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

fatlazyless · 03-04-2008, 07:35 AM

Here's a letter to the editor, Laconia Daily Sun, February 28, 2008, from Rick Heath of Moultonboro. As many readers know, Mr Heath is on the team that runs the totally terrific E. M. Heath supermarket and hardware stores in Center Harbor, that shopping mecca for the area! (Looking for a freebie cup of coffee from six choices of exotic Green Mt coffee including hawaian kona.......head for Heath's Super!)

......

Not everyone is able to be present at the town and school district meetings

To the editor,

In a most amazing statement by Moderator Borrin at the recent School District Public Hearing on SB-2, he indicated that those who would rather vote by ballot either within the privacy of a voting booth "hiding behind a curtain" (his words, not mine) or by absentee ballot had less courage than those dedicated souls that are able to make it to the town and school district meetings. Can we assume that as the chief election official in the town (Town Moderator as defined by RSA) he meant that hundreds of disenfranchised voters mean less to him than having the courage to stand before a stacked audience of prujudiced voters to muster up a vote against them?

I can tell you as a busines owner, parent having had kids in school and as a member of the community, it is easier to stay home. I will also tell you courage or cowardice has nothing to do with it. Because under the present forum, any one voter innocently going to "the purest form of democracy" to express their opinion is like leading the lamb to slaughter. I have seen the intimidation, the bullying, the impatience with the inexperienced participant, the arrogance of decades at the helm, and the cavalier behavior that is common from the podium all too often. No, setting yourself up for this kind of treatment in order to express one's opinion is not courage; it is stupidity.

Setting this allegation aside, SB-2 is not about "cutting taxes with large groups of absentee ballots"(his contention not mine) nor is it about having to run for office to demonstrate one's dedication to his community, nor is it "how we are going to 'getcha' by undermining the present process." SB-2 simply is a voting initiative that allows all registered voters to vote on the warrant articles. I know this is a simple concept for some of our town fathers to wrap their minds around, but not everyone is able to be present at the town and school district meetings. Should this simple fact deny those taxpaying, registered resident voters the right to have a saying how their tax dollar is spent?Their reply is that you have the opportunity to be there, discuss, and vote along with the rest of them; if that does not fit your schedule or your needs, then tough beans. Besides it is dangerous to allow uneducated voters to vote; only those insiders that have stuck with the process all throughout the year and fully understand all concepts of every article should be allowed the vote. By this standard we ought not to be voting on people for the office of selectmen unless we know ahead of time how they will represent us on all issues all the time. But they (all but one) just did a 180-degeree flip-flop on their supporting the multi-million dollar recreation center.

We all have priorities in life. Family, job or business, church, recreation, community obligations, etc. are some that come to mind. This writer would suggest a blend of some or all of these, and others I have missed, would be a healthy and natural prescription or blueprint with which to live life. That is not to say that if I put business higher on the list than recreation, or if my neighbor puts recreation higher than family, one of us is right and the other is wrong. There are no laws governing how we make our priority list or even that we need to have the list at all. I vote. I vote at primaries, local elections, state and national elections. I enjoy the process of taking my ballot and filling it out and either mailing it in by absentee or going behind the striped curtains and handing my ballot to the moderator. If you are not physically there at the town meeting, your right to vote is being denied. Why are we allowed to mail in our vote on all other aspects of government but not for town meetings? How is this called democracy at all, let alone domocracy in the purest form?

Please vote yes on SB-2 whether you live in Moultonboro, Meredith, Center Harbor, or Sandwich. Vote for the true purest form of democracy.

Rick Heath
Moultonboro
..........

Laconia Daily Sun, letter to the editor, Feb 28, 2008

03-04-2008, 07:35 AM	#84
fatlazyless Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 9,169 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 310 Thanked 1,103 Times in 812 Posts	"Not everyone is able to be present..." Here's a letter to the editor, Laconia Daily Sun, February 28, 2008, from Rick Heath of Moultonboro. As many readers know, Mr Heath is on the team that runs the totally terrific E. M. Heath supermarket and hardware stores in Center Harbor, that shopping mecca for the area! (Looking for a freebie cup of coffee from six choices of exotic Green Mt coffee including hawaian kona.......head for Heath's Super!) ...... Not everyone is able to be present at the town and school district meetings To the editor, In a most amazing statement by Moderator Borrin at the recent School District Public Hearing on SB-2, he indicated that those who would rather vote by ballot either within the privacy of a voting booth "hiding behind a curtain" (his words, not mine) or by absentee ballot had less courage than those dedicated souls that are able to make it to the town and school district meetings. Can we assume that as the chief election official in the town (Town Moderator as defined by RSA) he meant that hundreds of disenfranchised voters mean less to him than having the courage to stand before a stacked audience of prujudiced voters to muster up a vote against them? I can tell you as a busines owner, parent having had kids in school and as a member of the community, it is easier to stay home. I will also tell you courage or cowardice has nothing to do with it. Because under the present forum, any one voter innocently going to "the purest form of democracy" to express their opinion is like leading the lamb to slaughter. I have seen the intimidation, the bullying, the impatience with the inexperienced participant, the arrogance of decades at the helm, and the cavalier behavior that is common from the podium all too often. No, setting yourself up for this kind of treatment in order to express one's opinion is not courage; it is stupidity. Setting this allegation aside, SB-2 is not about "cutting taxes with large groups of absentee ballots"(his contention not mine) nor is it about having to run for office to demonstrate one's dedication to his community, nor is it "how we are going to 'getcha' by undermining the present process." SB-2 simply is a voting initiative that allows all registered voters to vote on the warrant articles. I know this is a simple concept for some of our town fathers to wrap their minds around, but not everyone is able to be present at the town and school district meetings. Should this simple fact deny those taxpaying, registered resident voters the right to have a saying how their tax dollar is spent?Their reply is that you have the opportunity to be there, discuss, and vote along with the rest of them; if that does not fit your schedule or your needs, then tough beans. Besides it is dangerous to allow uneducated voters to vote; only those insiders that have stuck with the process all throughout the year and fully understand all concepts of every article should be allowed the vote. By this standard we ought not to be voting on people for the office of selectmen unless we know ahead of time how they will represent us on all issues all the time. But they (all but one) just did a 180-degeree flip-flop on their supporting the multi-million dollar recreation center. We all have priorities in life. Family, job or business, church, recreation, community obligations, etc. are some that come to mind. This writer would suggest a blend of some or all of these, and others I have missed, would be a healthy and natural prescription or blueprint with which to live life. That is not to say that if I put business higher on the list than recreation, or if my neighbor puts recreation higher than family, one of us is right and the other is wrong. There are no laws governing how we make our priority list or even that we need to have the list at all. I vote. I vote at primaries, local elections, state and national elections. I enjoy the process of taking my ballot and filling it out and either mailing it in by absentee or going behind the striped curtains and handing my ballot to the moderator. If you are not physically there at the town meeting, your right to vote is being denied. Why are we allowed to mail in our vote on all other aspects of government but not for town meetings? How is this called democracy at all, let alone domocracy in the purest form? Please vote yes on SB-2 whether you live in Moultonboro, Meredith, Center Harbor, or Sandwich. Vote for the true purest form of democracy. Rick Heath Moultonboro .......... Laconia Daily Sun, letter to the editor, Feb 28, 2008 __________________ .... Banned for life from local thrift store!