectmen Challenge: The Board of Selectmen of the Town of Atkinson or any other agent or agency of the Town shall be prohibited from taking any action to annul, amend, or overturn this Warrant Article, unless such action is approved by a prior Town Meeting at which two-thirds (2/3) of the residents of the Town attending the Town Meeting approve such action.