TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT!

Publius please accept this as an article submission

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.

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

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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!

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?

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!

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

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."

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.

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;

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.

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

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.