Nominations for the next silent demonstration?

[Dave Ridley]

http://unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Proposed+teacher+layoffs+fuel+debate&articleId=b2bd6560-f24a-424d-a23a-70dbe0297434

Proposed teacher layoffs fuel debate
By JIM KOZUBEK
Union Leader Correspondent
Friday, Dec. 22, 2006


Merrimack ? Teachers and a taxpayers group are feuding over the possible effects of budget cuts prompted by this year's townwide vote demanding no increases in overall school spending.

The school board Wednesday night introduced a school budget of $57,548,269, about 3 percent higher than this year's budget. The proposal includes the elimination of 15 jobs.

The independent 12-member School District Budget Committee will review the budget next month, and its recommendations could prompt more cuts when the school board returns to regular session. The budget will then be open to public participation in a deliberative session in March before going to vote in April.

Teachers and students have come to school board meetings in droves, calling for reinstatement of those positions and no more personnel cuts, while school board members say they intend to remain vigilant to meet taxpayer demands.

In his book "Moral Minds,'' Mark Hauser says lawyers and philosophers call it the double-effect -- when either outcome from a decision holds some negative effects, rendering each outcome both right and wrong. Teachers and taxpayers laid out their cases for the New Hampshire Union Leader this week.

Teachers
James Roy, president of the Merrimack Teachers Association, said the collective effect of annual cuts could undermine the ability of the district to adjust to changing student populations.

The student population at Merrimack was reduced last year to 4,713, with 70 fewer students enrolling, and the school board cut 11 jobs. The board projects declining enrollment of 8 percent in the next five years, to 4,303 students.

Roy says only five jobs should be cut in the next budget to adjust to reduced enrollment. Getting ahead of the game by making double-digit personnel cuts each year leaves the district unprepared when enrollment increases, he contends, forcing it to hire, train and acclimate inexperienced staff.

"It is the collective impact of these cuts," he said. "When you micromanage, you make it more difficult to react to changing populations."

Charles Kalinski, 59, a learning resource specialist, lost his job Wednesday night after having received a pink slip earlier this month.

Kalinski, who has a doctorate and several master's degrees, has been teaching in Merrimack since 1988. He is a learning resource specialist and diagnoses cognitive disabilities.

"It used to be that the child was thought of as an empty cup," he said. "Research in the past 30 years has moved to the neuropsychological model, and we are trained to pick up on weaknesses, trained to do educational diagnostic work and act as a consultant for teachers."

Roy argues that if the school district has to hire staff later, it would not get a teacher as qualified as Kalinski. "I don't know how we would ever replace him. He's just so learned, and there's a learning curve. What message do we send to teachers looking to come here? Don't unpack your boxes."

Merrimack Cares
A local taxpayers group argues there is room for reductions following a decade in which expenditures doubled: In 1995-96, the school budget was $25 million; in 2003-04, it was $48 million.

The district built Merrimack Middle School and opened its doors in 2004, increasing the budget to $57 million last year, with projected increases this year.

Jennifer Thornton and Jennifer Twardowsky founded Merrimack Cares in 2003 and supported candidates for the town council and the school board who advocated restrained spending. Taxpayers responded in kind, the group asserts, and the school board this month presented a budget reduced by $1.9 million.

Merrimack Cares and conservative-minded board members such as George Markwell have been the targets of educators and students worried that books and resources could be taken from them.

Twardowsky rejects those concerns, noting that she and Thornton each have small children in Merrimack schools. Spending has to be reined in, however, she said.

"Nobody has ever said no to this budget," Twardowsky said. "We want to be reasonable. People go ballistic and make generalizations, and we want to steer them away from that, to give us suggestions."

In the past 10 years, Twardowsky says, the school board has constructed a middle school and has built up an excessive special education budget. Of the special education department, directed by David St. Jean, Twardowsky said, "They won't even talk to us. Never been audited."

Twardowsky says taxpayers do not automatically look to cut teachers; they usually want to identify and eliminate waste in administration and maintenance costs.

Marge Chiafery says a 20-member panel decided which jobs to cut. Among the 15 positions, one was in administration and none were in maintenance. The panel was made up of administrators, principals and program directors; no teachers were included, she said.

[error]

Haven't I read that piece somewhere before?

[cathleeninnh]

In my world, Kalinski would be the first to go.

Cathleen

[d_goddard]

Now that an income tax bill has been introduced, do you want to do some sort of demonstration about that?

In a way, that doesn't need any active resistance... it's a clear sign that the pro-tax Democrat freshmen are not at all taking marching orders from the party leadership that wants to keep it low key so they can solidify their position next election.

In another way, drawing attention (especially media attention) to the fact of how Statist some of the Democrats are, will help ensure that come next election cycle, they DON'T keep their position.

Think about it this way: we have a SINGLE PARTY right now in charge of the total apparatus of government, both houses of Legislature, and the Executive branch as well (Governorship *and* Executive Council)
That should ring DANGER! DANGER! no matter which party it is!

Go Dave, Go! Please, demo against the income tax!!!

[PowerPenguin]

Fire the admins! I don't know about Merrymack, but my government reeducation zone back home in socal only spent about 5% on "instruction" and maybe another 5-7% on "materials". about 2/3 was "general budget" (aka admin slush fund), and the remainder was explicitly admin pay/pensions/kickbacks for the most part. When districts claim that they "dont have enough funding", etc. and need to embezel more money, it's usually because the admins are becoming more greedy.

[Dave Ridley]

http://concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061223/REPOSITORY/612230315/1043/48HOURS

Concord

   
Sign backers battle city 
Major organizations help with lawsuits 


By CHELSEA CONABOY
Monitor staff


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December 23. 2006 8:00AM



Dan Habib / Concord Monitor
The new sign at Uno's Car Wash.

Zoom

Purchase Photos Online


T
wo lawsuits filed by local companies challenging the city's sign regulations are being backed by a major sign manufacturer and an international trade organization.

Carlson's Chrysler and Naser Jewelers each have filed lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the city's laws, which first limited and then banned electronic messaging signs. The cases were filed with help from Barlo Signs, a Hudson-based sign maker that owns a factory in Mexico and makes about $12 million in yearly revenue. The International Sign Association has donated money toward legal fees.

David Hickey, the association's director of government relations, said the group has morally and financially supported Barlo because the cases could set a regional and even national precedent for regulating electronic signs. He said the Naser Jewelers case may be the first in the country to challenge a complete ban of the signs.

City Manager Tom Aspell said the lawsuits question the city's right to determine what Concord will look like years from now and to keep it from becoming like Manchester or Nashua.

"Does the community have a right to set its standards for what it wants to be, whether it's downtown or on Loudon Road or anything else?" he said.

---ADVERTISEMENT--- 

City officials have cited concerns about flashing or scrolling messages distracting drivers, but they have acknowledged that no traffic studies link the signs to accidents.
Sign advocates say municipalities could regulate the signs without banning them altogether.

"Concord should have a right to restrict some of the use," said Holly Carlson, Carlson's general manager. "But to not allow someone to have the use of electronic signs is really living in the dark ages as far as how retail works now."

The cases reflect "a collision between the planning agenda and the needs of the small business community" that is happening across the country, said John Winston, an Oregon attorney who represents Naser Jewelers and specializes in sign law.

The $30-billion sign making industry has become more and more dependent on the signs, often referred to as electronic messaging centers, or EMCs, as demand for them has increased.

Don Reed, a spokesman for Barlo Signs, said an electronic component can add between $30,000 to $50,000 to the total cost of a medium-sized sign. It can also be one of the most inexpensive ways for a business to increase advertising. Businesses switching from a sign with letters that can be changed manually to an electronic one have seen business increase as much as 25 percent, Reed said.

Barlo Signs looked into directly challenging the city's ordinance, which up until last spring permitted electronic signs that display time, temperature and date only but prohibited all other messages. But the company found it had to work through its clients. "The party that is aggrieved needs to be the end user," Reed said.

He said the company helped find attorneys for Carlson's Chrysler to file a lawsuit.

In April, Merrimack County Superior Court Judge Kathleen McGuire ruled that the city ordinance violated the First Amendment because it limited the kind of speech displayed. The city has appealed that decision, arguing that time and temperature signs provide a community service.

With the ordinance repealed, Aspell said, the city wanted to take a careful look at what kind of regulation it should put in place but was "besieged" with applications for electronic signs. So the council voted to ban all electronic signs.

Before that vote, a few businesses, including Carlson's and Uno's Car Wash on Loudon Road, received approvals.

Uno's owner Clark Tomassian said in the four months since Barlo Signs installed his electronic messaging sign, business has gone up about 15 percent. He thinks others on Loudon Road should have the same opportunity.

"Where are the aesthetics?" he said. "It's a joke. This is not a historical district."

Carlson said she has received only positive comments about the car dealership's sign. The electronic portion, which is the same size as the changeable letter sign it replaced, is capable of showing flashy videos. But this week it rotated text advertisements for cars and leasing deals in intervals no shorter than 10 seconds.

Last month Barlo signs helped Naser Jewelers, also on Loudon Road, file a lawsuit challenging the full ban on the grounds that it restricts the company's speech and puts it at a disadvantage.

Naser also asked to put up a sign in time for the holiday shopping season while the case was being decided in U.S. District Court. A magistrate judge recommended against that request, citing doubts that Naser will prevail in court. Winston has filed objections, and a district court judge will make a final decision on the injunction before the case proceeds.

Reed said Barlo signs helped pay for legal fees in both cases and applied to the industry association for grant money.

Ham Rice, the city's code administrator, said he doesn't want the city to look like Exit 20 in Tilton.

"The signs become overpowering," he said. "I find it very distracting and difficult to see at night."

Barlo Signs' clients range from small local business parks to the U.S. Navy. It recently installed an electronic sign for an Arkansas racetrack that cost more than $100,000.

"We respond to demand, and the marketplace is out there demanding to have electronic communications because it's the state of the art," Reed said.

He said he would like to see Concord do something similar to what Nashua has done, which is to regulate how often the signs can change their message.

------ End of article

By CHELSEA CONABOY

Monitor staff

This article is: 3 days old. 

[Kat Kanning]

That's kinda cool.

Hey, have you considered wearing duct tape over your mouth during these things to help people realize you're being silent?

[d_goddard]

I love how the Concord Vomitor spins the story... it's not about a business owner's right to put a sign up on his own property... it's those EVIL MULTINATIONAL SIGN CORPORATIONS that are behind everything! 

[error]

As if those EVIL SIGN CORPORATIONS putting up their EVIL SIGNS on Loudon Road are causing all the traffic problems.

Even if you took away this poor guy's electronic sign, that road would still be a complete mess.

[CNHT]

You'll have plenty of town meetings where you can protest the new anti-pledge group (GSFTC) who will be trying to pass warrant articles in each town in order to prevent candidates and officials from taking the NO BROADBASED TAX pledge...

[Braddogg]

You'll have plenty of town meetings where you can protest the new anti-pledge group (GSFTC) who will be trying to pass warrant articles in each town in order to prevent candidates and officials from taking the NO BROADBASED TAX pledge...

Wow, good to hear from you again, CNHT.  Where've you been the past two months?

[CNHT]

You'll have plenty of town meetings where you can protest the new anti-pledge group (GSFTC) who will be trying to pass warrant articles in each town in order to prevent candidates and officials from taking the NO BROADBASED TAX pledge...

Wow, good to hear from you again, CNHT.  Where've you been the past two months?

Sick as a dogg. LOL

They tried to kill me but, I'm too ornery to die!

Thanks...

[Braddogg]

Wow, good to hear from you again, CNHT.  Where've you been the past two months?

Sick as a dogg. LOL

They tried to kill me but, I'm too ornery to die!

Geez.  I've had a few health run-ins lately (just had my gallbladder removed last week, in fact, which seems to have done the trick), and they are no fun.  I'm glad to hear you're alright.

[CNHT]

Wow, good to hear from you again, CNHT.  Where've you been the past two months?

Sick as a dogg. LOL

They tried to kill me but, I'm too ornery to die!

Geez.  I've had a few health run-ins lately (just had my gallbladder removed last week, in fact, which seems to have done the trick), and they are no fun.  I'm glad to hear you're alright.

Ahh I was hoping that was what I had, so that it could be dispensed with quickly. But alas, it was not so simple as that.

I'm glad you're OK too!

[Dave Ridley]

http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/01052007/nhnews-ph-p-swingers.html


----


City: Cutts St. sex parties aren't allowed

By Elizabeth Dinan
edinan@seacoastonline.com   

PORTSMOUTH -- A biweekly "swingers" party has been hosted at the same city residence for 17 years, according to Internet postings by "Middle Door" party host and property owner Joseph A. Ranguette.

Because of his party postings, Ranguette's 42 Cutts St. triplex has been under police surveillance for more than a year, and the city attorney warned it will remain under scrutiny.

"We've advised the property owners that the conduct represented by their Internet material appears to be a violation of city ordinance and needs to be ceased," said City Attorney Bob Sullivan. "The bottom line is that it's zoned for residential use, and this kind of activity is not considered by the city to be normal residential use of the property."

That activity, as represented online by the Middle Door, includes alternate Saturday night sex parties "for couples and singles to explore themselves, unleash their passions, discover their sensuality, try something new, watch others enjoy, or take part."

Photographs of the interior of the Cutts Street residence, also posted on the site, showcase beds, a "voyeur room" with a swing over a bed, adult items and a downstairs buffet.


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What do you think of this topic? Post your comments here!
Is the city taking appropriate action in regard to the property located at 42 Cutts St., Portsmouth?

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According to city documents, State Police Sgt. Richard Mitchell brought the matter to local police Sept. 29, 2005, by forwarding an anonymous, handwritten complaint sent to local state police headquarters. The complaint reported the timing of the swingers parties, directed police to the Middle Door Web site and said "the neighbors want it stopped." It also reported "people arriving in bus-like vehicles from out of state," parking problems and the opinion that charging an attendance fee for swingers -- with the exception of single females -- constitutes prostitution.

Subsequent police reports filed by Portsmouth Detective Sgt. Michael Ronchi include pages of Internet postings about the city swingers parties, reportedly hosted behind the middle of three doors at Ranguette's residential triplex, where a sign reads "no solicitation." City records show Ranguette, age 71, and his wife are the legal property owners, while the Middle Door Web site reports the couple rents the pair of apartments on either side.

Ronchi's reports to the city include his trace of the phone number listed for the Middle Door parties, which he found registered to Ranguette. A message left at that number by the Herald seeking comment about the city surveillance went unanswered.

According to city documents, on Oct. 13, 2005, Police Lt. Timothy Brownell took over the investigation and filed with the city pornographic images printed from the Middle Door's Web site, along with explicit photos of people claiming to be party participants.

Public record shows that on March 7, 2006, Sullivan wrote a letter to the Ranguettes reporting city officials learned from "multiple sources" about the "impermissible" use of their residential property. Sullivan explained the residential zoning designation for the neighborhood and reported he was advised that a "social club" was "holding regular meetings" at the address.

"While it would be inappropriate to provide the complete details in this letter, I am in possession of a significant volume of file materials which suggest the Middle Door activities are sexual in nature and involve activities not ordinarily expected to occur in residential neighborhoods," wrote the city attorney.

Other investigatory documents filed by the city are dated as recent as November 2006.

Sullivan said he could not comment on the matter except to say, "the city will monitor the property to determine whether any impermissible activities are occurring."