Mayor Guinta wants to meet local free staters sept 3

[J’raxis 270145]

Why does the city even do garbage pickup? How is it paid for? Is it fee-based or subsidized by general funds or some such?

He talked about making it more efficient. The more I thought about it, the more I was thinking the way to make it efficient is for the city to stop doing it.

If I were trying to downsize the government, something like trash pickup isn't one of the first things I'd tackle. It would be toward the end, actually. Trash pickup is one of the services a lot of people rely on, and something most people probably think they're entitled to; eliminating it would impact virtually everyone in the city, and probably create a backlash among those who think the city ought to provide the service.

Guinta has the right idea when he talks about firing overpaid bureaucrats—things like this will significantly cut spending but impact no one beyond the specific bureaucrat himself.

In general, public-facing services are the ones you need to be the most delicate about eliminating. Go after the stuff almost no one knows about, or cares about, first. Fire the overpriced bureaucrats. Fire the administrative employees at schools before firing teachers or cutting educational programs. Cut mostly behind-the-scene items from budgets first.

[J’raxis 270145]

I am not impressed by "our guy" guinta ... he is doing what all of them do .. pretend they agree with you

This is something I was wondering about while listening to him talk. This guy sounds almost like a freestater... this is a little too perfect, isn't it? Does anyone have information on his voting record, other speeches that he gives, and so on? Does he go in front of a liberal crowd and say the opposite of what he told us at Murphy's? Anyone heard him do this?

Unfortunately no one asked him about the things you brought up while he was still speaking to the crowd, although it sounds like some people talked to him afterward about Dave's open-carry incident and he discussed it with the police chief.

[Rosie the Riveter]

I am not impressed by "our guy" guinta ... he is doing what all of them do .. pretend they agree with you

This is something I was wondering about while listening to him talk. This guy sounds almost like a freestater... this is a little too perfect, isn't it? Does anyone have information on his voting record, other speeches that he gives, and so on? Does he go in front of a liberal crowd and say the opposite of what he told us at Murphy's? Anyone heard him do this?

I have seen him speak a lot and have worked closely with him as a member of his education committee. He is just as he seems. He doesn't BS. If he says he agrees than he agrees and vice versa.  He is too conservative for the educrats and not free-market enough for libertarians (me). He has used his veto power to veto fee (tax) increases and consistently puts forth what the democratic alderman think is too lean a budget. His position on most issues reminds me of my staunch small government NH republican grandfather.

I would like him to use the ax on more programs, put more pressure on school administrators and cut spending at a faster rate but I know he wants to stay in office so he seems to work somewhat slowly and quietly.

If you lean small government republican than I don't see any reason not to support him.

[ThePug]

Inquiring Minds want to know --- how did the meeting go?

My take:

He said all the 'right things'... seems to be a libertarian GOPer.
A little long winded on some answers but he answered most questions pretty honestly (it seemed).

I had no complaints (other than a tad long).. If I lived in Manch I would vote/campaign for him.

Rob got him good with that question about an endorsement of Ron Paul, though.

How'd he answer that?

[Dreepa]

How'd he answer that?

he said that after his own election he would look into endorsing other candidates after he spoke with them.

[Rosie the Riveter]

How'd he answer that?

he said that after his own election he would look into endorsing other candidates after he spoke with them.

Alright, I take it back -- though I've never heard BS from Frank, that is a BS answer -- my guess is he means he wouldn't want to alienate any supporters by siding with a presidential candidate that they don't like.

[J’raxis 270145]

I am not impressed by "our guy" guinta ... he is doing what all of them do .. pretend they agree with you

This is something I was wondering about while listening to him talk. This guy sounds almost like a freestater... this is a little too perfect, isn't it? Does anyone have information on his voting record, other speeches that he gives, and so on? Does he go in front of a liberal crowd and say the opposite of what he told us at Murphy's? Anyone heard him do this?

I have seen him speak a lot and have worked closely with him as a member of his education committee. He is just as he seems. He doesn't BS. If he says he agrees than he agrees and vice versa.  He is too conservative for the educrats and not free-market enough for libertarians (me). He has used his veto power to veto fee (tax) increases and consistently puts forth what the democratic alderman think is too lean a budget. His position on most issues reminds me of my staunch small government NH republican grandfather.

I would like him to use the ax on more programs, put more pressure on school administrators and cut spending at a faster rate but I know he wants to stay in office so he seems to work somewhat slowly and quietly.

If you lean small government republican than I don't see any reason not to support him.

Good. He seems like a good enough candidate then, in the short-term, at least. He concentrated on the fact that he'd like to do a lot more cutting, but he doesn't have the support among the aldermen, so maybe he will go farther if people like Greazzo are elected.

[J’raxis 270145]

How'd he answer that?

he said that after his own election he would look into endorsing other candidates after he spoke with them.

Alright, I take it back -- though I've never heard BS from Frank, that is a BS answer -- my guess is he means he wouldn't want to alienate any supporters by siding with a presidential candidate that they don't like.

If he were to endorse Ron Paul I really wouldn't be surprised if the Republican "leadership" types started throwing money at another candidate to the point where Guinta went down in flames.

We were talking about this at Greazzo's barbecue today, and Phil mentioned it's not really appropriate for local politicians to be endorsing presidential candidates anyway, so it's not surprising he had this sort of waffling "diplomatic" answer.

[Rochelle]

Rob got him good with that question about an endorsement of Ron Paul, though

That was dumb of Rob, and the way he asked it was especially forward. How should it affect Guinta's ability to be MAYOR based on who he would support for president? It was irrelevant. And if you look at it from a political point of view, how could Guinta say such a thing before he is elected anyway? What if someone were to decide not to vote for him, based on him saying he supported "the wrong" candidate?

As for the trash thing, I really don't see why Manchester doesn't have private trash pick up. It works quite well and it would be the ultimate way for the city to cut spending, rather than cutting routes.

[ny2nh]

He said all the 'right things'... seems to be a libertarian GOPer.
A little long winded on some answers but he answered most questions pretty honestly (it seemed).

I had no complaints (other than a tad long).. If I lived in Manch I would vote/campaign for him.

the current situation in manchester ...
jailing kat and I for holding a sign
detaining dada for holding a gun
is unacceptable

I am not impressed by "our guy" guinta ... he is doing what all of them do .. pretend they agree with you

Did the Mayor himself actually jail you and Kat - or do you just blame him because the police jailed you? I don't know the exact situation, so I'll presume you were arrested for something that you disagree with. How is THAT the fault of the mayor? He can't just wave a magic wand and change the laws.

As far as Dave being detained - he and Dave had a lengthy conversation about how Frank went to the police chief when he returned from vacation the following week to find out why he was stopped and to get assurance that the police were not stopping people just because they were carrying openly. What else would you suggest he do? Turn back time and make the event go away?

You've probably never spoken to him and yet your aren't impressed. Not everyone is "doing what they all do", some are trying to make change for the better. Sometimes those changes are small and slow, but change for the better is still change for the better.

[error]

I believe that Kat was arrested for exercising a right that was supposedly guaranteed by that goddamned piece of paper widely known as the First Amendment.

[Fluff and Stuff]

Is it possible for an area to not have trash pick-up?  Yes, it is common all over America. 
Does it even happen in NH?  Yes, of course, most of NH is like that? 
Does it cause a lot of problems?  No, of course not.  It makes things better.

Case in point, in TN outside of the cities (where the vast majority of the land is) there is no government trash pick-up.  What do people do?  They either remove the trash themself or hire one of the private companies (and there are many).

Problem solved.

What about people that live in Condos or Apartment buildings?
At least where I live, the entire state of TN (or everywhere I have ever been to, at least), they already use private trash pick-up.

Is there any need for any place in NH to have government trash pick-up?  No.

[J’raxis 270145]

Is it possible for an area to not have trash pick-up?  Yes, it is common all over America. 
Does it even happen in NH?  Yes, of course, most of NH is like that? 
Does it cause a lot of problems?  No, of course not.  It makes things better.

Case in point, in TN outside of the cities (where the vast majority of the land is) there is no government trash pick-up.  What do people do?  They either remove the trash themself or hire one of the private companies (and there are many).

Problem solved.

What about people that live in Condos or Apartment buildings?
At least where I live, the entire state of TN (or everywhere I have ever been to, at least), they already use private trash pick-up.

Is there any need for any place in NH to have government trash pick-up?  No.

It's probably not necessary. But if we were to try to eliminate it in Manchester, now, it would probably be so unpopular as to guarantee that the politician who supported the elimination wouldn't be reëlected.

[Fluff and Stuff]

It's probably not necessary. But if we were to try to eliminate it in Manchester, now, it would probably be so unpopular as to guarantee that the politician who supported the elimination wouldn't be reëlected.

Because they need big government so much more in Manchester than in Keene?

[ny2nh]

I believe that Kat was arrested for exercising a right that was supposedly guaranteed by that goddamned piece of paper widely known as the First Amendment.

Like I said - I cannot disagree that she may have been wrongly arrested because I don't know the story - but I don't see how that is the fault of the mayor specifically. Not debating whether she was wronged or not - rather wondering if the finger pointing is directed at the wrong person.