Winnipesaukee Forum - View Single Post - Meredith SB-2 petition

fatlazyless · 12-27-2007, 05:50 PM

As far as I can tell,

(1) 25 signatures & addresses of residents,

(2) and to be handed in to selectmen 5 weeks before town meeting,

is what it takes to get an SB2 petiton item on the ballot.

With a Meredith population at about 6000 people, getting 25 voters to walk into either the Meredith Center Store or George's Diner and ask to sign the two petitions should not be too difficult to do. It's not hard to find people who are unhappy with their property taxes, and want to do something about it.

What I do not know is how the ballot is handled. Is a vote held in the town meeting by a show of hands, or on a paper ballot as a seperate petition article where the voters go to the Community Center on the 2nd Tuesday in March, March 11, from 7am-7pm, or what?

What am I missing here? What else is there to know or do?
..............................

SB2 and Town Meeting

www.nhpr.org, March 1 2007, NHPR radio interview by Laura Knoy

"The traditional town meeting may slowly be on its' way out as more and more towns adopt SB2, a form of local government that has been around since 1996 and allows residents to vote on town and shool district warrants at the polls instead of in town and school district meetings. Sixty of New Hampshire's 221 towns have adopted SB2 and only a handfull (three) have reverted back. We'll look at town meeting, its place in New England and what the future may hold as it competes with the new guy in town - Senate Bill 2."

(The rest and large part of this radio interview can be read at www.nhpr.org)

.................................

An opinion reply to the above NHPR article.

"Since my property taxes have skyrocketed this year I've become a more involved citizen. I've been attending selectman meetings and budget committee meetings, and Hopkinton-Contoocook Taxpayer Assn meetings. I see SB2 as a win-win situation for all the taxpayers. Town meetings and the School meeting can run on for hours and by the final vote, they've lost half the audience. It's not fair to the seniors, those with children, or those who just can't sit there on the bleachers hour after hour. I'd like to see the Town & School Meeting or the "Deliberative Session" as they will be called, televised and available through our cable TV. Then the vote will take place 30 days thereafter; giving all of us a sufficient amount of time to study all the articles and make good decisions in the privacy of the ballet booth. It will also give those who cannot get to the polls the ability to have an absentee ballot and vote on every issue."

Thankyou, Joan Flood

www.nhpr.org

12-27-2007, 05:50 PM	#24
fatlazyless Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 9,169 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 310 Thanked 1,103 Times in 812 Posts	As far as I can tell, (1) 25 signatures & addresses of residents, (2) and to be handed in to selectmen 5 weeks before town meeting, is what it takes to get an SB2 petiton item on the ballot. With a Meredith population at about 6000 people, getting 25 voters to walk into either the Meredith Center Store or George's Diner and ask to sign the two petitions should not be too difficult to do. It's not hard to find people who are unhappy with their property taxes, and want to do something about it. What I do not know is how the ballot is handled. Is a vote held in the town meeting by a show of hands, or on a paper ballot as a seperate petition article where the voters go to the Community Center on the 2nd Tuesday in March, March 11, from 7am-7pm, or what? What am I missing here? What else is there to know or do? .............................. SB2 and Town Meeting www.nhpr.org, March 1 2007, NHPR radio interview by Laura Knoy "The traditional town meeting may slowly be on its' way out as more and more towns adopt SB2, a form of local government that has been around since 1996 and allows residents to vote on town and shool district warrants at the polls instead of in town and school district meetings. Sixty of New Hampshire's 221 towns have adopted SB2 and only a handfull (three) have reverted back. We'll look at town meeting, its place in New England and what the future may hold as it competes with the new guy in town - Senate Bill 2." (The rest and large part of this radio interview can be read at www.nhpr.org) ................................. An opinion reply to the above NHPR article. "Since my property taxes have skyrocketed this year I've become a more involved citizen. I've been attending selectman meetings and budget committee meetings, and Hopkinton-Contoocook Taxpayer Assn meetings. I see SB2 as a win-win situation for all the taxpayers. Town meetings and the School meeting can run on for hours and by the final vote, they've lost half the audience. It's not fair to the seniors, those with children, or those who just can't sit there on the bleachers hour after hour. I'd like to see the Town & School Meeting or the "Deliberative Session" as they will be called, televised and available through our cable TV. Then the vote will take place 30 days thereafter; giving all of us a sufficient amount of time to study all the articles and make good decisions in the privacy of the ballet booth. It will also give those who cannot get to the polls the ability to have an absentee ballot and vote on every issue." Thankyou, Joan Flood www.nhpr.org __________________ .... Banned for life from local thrift store! Last edited by fatlazyless; 12-28-2007 at 09:18 AM.