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Archives
Privatize Cannon?
By Chris Jensen on Wednesday, February 4, 2009.This week state lawmakers are considering bills that would privatize the Cannon Mountain ski area.
Until recently, the state owned park lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
But that’s changed with the new manager, and the skiing operations are actually making money these days.
NHPR Correspondent Chris Jensen has the story.
The Year of Magical Thinking: A Review
By Kevin Gardner on Wednesday, February 4, 2009.White River Junction’s Northern Stage continues its season with, The Year of Magical Thinking,
It’s a one-woman play by acclaimed writer Joan Didion.
NHPR’s theatre critic Kevin Gardner has this review.
Town Meeting Audio
Big Money Enters Local Politics in Bethlehem
By Amy Quinton on Wednesday, March 17, 2010.Officials in Bethlehem, Thursday, plan to hold a recount of last week’s election of a selectman and the passage of a warrant article.
Recounts are not rare in town elections, but in this case, it’s evidence of the ongoing divide in town.
On one side are those who oppose the Casella Landfill, and on the other are those who support it.
This year, though, the landfill’s operators actively campaigned and spent thousands of dollars to sway voters.
And landfill critics are crying foul.
New Hampshire Public Radio’s Amy Quinton reports.
Defining Marriage Resolution: Competing Interpretations
By Jon Greenberg on Tuesday, March 16, 2010.In the course of the recent town meeting season, voters in about 140 towns considered a resolution on the definition of marriage. The resolution itself did not spell out such a definition—it urged members of the legislature to approve a constitutional amendment that would do that.
Both supporters and opponents of the resolution claim results from the towns show that public opinion is on their side. NHPR’s Jon Greenberg explains how this can be.
Town Meeting 2010 Nearly Wrapped Up
By Rick Ganley on Tuesday, March 16, 2010.Town meeting season is just about over for this year.
Across the state, local residents have been meeting to determine the shape, the size, and the direction their local governments are going to take for the next year....and beyond.
At New Hampshire Public Radio, Jon Greenberg has been tracking town meetings through the Meeting Interactive page on our website.
How We Govern Ourselves: Direct Democracy in Our Towns
By Laura Knoy on Wednesday, March 10, 2010.Annual town and school meetings have been called the closest thing to pure Athenian democracy in today's world. Closely related are deliberative session in towns formed under SB2. Larger municipalities have town and city councils. Many say that town meetings and SB2 work because everyone can get involved and be held accountable, but the number of town meetings are dwindling and some say are becoming less relevant. We’ll look at how New Hampshire’s towns run themselves and if this model still works.
Guests
- Jon Greenberg, NHPR’s Executive Editor and curator of the Meeting Interactive 2010 project
- Doug Hall, town moderator in Chichester and past director of the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies
We'll also hear from
- John Steiner, Town Moderator for Bradford and Associate Executive Director of the New Hampshire Local Government Center
- Lynn Christensen, Town Moderator for the town of Merrimack, an SB2 town
- Brian Chirichiello, Town Councilor for Derry
Town Minute: School Meetings Worth Attending
By Jon Greenberg on Friday, March 5, 2010.Who’s afraid of school meeting. Most people, it seems.
I’m Jon Greenberg with this town and school meeting minute.
Town Minute: A Capital Time for Capital Projects
By Jon Greenberg on Friday, March 5, 2010.It’s a beautiful day for a police station. Let’s build two, or three, or four.
I’m Jon Greenberg with town meeting minute.
Town Minute: Stop Making Sense
By Jon Greenberg on Friday, March 5, 2010.It’s official. The Supreme Court says gobbledygook is OK for official purposes on a town warrant.
I’m Jon Greenberg with this town meeting minute.
Town Minute: Gay marriage, town meeting and direct democracy
By Jon Greenberg on Friday, March 5, 2010.Gay marriage, town meeting and direct democracy.
I’m Jon Greenberg with this Town Meeting Minute.
Over 130 towns will have this resolution on their warrants. Resolved: The citizens of New Hampshire should be allowed to vote on an amendment to the New Hampshire Constitution that defines marriage.
By itself, this measure has no legal force. Only lawmakers in Concord have the power to put such a question on a statewide ballot. Passage or rejection in any town would be expressions of voter sentiment.
What we have here is the difference between direct and representative democracy. At the town level, with a few exceptions, citizens have direct control over many governmental decisions. That includes the ability to put an item to a popular vote. At the state level, it’s up to lawmakers.
Putting the definition of marriage on a town warrant is an effort to use a tool of direct democracy to leverage change in a system that runs according to the rules of representative democracy.
With this Town Meeting Minute, I’m Jon Greenberg.
Town Minute: Lean Times, Lean Budgets
By Jon Greenberg on Friday, March 5, 2010.Lean times call for lean budgets.
I’m Jon Greenberg with this Town Meeting Minute.
Opposition Grows to Anti-Gay Marriage Effort
By Chris Jensen on Friday, March 5, 2010.Opponents to New Hampshire's new gay marriage statute have organized an effort to try to put the issue before voters.
They've put language on the warrants for dozens of town meetings asking that the gay marriage bill be put before a statewide popular vote.
But that effort has raised hackles and angry opposition in some North Country towns.
NHPR correspondent Chris Jensen reports.
Citizen Media
With the advent of two-way communication on the web, the ability of any of us to share what we see has become the new civic responsibility. We invited high school students and community observers to post their stories about town meeting. Check back to find those pieces here.
Partners
This project would not have been possible without the outreach and thoughtful help from a number of statewide organizations:
Money Trends
Select a town and see a snapshot of how spending and revenues have changed between 2001 and 2007. This information was compiled by the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies. It relies on information submitted by the towns to the state and data produced by the state department of education. You can find a more complete version of this data here.
Town Meeting 101: A Primer
The Local Government Center, a key partner in this project, provided this brief guide to town meeting:
Traditional Town Meeting
A meeting “for the choice of town officers and the transaction of all other town business” shall be held annually on the second Tuesday of March. Towns that have adopted the optional fiscal year may vote to hold the annual meeting on the second Tuesday of May. Towns and districts that have adopted the official ballot referendum provisions may choose to hold the annual meeting in March, April or May.
A town has the option of conducting the election of town officers and other actions required to be on the official ballot at the first session of the town meeting (second Tuesday in March or May) and acting on all other business on another day to be chosen by the selectmen. This is often called a “bifurcated town meeting.” In choosing a day for the second (deliberative business) session, the selectmen are not bound to the time or day chosen in prior years.
Summary of Moderator’s Role at the Meeting
The moderator should take the following steps on each article in the warrant:
• Read the article in full.
• Always secure an affirmative motion and a second on the article. The motion need not be the same as the wording in the printed article as long as it is within the same general subject matter.
• Recognize the selectmen or person(s) responsible for giving the town meeting the necessary background on the article under consideration. • Open general discussion from the floor.
• After the conclusion of discussion, the motion should be restated, with a check to make sure its effect is generally understood.
• The vote should be taken and the outcome announced. If the vote is to be challenged, this is the appropriate time for action.
Moderators can be overruled by the town meeting. Whenever a voter indicates a desire to challenge the moderator’s ruling, the moderator should then poll the town meeting to determine whether that ruling is sustained.
Articles Requiring Two-Thirds Vote
Although most articles require a majority vote for passage, there are several for which state law explicitly requires a two-thirds vote:
• To change the purpose of a capital reserve fund.
• To issue bonds and notes other than tax anticipation notes.
• To approve an amendment to, or to repeal, a zoning ordinance after a signed protest of the owners of 20 percent of the area of lots included in the proposed change, or of those extending 100 feet directly opposite from the street frontage, or those immediately adjacent and extending 100 feet from the rear of the lot.
SB 2 Official Ballot Referendum System
If this option is adopted, the annual meeting consists of two sessions. SB 2 towns have the choice of March, April or May town meetings. For the March option, the first session, sometimes referred to as the “deliberative session,” is held “between the first and second Saturdays following the last Monday in January, inclusive of those Saturdays.” The second session takes place the second Tuesday in March. Within limits, the governing body prescribes the date and time of the first session.
The first session is conducted like the open business meeting of traditional town meeting, complete with the authority to discuss and amend all warrant articles, except those whose wording is prescribed by law and those required by statute to be voted on by official ballot. Although the first session has no authority to take final votes, it has the power to substantially amend warrant articles.
The second session consists of the election of officers and final voting on all articles in their amended form. It is run just like an election by official ballot, with no further opportunity for discussion or amendment.
Annual School Meeting
A meeting of every school district must be held annually between March 1 and March 25, inclusive, or in accordance with the SB 2 statute if adopted in the district, for raising and appropriating money for the support of schools for the fiscal year beginning the next July 1, for the transaction of other district business and, in those districts not electing their district officers at town meeting, for the choice of district officers. The school board chooses the date and prepares the warrant.
Traditional Town Meeting
A meeting “for the choice of town officers and the transaction of all other town business” shall be held annually on the second Tuesday of March. Towns that have adopted the optional fiscal year may vote to hold the annual meeting on the second Tuesday of May. Towns and districts that have adopted the official ballot referendum provisions may choose to hold the annual meeting in March, April or May.
A town has the option of conducting the election of town officers and other actions required to be on the official ballot at the first session of the town meeting (second Tuesday in March or May) and acting on all other business on another day to be chosen by the selectmen. This is often called a “bifurcated town meeting.” In choosing a day for the second (deliberative business) session, the selectmen are not bound to the time or day chosen in prior years.
Summary of Moderator’s Role at the Meeting
The moderator should take the following steps on each article in the warrant:
• Read the article in full.
• Always secure an affirmative motion and a second on the article. The motion need not be the same as the wording in the printed article as long as it is within the same general subject matter.
• Recognize the selectmen or person(s) responsible for giving the town meeting the necessary background on the article under consideration. • Open general discussion from the floor.
• After the conclusion of discussion, the motion should be restated, with a check to make sure its effect is generally understood.
• The vote should be taken and the outcome announced. If the vote is to be challenged, this is the appropriate time for action.
Moderators can be overruled by the town meeting. Whenever a voter indicates a desire to challenge the moderator’s ruling, the moderator should then poll the town meeting to determine whether that ruling is sustained.
Articles Requiring Two-Thirds Vote
Although most articles require a majority vote for passage, there are several for which state law explicitly requires a two-thirds vote:
• To change the purpose of a capital reserve fund.
• To issue bonds and notes other than tax anticipation notes.
• To approve an amendment to, or to repeal, a zoning ordinance after a signed protest of the owners of 20 percent of the area of lots included in the proposed change, or of those extending 100 feet directly opposite from the street frontage, or those immediately adjacent and extending 100 feet from the rear of the lot.
SB 2 Official Ballot Referendum System
If this option is adopted, the annual meeting consists of two sessions. SB 2 towns have the choice of March, April or May town meetings. For the March option, the first session, sometimes referred to as the “deliberative session,” is held “between the first and second Saturdays following the last Monday in January, inclusive of those Saturdays.” The second session takes place the second Tuesday in March. Within limits, the governing body prescribes the date and time of the first session.
The first session is conducted like the open business meeting of traditional town meeting, complete with the authority to discuss and amend all warrant articles, except those whose wording is prescribed by law and those required by statute to be voted on by official ballot. Although the first session has no authority to take final votes, it has the power to substantially amend warrant articles.
The second session consists of the election of officers and final voting on all articles in their amended form. It is run just like an election by official ballot, with no further opportunity for discussion or amendment.
Annual School Meeting
A meeting of every school district must be held annually between March 1 and March 25, inclusive, or in accordance with the SB 2 statute if adopted in the district, for raising and appropriating money for the support of schools for the fiscal year beginning the next July 1, for the transaction of other district business and, in those districts not electing their district officers at town meeting, for the choice of district officers. The school board chooses the date and prepares the warrant.
February 4, 2009
Today on Word of Mouth, taxing your miles. With more fuel efficient cars and with fewer drivers on the road, states are scrambling to make up for lost fuel tax revenue. Some are considering a tax on miles driven, rather than gallons purchased. Plus, new GPS applications that connect people and locations using smart cell phones. We’ll get a user’s guide to some features, from locating speed traps on the road to finding a clean bathroom. And forgive us, but we’ll continue on the lavatory theme with a visit to a workshop for people who suffer from shy bladder syndrome.
listen:
