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About Me
- the Winchester Informer
- I am part of a group of Winchester citizens completely opposed to dirty and hazardous businesses, like asphalt and wood burning plants wanting to come into town at the expense of our quality of life. I am concerned about preserving the rural character of Winchester. These types of development have no benefits for Winchester citizens and they create many health hazards and will cause the destruction of green space. Our Winchester is known for its precious natural resources; dramatic rocky slopes, unique wetlands and abundant wildlife. I feel there are many questions concerning these proposed projects that outweigh any benefits. The increase in traffic along existing streets and noise and air pollution would be very significant. I am also concerned that the town infrastructure cannot cope with the problems these types of businesses will demand. Furthermore, I am very discouraged with the Planning Board and Zoning Boards and feel they have been negligent in their duties to protect neighboring residents from health hazards and safety issues that will surely arise and affect the lives and livelihoods of many citizens.
22 comments:
Cant believe the lack of integrity by Roberta and Herbert, we have people who did the paperwork, bought the signs, shook hands, made phone calls, because they thought that they could help the town that they live and pay taxes in. Now we find out that if there is any chance they don't agree with Roberta, Herbert and friends, they were wasting there time. The next vote getter should be appointed, but if its experience you want, Mr. McGrath Probably has more then anyone on the board. Is next years Official Ballot going to read, For Experienced Selectman? I really hope that one of the Ballot Candidates takes this issue to court.
The decision to play this game was made the minute certain people saw the candidates list and knew there was a chance that the pendulum of power would swing. If there is a vacancy on the Board of Selectmen, under RSA 669:61, the remaining members have the right to fill the position. If you look in the minutes, they advertised for the position before they had their meeting with new members on the board. Roberta and friends had already made up their mind that they were going to get a certain someone on the board to keep control of our town. I'll let you all fill in the blanks.
So now we have a couple of applicants who took the time to fill out volunteers forms, attach resume's and submit them on time and one of them attended the meeting and got nominated, only to be told by the chair .. yes, Roberta again, that he wasn't qualified in her eyes. Since when does qualifications have anything to do with filling positions in Winchester? Never has before, why now? Were all the candidates for town offices over the years subjected to a qualifications check? Didn't think so.
So now the board, Roberta ( she made the motion ) wants to and has advertised once again for more applicants.. If I were one of those who ran and and my nomination papers accepted and received support in the form of votes, I'd be looking at RSA 669:63 and challenging what the board has done .. How many times are you going to pull this crap and just who are you representing would be my question for the chair?
It sure isn't the people of Winchester; but since when have they mattered in the decisions these previous members continue to make?
The chair of the select board is in charge of the meetings, but as far as I know he or she has no greater power then the rest of the board. I would think anyone headed to court over this dictatorial chair, would have a very good day. Maybe this chair would like to tell us about her managing experience, should be very interesting.
I read that RSA you referred to Informer, thanks for the information and I have a question for either you or someone from the board. If they have already advertised and posted a date to accept applications once before how can they legally do it again? I see nothing that says this process can be repeated over and over again. Something doesn't appear right with this whole thing. Why didn't they just accept Ken's resignation when he wanted to resign and then this all would have been settled at the polls election day, why string everything out? I'm wondering as I am sure a lot of other people are, just what is the reason and purpose of all this application stuff? This sounds fishy as all hell.
I just read these comments and agree something isn't right. As for Roberta's managing experiences, yeah, there's a rumor going around she was asked to leave her last place of employment. Maybe we need to look at her experience for being a select person?
peeple at town hall are not happy with you informer you better be carefull
Thank You for being there informer............. True some wackos state blatant misinformation and slander but through the BS is a trail of pathetic truth about our Town Hall. Somehow they think they can defy all the RSA's, all the way from the selection of a Selectman to the HIghway Dept doing whatever it pleases and telling DES to go stuff it. The BOS covered their butts by making approval of the legal funds for the pipeline in a Warrant article and tried to say they are following the will of the voters. Can't wait to see how they defend and get around us defeating the Housing Ordinance and allowing Margaret's husband to keep his lucrative job???? I feel for the town hall people who actually do a good job having to support and cover for the rest and there ARE some good people doing their job.............
I love the hullabaloo over this controversy of their (the voters)own makings. Plato said, "This City is what it is because our citizens are what they are"! Who's slogan was it that said? “We can turn this town around this election day”! HaH! Turn it around and it bits you in the arass because the teeth are on the other end. Any town that will vote in a felon to represent them is foolish. You Winchester
people sleigh me!
Ok, so let me weigh in! Who died and left Roberta the queen? I want to know what her qualifications were to be a selectman. Other than she was friends with specific people. Then there is the underlying issue of why she is no longer an administrative assistant to the town of New Ipswich. If you all want to allow Roberta, Chan and Margaret to run the town you deserve what you get. Just remember that they are no smarter than anyone else.
Just remember Margaret and Roberta are from John Stetser days. If you want Stetser's legacy to go on and on..... keep these idiots around. This is a dirty trick Stetser has taught everyone, being a dirty SOB and act stupid when questioning about your actions.
The Board of Selectmen meet tonight at 7:00pm and it would be a good time for anyone with concerns regarding the board's selection process and the chairs decision to dismiss an applicant based on her opinion he was not qualified to ask their questions. Whether you get an answer or not is a different matter. But here's a little tid bit of information for inquiring minds to bring up.
"Only a few municipal offices require any additional qualifications beyond citizenship and residency. Town managers, for instance, are selected “with special reference to education, training, and experience" for the position. RSA 37:3. For the most part, however, there are no additional qualifications for elected office, and municipalities do not have the power to add qualifications. See, for example, Hooksett v. Baines, 148 N.H. 625 (2002) (municipal charters cannot set term limits for elected office)."
Would seems our board is sitting on a very slippery slope. Perhaps another "revisit" is in order madame chairperson ?
So mr informer
What's the solution?
Have ongoing lawsuits against every town employee?
And what was so bad about the Stetser days?
We had one person in charge who was in his office every day
If townsfolk were unhappy the solution was to hire a different town manager.
As mr informer notes...town managers are actually supposed to have a resume while selectmen only need to be residents.
So we are back to five town clowns steering the town clown car in all different directions.
The majority of VOTERS are very happy with town officials because they keep electing them.
One can only deduce that informer readers are a small group of malcontents who would never like anybody and lack sufficient numbers to vote any change in Winchester.
The majority of voters are employees, friends and family and then you have the uniformed voter who think its there duty to vote, and they usually vote for a name that they recognize. If you talk to anyone on the street they see a board that thinks they are in office to represent the employees and not the taxpayers. Employees anywhere need direction, and in a taxpayer funded job some emphasis should be on the best bang for the buck. Believe it or not, some of our residents are taped out and would like to see a reverse in direction.
Mr. Stetser, didn't run a very tight ship and had his hands in the till, 'nough said. If you think the town was in better shape when he was town manager, you sure don't know anything about leadership or fiscal responsibility. The people in town spoke and the position was removed.. take it up with the voters.
You say the and I quote you " the majority " of voters are happy with town officials, correct? And what do you base that on, the number of votes each got when elected or their popularity with as you say, "the 5 clowns" who were in office that appointed them to their positions or made new town positions just for them? We have over 3500 registered voters in this town, less than 12% voted in the last town election, the " majority " do not vote, period. Why there is so much apathy is open for debate. I take it many have given up after banging their heads against the wall over the years to elect good people and straighten out this town. In a nutshell, this town wastes too much money on outlandish perks and spending to ensure certain people hold onto their positions year after year. A small block of voters, who turn out every year to maintain the status quo, hold reign over this town while it burns. This is a dead town run by people with self interests. It attracts no businesses other than small shops or the kinds no other town would want; Triple T ring any bells? We have no High School, lost it's accreditation, yet we have a nearly $11 million dollar school budget and kids who can't pass simple math, science or English tests .. why? Why aren't people concern, why do they continue drinking the kool aid and vote to spend large sums of money to provide recreation instead of demanding they get their money's worth for the education they pay through the nose for? I could go on, but why bother, everyone knows what's wrong with this town, many afraid to speak up, others just bury their heads in the sand and hope someone else takes up the rod. Sad and at the same time disgusting behavior, but Winchester is no different than many other small, go nowhere little towns that dot the map.
So crow all you want about how the "majority" of people are happy in this town, the proof is in the pudding; voter turnout doesn't support your argument.
As for a "small group of malcontents", did you know there were only 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence,? Sometimes it doesn't take an army to win a battle.
I am correct. I said majority of VOTERS - that is people who VOTE.
NOT people who are registered, residents, or eligible.
The majority of the people who actually go out and vote prefers the status quo.
That proves that blog readers are a either a small group of malcontents who certainly vote in every town election but lack numbers to make any change
Or
They are a small group of whiny hypocrites who can't be bothered to vote.
I DID NOT say majority were happy - the majority of people who vote are.
And as you note 3500 registered voters - wow - I find that hard to believe - if they can't be bothered to vote or vote for change one can only assume they are content...or at least not hurting enough to make an effort towards change.
I'm not going to quibbel with you over what you meant by your statement and what you perceive, it's childish and I have better things to do with my time; however Merriam's defines "voter" ; a person who votes or has the right to vote at an election. Seems you are the whiney hypocrite that constantly attempts to disrupt the blog with inane comments and heaven knows I have sent most of them to the trash where they belong.
Here's a cut and paste of today's ( as of 3:44 pm ) stats, I think more than just a few malcontents as you call them read here each day. Again, why people choose not to participate and vote is squarely on them and I imagine they all have their "good" reasons for not doing so. Roughly 60 people showed up to Deliberative Session this year, is that a majority of townspeople to you? Less than 800 voted, a a majority, I think not.
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Good afternoon Informer and others. I am one of those so called malcontents that reads here quite often. This is only the second time I have posted a comment on this blog because I felt it was necessary to show the person with several different monikers that he is wrong about the number of people in town with concerns over our local government and some employees at town hall. I have many conversations with my neighbors and have a very large family that mostly live here in town and not one of us are happy with how things have been going for a very long time. I used to attend meetings and also wrote several letters to the Select Board regarding a multitude of issues I saw going on and not one of them was ever addressed. Mr Tedford used to like to say I'll take it under advisement and then that was the end of it. Is it any wonder why people just don't care any more? Nothing has changed, he's still involved as are the others that have ruined this town. Most people I talk to are all looking for a way out and if home prices were higher and taxes lower they may be able to sell and move, but not with how things are here, 120% valuation so the baoard can say they kept taxes down. Big joke, April fools all year.
I have to agree with the Informer and "Majority Aren't Happy". I also check this blog daily and post from time to time.
I was called away on an emergency at the time of the Deliberative this year, but have attended in the past. I attend Select Board (and various Committee) meetings as able with my work schedule, and I DO vote.
I haven't lived here all of my life, but was drawn to the area and, for the most part, think that it is a nice place to live. However, the "good ol' boys AND girls" network here is difficult to get around if you don't know who to kiss up to (or don't want to). I'd like to open a business in town that would benefit the community, but there are too many obstacles for me to be able to do that at this point. Maybe in the future.
In the meantime, I'll continue to vote, post, and do what I can in other ways to help this town become a better place.
The only people in this town that are happy are the ones that work at town hall and their families and the ones that work at the school and their families. The rest of us are disgusted with the way money is wasted in this town AND THE LACK OF VOTER SUPPORT WHEN IT COMES TIME TO VOTE. I vote and will continue to do so until we get the right people in office starting with the board of selecmen.
I wonder how many applications they received for the vacancy on the board and just how many of them will be discussed tonight. Any one want to venture a guess on who Roberta will choose to vote on? I'll bet it's someone already on one of the other boards hand picked by her and Margaret Sharra and she'll tout how experienced they are because they are already serving the town.
You can bet Roberta and band of bandits have this under control with the blessing of the town counsel. Things have a way of working out in the long run, maybe it will be BY BY Roberta.
McGrath broke building codes on his property. He also did not receive enough votes to even rank in the top 3.
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