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Elections Violations – Bow Deserves Better

Admin — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 00:35:18 +0000

Fellow citizens of Bow, upon hearing the final results in the election hall this past March, I immediately turned to congratulate and shake the hands of all winners, my opponents included.

Upon arriving home that evening, admittedly somewhat disappointed, I sat at my desk reviewing the final stages of the campaign, when my eyes fell to a packet of literature that an opposing group of running mates had stuffed in citizens’ newspaper tubes near their mailboxes including my own.

The packet was headed by a copy of an official Town of Bow ballot with opponents’ names already selected. There was no indication that this was a sample; in fact, the seal of the Town of Bow appears in one corner, and the signature of the Town Clerk, our senior election official appears in the other making it an official ballot. Nowhere on that ballot is there any indication that this was only a sample, nor is there the attribution statement required by state law. The individual palm cards, or informational fliers for each of those other candidates were also lacking the required attribution notations… you know, the familiar, but in this case lacking indication, “Paid for by Jill Smith candidate for Budget Committee Telephone 603- xxx-xxx.”

Putting aside the disappointment, I researched the State of NH election laws and found RSA 664:14 that specifically requires an attribution statement so that people know who is responsible for campaign advertising and have a clear way to follow up with any questions they might have for the advertisers and candidates.

At that point, I was deeply troubled by the principles involved. First, the misrepresentation of an official ballot with pre-selection of candidates seems to me to be at least cheating – if not fraud. Second, the willful violations of the state law for attribution statements demand that the violators be held accountable. My choices were to:

• let the feeling persist that the citizens of Bow, my running mates, and I had been cheated and set the precedent that Bow candidates for School Board, Select Board, Budget Committee are above the law…that was unacceptable.

• file an election law complaint and let the Justice Department seek a fair disposition.

The latter course was for me the better choice since it takes emotions out of the picture and focuses on the facts. If we hope to raise our children to be law abiding citizens we must set good examples.

- Jim Hoffman, Bow

Related: Article from Union Leader

School Super’s Son in Drinking Incident

Admin — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:41:07 +0000

October 1, 2009
Union Leader

BOW – Eleven Bow High School students are being punished after they were involved in an “incident” Saturday night at the school district superintendent’s home in Bristol.

Superintendent Dean Cascadden said the students, including his son Ian, violated the athletic department’s code of conduct that banned drinking, drugs and smoking or being at a party where minors are drinking or using drugs.

Police, fire struggle with old facilities

Admin — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:28:42 +0000

August 19, 2009
NH.com

It could be a while before Bow firefighters can move out of their dilapidated fire station on Knox Road.

Until then, they’re sleeping in a camper outside.

At least for the next month, that is. Many firefighters grew concerned about exposure to asbestos as crews continue for the next four or five weeks to remove the cancer-causing substance from tile floors in portions of the building, which is also home to the town’s Parks and Recreation Department.

Josiah Bartlett Reports on NH Budget

Admin — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 04:36:04 +0000

The Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy has come out with a report that outlines the State Budget featuring 38 new taxes and fees.

Josiah Bartlett Report – Click Here for PDF File

SB-2 Needed in Bow

Admin — Tue, 26 May 2009 14:10:42 +0000

From May 21, 2009
Goffstown News Editorial

So far this year, Town Meeting in Bow has lasted for four hours. During that time, three articles were discussed and voted on. And there still are 21 more articles to go.

This is a perfect example of why the town of Bow needs to adopt the official ballot law, or SB-2.

For many people, it is difficult to set aside even one evening to vote on items that will affect their tax bills. Now the town heads for round two on May 27 at 7:00 p.m..

The official ballot law would allow people to set aside a half hour during the day to vote on articles at their convenience in the privacy of a voting booth. Gone would be the days of two and three day meetings where fewer and fewer people show up for each.

When Town Meeting comes around next year, do yourself a favor and vote for SB-2.

More on Abuse

Admin — Thu, 21 May 2009 18:58:00 +0000

As administrator of this website I strive to keep my opinions out of the fray while maintaining order. However, I have been getting a lot of inquiries as to what would cause anyone to be banned from posting here, after the banning of the user ‘publius’. The owners of this site strive to give voice to all opinions so it was not an easy decision. However, after ignoring what seemed to be a clear attempt at pretending to be for the ‘other side’ so he could discredit them, the decision to ban him was made only when that turned into what could only be called over-the-top spamming.

The situation is that this individual signed up with two usernames. In one persona ‘publius’, he expressed disagreement with SB2 and other tax issues that have support here. In another persona, ‘bowandarrow’ he acted as if he was on the side of the BCC with regard to supporting SB2 and other issues that are discussed here.

Over time it became apparent that the posts of ‘bowandarrow’ became increasingly over-the-top, sarcastic, and frankly, looking not to be serious but rather to make mockery of the BCC website.

Eventually the other users figured out that he was one and the same person when he accidentally posted using the wrong name… still in a thread on the blog. Other posts done in apparently the ‘wrong name’ never made it to the screen because they were spam.

Still signed in under the ‘wrong’ name (publius) but thinking he was signed in as ‘bowandarrow’ he attempted to disrupt with several posts; here is one copied verbatim:

“Pubby is a moron!!! Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!Pubby is a moron!!!”

It was at this point that ‘publius’ was banned.

During this time he claimed that his account was hacked. Upon investigating this, I found that it came from the exact same source, so it would have been impossible unless the hacker was sitting in the very same chair.

And now we come to the real ethical question that came from all of this; all this activity originated from the Franklin Pierce Law Center.

Posting from this location tells me he could be a janitor a the facility, or a law student, or perhaps worse, a practicing lawyer or law professor. If any of the latter is the case, then I have serious concerns about someone going into or already in the ‘law’ business who attempts to use such shady tactics to discredit honest people trying to get a fair vote for the people of Bow.

If this is the kind of tactic a lawyer or would-be lawyer thinks is acceptable, I would have huge reservations about the lawyers he was defending, the ones currently in place as your own town officials.

Judge running may have impact on Bow Moderator’s Electioneering

Admin — Fri, 08 May 2009 18:14:48 +0000

The ruling would not impact selectman running for office who are required to recuse themselves as election officials. But Associate Attorney General Anne M. Edwards said electioneering, which is defined in state statues as acting “in any way specifically designed to influence the vote of a voter on any question or office,” is not limited to Election Day.

Small Majority of Bow Voters Raise Taxes for the Rest of Us

Admin — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 11:34:39 +0000

Approximately 500 of the ~6,000 Bow voters voted for the Bow school board’s budget. Most voters were not at all interested in a 15% cut in the school budget, some showed interested in Selectman Tom Keane’s modest $300,000 reduction but most voters in the end went with the school board’s budget.

Were the people influenced by the school board’s presentation, or the Bow High School Kids with large signs surrounding the voters saying “Support Education In Bow and Keep Classrooms Small” or did they come with fear that a possible 15% cut was on the horizon? No one will know for sure. All we now know is that the cries for fiscal restraint were not on the agenda of the majority of those who turned out tonight, Friday the 13th.

Many might say that if the voters will vote for higher spending in a near depression they will always vote for higher spending but we can’t say that. The reason why we can’t say that is because less than 90% of Bow voters did not come out to vote. Would that change have changed the vote, if 60% or more of the voters came out? Perhaps it would have changed it dramatically.

For those who are losing hope in their beloved Bow there is hope and that is SB2. SB2 will bring the change we need to bring back hope that tax reductions can be part of the Bow’s future and skyrocketing taxes a part of the past.

Change isn’t easy, if people really want change they have to work for it. Letting only a handful of people carry the banner of change won’t get us change but more of the same.. Yes we can accomplish change if the silent majority works together to get SB2 passed. Our turn will come.

Major construction on PSNH scrubber project begins

Admin — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 23:19:51 +0000

BOW – Public Service of New Hampshire has received the approvals necessary to begin major construction of a mercury emission reduction system at Merrimack Station, the company’s largest power generation facility. The “Clean Air Project” is moving from a design, engineering and permitting phase to one of heavy construction.

Bow School District Abuses the Intent of Emergency Alert System

Admin — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:54:50 +0000

Uses Emergency System to Politically Target Audience

At 8:27 this morning Bow Superintendent Dean Cascadden sent out the following e-mail to parents in the Bow School System despite promising that he would not do so at Bow Budget Committee meetings. Intent of Emergency Alert System was for just that, emergencies. Announcements of school closings and other emergency needed to get to inform parents of unexpected events. The planned school district meeting is not an unexpected event and its use for political purposes to target only parents of Bow Students and to shill only the school district website is a clear abuse of taxpayer funds.

School officials who repeatedly use taxpayer funded resources for political purposes should be held accountable. Will the school board take disciplinary action or will the taxpayers activate their oversight by tightening the control of these funds? Please go to the school district meeting initiate your oversight.

Cascadden’s Email

PSNH Rep: Scrubber project cost cap could bankrupt business

Admin — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 17:45:31 +0000

According to Terry Large, PSNH director of business planning, Public Service of New Hampshire could ultimately go bankrupt if the House passes a bill capping the costs of constructing a mercury scrubber now being built at its Merrimack Station Coal Plant in Bow.

Economy shrinks at fastest pace in 26 years

Admin — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 17:03:44 +0000

by Jeannine Aversa, AP Economics Writer
Friday February 27, 2009

Looking ahead, economists predict consumers and businesses will keep cutting back spending, making the first six months of this year especially rocky.

“Right now we’re in the period of maximum recession stress, where the big cuts are being made,” said economist Ken Mayland, president of Clear View Economics.