Tax group wins the day

[Kat Kanning]

Anyone know anything about this group?  They sound good   I've written to them asking for information.

Thursday, March 10, 2005

Tax group wins the day
Monadnock plans rejected
   

IAN BAGLEY
Sentinel Staff


SWANZEY ? The Monadnock Regional School Board tried to lead.

But the voters didn?t follow.

On Tuesday, those who drove to the polls through a snowstorm rejected the board?s plan to build 22 classrooms at Monadnock Regional High School.

The proposal, which required a $3.5 million loan, needed a 60 percent majority to pass. But it didn?t even get 50 percent, failing 1,062 to 945.

That wasn?t all.

Voters thumped a $5.7 million plan to improve electrical and mechanical systems at the high school, 1,487 to 499.

And, by 1,319 to 585, voters said they don?t support Monadnock Community Connections School, an experimental high school educating 39 students; it?s based at Antioch New England Graduate School in Keene.

The votes were cast Tuesday and counted Wednesday.

?From the school board?s perspective, in terms of what we were supporting, there really isn?t good news? in the election results, said school board Chairman Robin F. Marra.

Marra said the results show people are ?leery of the economic situation? and skeptical of the board.

The $28.6 million budget, which is up 4.5 percent from current spending, passed easily, 1,605 to 386. Had it failed, a default budget ? which would have been several hundred thousand dollars higher ? would have kicked in.

The results are a clear victory for a group called the Monadnock Taxpayers Association. The results closely matched the recommendations it made in a flier distributed a few days before the election.

?I don?t know how much influence we had, but (the voters) pretty much followed our recommendations right down the line,? said Daniel Connell of Richmond, spokesman for the association.

Connell agreed with Marra that concerns about the economy played a big role in the results.

People have a feeling ?that we?re walking on the precipice,? and that the economy could go south at any moment, he said.

?What if next year oil prices are $3 a gallon?? Connell said.

Next year, the board should propose an addition with only 10 classrooms, he said. Had the school board proposed that this year, instead of asking for 22, the addition would have won the support of the Monadnock Taxpayers Association, and it would have passed, Connell said.

James I. Carnie of Richmond, a former school board chairman who won a seat on the board Tuesday, agreed.

?I probably would?ve supported a 10- to 12-classroom situation,? he said.

Carnie is affiliated with the Monadnock Taxpayers Association, and said he will probably stay somewhat involved.

?I think it?s good to have your roots with a group that?s in touch with the public,? he said.

Marra called the outcome ?frustrating.?

He said the board tried to reconcile the need for more high-school space with voters? decision two years ago to reject a $28 million high school.

Tuesday?s vote shows a big gap between what the board wants and what the public will support, but Marra said the high school?s space problems aren?t going away.

?There?s a lot of (public-relations) work that needs to be done? if the board is going to persuade voters to support expansion projects in the future, he said.

Voter turnout was decidedly low on Tuesday, said school district clerk Kathy Schnyer.

In Swanzey, for example, only 585 people cast ballots, compared to more than 900 last year and more than 1,500 the year before, when the new high school was up for a vote.

The snow may have affected the turnout, but Schnyer said the district was legally bound to hold the election Tuesday, the weather notwithstanding.

Item by item

Voters rejected the $1,044,574 budget for N.H. School Administrative Unit 38, which provides top-level administrators for the district. The default budget, which will take its place, is close: $1,043,278.

Three petitions intended to take power away from the school board passed by wide margins.

One, asking voters to give the budget committee, rather than the school board, the authority to determine the default budget passed 1,181-636.

Also passed, 1,466 to 422, will have town selectmen, rather than the school board, select any replacements for each town?s school board members and budget committee members.

Also passed, 1,460 to 432, is a requirement that the board put an item on the election ballot if 25 residents submit a petition requesting it.

Correspondingly, another petition, asking to eliminate the budget committee, was killed, 1,379 to 519.

Voters did support $245,700 for repair and maintenance projects. Marra sees the overwhelming support ? 1,794-199 ? as a hopeful sign.

?The district is supporting things that need to get done,? Marra said.

Voters put $50,000 into a savings account for special education, set aside $173,925 for future building projects, and okayed $100,000 for future architectural work.

Election results

By wide margins, Wayne and Martine Imon of Richmond both lost their campaigns for the budget committee and school board, respectively.

Incumbent Neil Moriarty of Richmond beat Wayne Imon for the budget committee, 194-64.

Carnie beat Martine Imon for the school board, 190-71.

William Felton of Swanzey was ousted from the school board; he got only 250 votes, and was defeated by incumbent John Morin (304 votes) and Jonathan Kenyon (279).

Swanzey?s budget committee members will include Robert Smith and Eric Stanley, who won 294 and 257 votes, respectively. Barbara Sherman Glidden (238) didn?t make it.

A one-year spot on the committee goes to Terry Clark of Swanzey, who defeated David Kochman, 261-221.

In Fitzwilliam, Jason Hill defeated Winston Wright, the school board?s vice chairman, 203-194.

Tom Britton of Troy won another term as school district moderator, with 77 votes to Douglas Bersaw?s 67.

Elected without opposition: Fitzwilliam, budget committee, three years, Thomas Parker; Gilsum, school board, three years, Charles Johnson; Surry, school board, three years, Jeff Friedman; Surry, budget committee, three years, Neal King; Troy, school board, three years, Bruce McCulley.

[AlanM]

Great news!
Some politicians never get. Probably most of them.