January 22,
2010
EDITORIAL
Goffstown's
chance to learn from Massachusetts |
On Tuesday night,
Massachusetts voters sent a clear and firm message to
Washington politicians, the Obama administration and
liberal spenders everywhere: Enough is enough. The
well is dry.
In a stunning election result, republican Scott Brown
was swept into office on a fiscally conservative
platform in a state long known as a bastion of high
taxes, corrupt politicians, liberal policies and reckless
spending, winning a senate seat held by liberal
democrats since 1972.
So what lessons can Goffstown taxpayers learn from this
historic event?
There are many. To begin with, your votes counts.
Voter turnout on Tuesday approached record levels, a
sign of unrest and dissatisfaction with what had been
the 'status quo'. Can any of you say you're
content with maintaining the status quo in Goffstown
right now? Unless voters get out to the polls, the
status quo will remain again this year, i.e., runaway
spending and higher taxes. MUCH higher taxes.
Another lesson we can learn from Brown's victory is that
we must take advantage of our constitutional rights to
change existing policies and remove those individuals
from office who place their own interests ahead of ours,
replacing both with representatives and policies that
are in the best interests of the taxpayers, not those
individuals, boards and committees.
So who do we accomplish this? Get out and VOTE.
Two members of the Board of Selectmen are up for
re-election in March. Are you satisfied with the
job they've done? Have they voted in your best
interests on issues that affect your taxes? Has
your town tax rate gone up under their leadership, and
if so, are you better off for it?
There are three members
of the free-spending School Board up for re-election as
well. Two of them, Phil Kendall and Jeff Tate,
have voted time and time again in support of spending
policies that have continually raised your school taxes,
and are about to send them skyrocketing next year if
they are not stopped next week at school deliberative
session on February 1st. Of this group, only Lorry
Cloutier has shown fiscal restraint and responsibility,
not to mention the best interests of the taxpayers and a
whole lot of common sense.
And let's not forget a
few other boards and committees with upcoming
openings.
There will be five
openings on the Budget Committee. Two members up
for re-election,
Dorine Olson and David Pierce, are well-known heavy
spenders. Have you looked into how they have voted on
fiscal issues that have, and will, put a huge dent in
your savings accounts - if you have any savings left at
all?
And what about our
Planning Board? There are lots of openings
there. Perhaps replacing some of the current
members with people who will actually attempt to
stimulate the growth of new business in Goffstown for a
change to help increase business tax revenue and lower
residential property taxes isn't such a bad idea.
But none of the changes
Goffstown so desperately needs in our leadership can
take place unless we all learn a good lesson from what
the voters of Massachusetts have taught us: We can
stop reckless, out of control spending and change what
seems unchangeable if we simply put our minds to it.
Forget the status quo in
Goffstown. We need elected officials who are
fiscal conservatives and not stuck in a "business
as usual" mindset.
So get out and attend the
school deliberative session on February 1st and the town
deliberative session on February 3rd. And most
importantly, be sure to vote on March 9th.
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