Meet The Candidates
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Town Hall @ 1p
*Candidates running opposed will speak.
*Unopposed candidates will be introduced
*Questions will be taken from the audience.
Refreshments will be served
~All are encouraged to attend~
Sponsored by the Arlington Grange #139
27 comments:
My name is Mike Towne,
(Francis "Mike" Towne on the ballot)
My wife and I have lived in New Hampshire for many years and purchased a home on the outskirts of town several years ago. I am disabled/retired and spend my days doing the physical things I can do to improve the quality of our lives and pursuing the few hobbies I have taken up to pass the time.
I am a former self-employed business owner and someone who has always faced life head on and who understands the value of a dollar.
I am running for the office of Selectman because I feel we need more accountability from those who basically run our town and with that accountability comes the responsibility to be frugal with our tax dollars and ethical and compassionate in the dealings with everyone who comes before the board. I feel our town has become a stagnant, over bearing tax burden on all of us because of some of the current members and the many questionable decisions they have made. I feel there has been too much secrecy and not enough openness by those we have placed in charge and that changes are needed in the way that matters are handled and dealt with on a daily basis, with common sense and by following the letter of the law the norm, not the exception because of stature or friendship. I believe the office of selectmen can do a better job at cutting taxes and unnecessary spending and holding all Dept. Heads accountable to the people. I ask for your vote for the future of Winchester.
I am also running for the Budget Committee. I believe that there are many different ways we can cut spending. From eliminating unnecessary line items, combining some departments, streamlining some methods and reducing waste, we can put our tax dollars to better use. I hope you'll give me the chance to serve you.
And lastly I am also a candidate for the Planning Board. I believe the board has become a quagmire of dysfunction and can be run in a much more efficient manner. I am quite certain that the person who is currently chairperson of the board is out of control, is an embarrassment to the board and the town as a whole and who is costing us thousands of dollars in legal fees for her biased and opinionated treatment of people who have come before the board. If her past conduct is any indication of the future, she will be solely responsible for more lawsuits if she were to be re-elected. To ensure that this does not happen, that no one be treated in the disrespectful manner that I have been for simply acting on my rights to be heard at a public meeting and to take part in the process of a public hearing, I ask for your vote.
Questions for Mr. Towne.
Why are you running for so many positions? What makes you think you are qualified to fill all of them?
In the past two years I have had many dealings with the Selectmen and the members of the Planning Board. I have had much time to read and study the Town's Ordinances, rules and regulations as well as many of the State's revised statutes ( RSA's ) I did this for personal reasons and to educate myself and to be prepared when I approached these boards in hopes of being on level ground with them when we discussed matters. What I discovered in my conversations with the people on these boards was their lack of knowledge in regards to their duties and the law and how quick they were to get offended when they realized you knew what you were talking about and couldn't be bullied into submission. I feel this is wrong, that members of these boards have a personal responsibility, a duty, to be as prepared as they can be so that they can render fair and just decisions based on laws, rules, regulations and not their feelings for who is before them.
My desire to serve on the Budget Committee is two-fold;
One, I believe that we're spending way too much money on unnecessary and unneeded expenditures and that these can be pared down or cut completely with no effects to services or employees performing their duties and
Two, I believe we can cut thousands from the town budget by combining positions, streamlining procedures and reducing the hours the town hall is open and by setting up a schedule that will allow people to do business without having to shift work and personal schedules all around. I also believe that there are people already on the committee thinking along these lines and they need help in getting these and other ideas implemented.
I really had no intentions on running for any office or committee until I was approached by friends and neighbors who thought I would be a good candidate for these positions. All I can say is that if elected, I will do my best for the town and it's citizens everyday.
Am I the best candidate for any of these positions? That's up to the people in town to decide. I will be at Sunday's candidates meeting if you or other folks have questions for me.
Thank you for replying Mr. Towne. I believe I will vote for you and wish you good luck.
We need new blood at the Thayer Library in Ashuelot!
I would highly recommend that everyone vote for Dianne Skawski-Pride and Shelly Walker. I have been told that they work with children and have great hopes for the library.
Here we go again. I saw this in the Sentinel. I am not surprised to find someone who Margaret is related to and someone who she worked(s) for is campaigning for her. There is no reference to the fact that Beaman is a developer in town who benefits by having Sharra on the planning board. Additionally, no mention that Sharra has a vested interest in getting the sidewalks where she wants them. We are out of money, period. The rest of the country is realizing this, but our fine elected officials keep asking for more and more and more. We need new faces, new ideas, and a new direction in spending. Margaret is none of these.
What'd you expect. Without Sharra, Beamons and Van Dykes and all the rest who don't follow the rules would never build here. If only we had boards with backbones instead of their hands out. Take a chance, vote in all of the new people and throw these me me me people out.
So where's the rest of the new candidates? Surely Mr. Towne is not the only new candidate running for office. We'd like to hear from them too.
I saw that article to and didn't bother reading much of it considering the source and their relationship. Talk about a slanted piece of fiction, what an imagination. Funny how there was no mention of the many lawsuits as a result of her being in charge of the planning board or how she snobbishly treats people she does not like, or how she bends the rules for her friends while making everyone else tow the mark. As for how much business she has brought to town, hell just look around. Winchester is nearly a ghost town for crying out loud thanks to her. I too have known Margaret for many many years, she's a self centered woman who feels she is so much better than all of us and when she's called on will resort to whatever tactic she can use against you. Beware of reelecting this woman, we can not afford any more $20,000 dollar lawsuits. And I suppose tomorrow night's edition will feature another glowing endorsement from Robert Van Dyke who'll crow what a great help she was to him throughout his hearings. You can read about that mess here on this blog or on the town's own website if you want the biased Margaret Sharra version.
DO NOT VOTE for this woman !!!!!!!!
I would have thought that the sentinel would have better sense that to publish lies and bs, even if it did come from a Beamon.
What an absolute crock of bull.
re: Where's the rest of the new candidates?
Every candidate will be afforded space here, new or old; however there's nothing we can do to encourage them to come forward. It is totally up to them whether they want to post on the blog or not. We hope they do, so those reading here will have the opportunity to read what they have to say.
In regards to the letter written by Kathy Beamon.
I can honestly say that after attending nearly 2 1/2 years of Planning Board meetings, the woman described in the newspaper article is not the same woman that I dealt with. I'll leave it at that, draw your own conclusions as to how truthful Mrs. Beamon's words were and the motives behind her letter to the editor.
Here to support my neighbors!
I am running for PLANNING BOARD this year.
For those of you that know me, I am a great listener and enjoy getting to know my neighbors. I am a firm believer - that if I wouldn’t want it in my back yard, I won’t put it in yours. You will also learn that I am not one to sit on my hands and depend on my neighbors or the powers-at-be to make sure things are handled responsibly.
I have spent the past two years familiarizing myself with our Town’s building and zoning departments, Conservation Commission, along with the State’s Dept of Environmental Services, SW Regional Planners and the Local Government Center, in an effort to thwart a company who was given a green light by the Chairman of our Select Board and Conservation Commission to build a dump situated along 119 just down from the historic covered bridge No. 1.
Along with almost 700 neighbors we sent a loud message to the company and their cohorts that we do not want to loose our strict zoning ordinance restricting this facility and any other undesirable facilities from ever building here. They didn’t accept it and continued to pursue it despite our resounding “NO” at the polls. They applied for three state permits with DES and had the support at Town hall in blocking our efforts to inform the State that it was considered illegal according to our ordinance and should not be issued. I would like to publicly thank all those that helped and supported the village of Ashuelot from this fate.
In my quest, I felt compelled to join the Planning Board. I ran a last minute write-in campaign last year and was honored to receive over 100 votes. Because of my interest I was appointed as an alternate to the Planning Board and have enjoyed a year of working and familiarizing myself with this committee. Along with my strong communication skills, friendly disposition, my degree in Drafting & Design technology has given me a working knowledge of plans and proposals that are presented to the board. I look forward to working for the town another three years.
Together we can have the foresight to utilize our town’s natural resources to improve our quality of life.
Thank you for your support next Tuesday!
I read the editorial and immediately wanted to throw up. The woman described in this article is not the woman who runs off at the mouth and allows Kathy Beaman to do her dirty work for her.I do understand that the Beaman's will loose their "in" in the town office if Maggie is not re-elected. Thank God! It's time for the rest of us to screw in the dimples, suck it up and vote in people that care about the town and the citizens that live in this town. Enough said! Sharpen up your pencils and vote in new faces!. We do not need anymore Maggie and Dean lawsuits to the tune of $30,000. I don't know about all of you but the town can do without their "altitude and bs".
Have a great night and keep the information coming!
This is rather long but please bear with me. My name is Bob Davis and I am asking for your support to be your next selectmen. I have ran for office before but found it hard to beat the old guard. We must ask ourselves! Can we afford these selectmen in office any longer? Open any news paper and you read the state is cutting back, laying off workers and cutting financial aid dollars to our towns. Still harder times with fewer state aid dollars is what we can expect in our future. We had better be ready to meet these challenges. Our elected selectmen we have in office are not prepared to make the cut we need to survive as a town. There is no sense of truth or openness from these selectmen.
Winchester is no different then the rest of the state, were families are loosing their jobs and their homes. We are adding insult to their injuries by not making an honest attempt to vote new people in office that will control spending. Read the selectmen minutes and see how we as a town are in trouble with a $500,000.00 short fall. This has happened in the past only this year we are not getting the property taxes money we need.
As a long time tax payer of Winchester and as a budget committee member I have seen first hand knowledge how we have important issues facing our town. As a budget committee member I had serious questions on how our tax dollars are spent. Everyone might not agree with me or like me personally or my tactics in reforming the town government or the fact I sent a news letter to every home showing how our town manager was allowing the wasting our tax dollars. I made dialog with the department heads by demanding how and why the money was wasted on nothing projects from their budgets. No bids on sand, no bids on paving our town garage, or taking our fire truck to Veron, Vt to fill a swimming pool or the high cost of legal fees caused by our planning board chairman. We still have a long ways to go. There are still people in office who are holding “our Town” back and keeping the tax rate one of the highest in the state. Elected as a reformer who has fought hard for the “right to know.
We all should be out raged with the arrogance and grief some citizens receive from town elected officials and employees is shameful. They fail to realize they work for us. These selectmen now in office, do not get it! With wasteful spending, draining capital reserves, passing around raises, cola and performance raise without any regards the cost to tax payers with no restraints, some employees received up to 12 ½ % wage increases. This has to stop.
We are all guilt of electing people by name recognition that are really a part of the clique at the town hall. We keep electing these people time after time hoping for a different results. We keep electing these people and we get the same results every time. It is time to elect people that are not part of the clique. Just because someone worked for the town as say a policeman doesn’t not make them qualified as a selectmen. Elect Mike Towne and I for selectmen I promiss you we will make a difference.
Question to Mike Towne. I understand you have a law suit against town of Winchester planning board. How is this going to help me as a resident of Winchester?
Yes, I am one of the abutters to the Van Dyke proposed condo development that has sued the Planning Board because of the actions of Margaret Sharra and the unfair treatment we abutters and our attorney received at her hands. She was rude, unethical and disrespectful to us and attorney Silas Little and misrepresented information time and time again. We tried every avenue available to us NOT to have to go to court. We approached the Selectmen, the Code Enforcement officer and even the Town's attorney in hopes of avoiding litigation. All to no avail. We are not the bad guys here, this is not something we wanted to do and it has been quite costly for all of us. There are many blogs as to what has transpired, if you haven't read them, click on the links to the left and you will find probably all of the information you seek. If you want to discuss this further send me an email;
theoldesalte@wildblue.com.
As to how this is going to help you personally, perhaps if we are successful in our pursuit of justice this won't happen to anyone ever again and that the town will not have to spend thousands of dollars in tax money defending the actions of someone so biased and rude and so out of control. Even some members of the board were embarrassed by her conduct during these proceedings.
Mr. Towne;
I wanted to wish you good luck this afternoon and look forward to meeting you. You sound like someone that this town has needed for along time. I hope you do well and get elected, we need people like yourself who will stand up for those of us to afraid to speak the words you yourself have spoken.
Good job Mike, i think we should thank John Gomarlo for bringing up and giving the Informer credibility, i doubt that's what he had in mind.
Kudos to Brian Moser, Bob Davis and Gus Ruth for being the ONLY incumbents to take the time to show their face or to accept public Acknowledgment at today's meet the candidates forum.
To the rest of you, (Sharra, Beaman et al, you KNOW who you are)your spineless sense of entitlement is nothing short of despicable.
I was extremely impressed with Dianne Skawski-Pride! Everything she said rang true for those that have any experience with Thayer library.
Good Morning Town Hall!
Sorry, there are no new stories about you - there are no minutes posted, so nothing new to report.
What's up with that? The three day weeks make it a pain to get everything done?
The excuse from town hall is that they have to wait until the next meeting to approve the version ( not verbatim )typed up by whomever took the minutes and that sometimes this can take up to a month. Some committees and boards don't even bother submitting a copy to be posted. The school has it's own website and though part of the town, no minutes ever get posted on the town's website.
State law mandates that minutes be posted in a public place within 5 days of the meeting. There is no reason that a copy of the draft minutes can not be posted on the town's website and then either replaced by the approved minutes or left in place altogether. It's just a matter of the way the town has decided to do things as usual.
I was one of the very few who attended yesterdays meeting and though I was very impressed with several of the new candidates, Kim Gordon, Dianne Skawski-Pride and Mike Towne a very passionate candidate, I was very upset by personal attacks on Mr. Towne and Robert Davis because of comments they have left on this blog by Irene Ruth and Bonnie Leveille who attempted to hold them responsible for the things others say here. I found this to be very upsetting and completely uncalled for and they should be very ashamed. They turned what was a very informative well held meeting into a vicious attack on two men who have taken their time to run for office on behalf of all of us. Shame on you two for spoiling the day.
I agree, that wasn't very nice. I thought Mr. Towne had some very good answers to the questions he was asked. Did I also here Gus Ruth say that we are going to have to replace a town well because it is polluted?
I thought this was going to be a chance for all of us to meet all of the new candidates running for the various offices and not just another vague attempt for the town to look like it was actually promoting fairness. I was not impressed with how things were done, nor with Gus Ruth, Theresa Sepe and Kevin Whippie. Why were people who hold office now allowed to speak and answer questions? They have been in office the past three years or more and if we don't know how they stand by now we never will. I wanted to hear more from people we don't know well, Bob Davis, Kim Gordon, Brian Moser, that lady sitting next to Kim Gordon I think her name was pride? The fellow with the white hair, Mr. Towne was a real firebrand, he and Bob Davis had some very good answers and made many very fine points. I wish more of the new people had gotten up and spoke. The only low light to the whole thing was the limited time candidates had to speak about themselves and John Pasquarelli running his mouth about how much he has done for the town, really? Theresa Sepe really needs to clean up her act, she looked like she slept in those clothes. If elected can you imagine what kind of an image she would project?
Post a Comment