GilfordGrok

Thanks to the efforts of Gilford Blue Star Mother Karen Thurston, yellow ribbons have been placed at the entrances to the Town Hall in support of those troops serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. For quite some time, Karen has been bothered by a lack of any public display for the troops on behalf of the town. Apparently, all she had to do was ask. She tells me the idea of the ribbons was enthusiastically endorsed by the Selectmen.

There are a total of six ribbons, placed throughout the various entrances to the Town Hall. Thurston added that the ribbons will keep the community aware of the sacrifices that are being made everyday overseas.

 

Posted by Doug at 09:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

 

Posted by Doug at 07:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The loss of the Laconia Police Department's canine, Yogi, in July meant more responsibility was placed on the only canine left in Belknap County. That canine is Agbar, the Gilford Police Department's three-year-old Czech-born German Shepherd.

and Agbar are now first on the response list in towns where they used to be back-up and were called out twice in one week recently, one call being in Laconia.

Both the Laconia and Gilford canine units were called in the past to respond to several area towns' calls including Belmont, Alton, Tilton, Northfield, Loudon and Meredith. The first responder called depended upon the distance and location of the call. When asked about the added workload, Parent [K9 officer] said the pair have been managing just fine and are on call all the time. Parent's shifts re scheduled at night when most of the calls are made. "We are designed to be here when stuff happens," Parent said.

 

While Parent's calls will extend to other departments in Belknap County, particularly Laconia, the Gilford Police Department does not seek compensation for these service calls. Parent did note that the additional calls provide Agbar with valuable on-duty experience. Responding to assist other departments are considered good-faith efforts to help build relations between departments. "It's just law enforcement helping law enforcement," added Parent.

Posted by Doug at 05:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

I know it's early, but the "silly times" are about to start! 

If you don't vote, don't complain about what the elected officials do (or not do) on your behalf.  And if you are going to vote, please just don't vote the party line.....KNOW why you are voting for someone or something. from BOTH sides of the debate. 

No matter what you do, vote or not, will affect how things go here in Gilford - vote responsbily.  In that vein, we echo what the Gilford Steamer reported (paid subscription required):

UpStream, a Lakes Region United Way initiative, is sponsoring a community forum with New Hampshire Senatorial Districts 2 and 4 candidates on Tuesday, Aug. 29, beginning at noon at the downstairs hall of the Congregational Church, Veteran's Square in Laconia.

The invitation to participate in this forum has been extended to Senator Carl Johnson of Meredith, Senator Robert Boyce of Alton Bay, Candidate Kathleen Sgambati of Tilton and Candidate James Fitzgerald of Laconia.

PLEASE get informed - we urge you to go (now, if I can only get back from San Diego in time.....) 

In the near future, we will be assembling "stats" on all of the candidates, letting you know the straight skinny on what their platforms are, as well as our take on their platforms (you would expect any less?  And yes, conservatives will be placed under the microscope as much if not more than the Liberals).

And be sure, we are looking for discussions here in the 'Grok from you folks!

Posted by Skip at 09:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This past week's Steamer (subscription required) has the headline of “New assessments to increase island tax burden” as well as an editorial of “Bending reval rules”. Both spoke to the issue that the island property assessments are probably going to skyrocket to keep within the State regulations.

In the editorial, Alec tries to propose the the “foot loose” part by suggesting an end around the whole process by simply doing a what-if of just raising all assessments by 17%, and then shoots it down by noting the problems. I smiled as I read it, trying to figure out if he was just thinking out loud, or trying to skewer-in-advance those that might propose the same thing.

What both the headline and the editorial failed to mention were the other two components of what drives the tax burden – the overall tax rates (how much we pay per $1,000 of assessed value) and the spending of the town. It is a three legged stool that has to be balanced to keep your “sit-down” on a level keel.

If you keep spending level, you can lower the rate even as assessments go up - town revenues (via the taxes we pay) will remain the same. However, if spending goes up, the age old run-around used by politicos can be used - “hey, we kept the rates the same!” by just letting the assessments go up and keeping the additional revenues.

That is what taxpayers should be eyeballing all the time, the tax rates, as there is little we can do about the assesments due to State regs and marketplace forces.  Be sure to keep that in mind, and remind your elected officials that you are doing just that.

Of course, since this topic was announced at the "summer town meeting", one other way of minimizing the tax burden of the island properties, as reported by the Daily Sun on 8/17), John Goodhue wants Gilford to exempt all of the island properties from the local and State part of the education part of the bill.

Umm, isn't this the same guy that sued when he didn't like the idea of using chemicals (costing the town about $15K) to kill the milfoil in his cove (Smith Cove) and instead wants a skin diver firm to pull the milfoil by hand (something that the State does not recommend nor will it chip in money for) upwards of $24-30K to hand pull the milfoil, and then continue removing milfoil the same way every year at a recurring cost of $4-5K / year? 

Yes, I understand that he thought that the marinas and the residents of the cove might pitch in.  But in reading the Steamer article (8/2/06, Removing milfoil from Smith Cove remains hot topic - Subscription Required), he expects that the town would pick up the left over expense).

And he wanted the town to build a new dock down at Glendale just for the island residents. 

A little hypocritical if you ask me (you don't want to pay the taxes, but have all of us pay to keep a limited use cove plant free?)...

Posted by Skip at 08:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is the first of GilfordGrok's educational / commentary series on the politicians that may have an impact on Gilford, either at the Federal, State, or local level.  This post should be indicative of how we will go about doing so, first in as in an even handed process as possible (the engineer in me), and then a commentary portion (and the conservative in me).  While not word for word, much of what I will post will be directly from their websites.  I may paraphrase from time to time (politicians tend to be on the wordy side), but I will try to get the gist of their platform in the spirit of how they present themselves without as much bias as I can.

The skewering will happen after the break, for both candidates on Left and Right side of the aisle.

First up! 

Carol Shea-Porter is a Democrat wishing to win the Democratic primary to take on the present incumbent, Jeb Bradley (R) in the first Congressional District.  Her rivals in the primary include Jim Craig and Gary Dodd.  She has never held an elected office before. 

From her website, her take on her issues: 

Civil Liberties

• Now we have a president and many legislators who believe that those laws don't apply to them
• They are spying on American citizens through electronic home invasion, snooping on phones and computers.
• They search the bank, phone, library and medical records of not just terrorists, but law abiding Americans.
• They frighten the librarian who has to turn over the records if he or she receives a National Security Letter, and they threaten to prosecute if the librarian ever tells anyone
• We must eavesdrop on terrorists and search their homes to find out what evil they are planning, but America should not abandon its laws governing invasive searches and surveillance.
  
• America must be vigilant, but not bullying, alert, but not fearful, careful, but not liberty-trampling.
  

Education

• Against school vouchers - public schools are sufficient
• Get rid of the No Child Left Behind law.  Not in favor of standardized testing
• Wants the Federal government to get out of education and leave it to the states
• Schools are underfunded and teachers underpaid in many districts
• Wants the low or no interest loans so that students do not have a debt that cripples them after graduation.

Healthcare

• Medicare for all
• The Federal Government would have an obligation to the American taxpayers to spend their money wisely and create an efficient, fiscally responsible program

Privacy 

• I believe we have a right to be free from electronic surveillance unless there is strong suspicion and a warrant.
• I believe that we have a right to make our own medical decisions.
• Women have a right to make their own reproductive decisions
  
• Families have a right to make end of life decisions.
• We must insist that our representatives in Congress represent us and protect us,
• I pledge to be a forceful defender of an individual's right to privacy.
  

National Security

• Terrorists will only be defeated if there is goodwill and cooperation among various governments, so that all nations will aid in hunting them down.
• There are certainly a few rogue nations, but by invading Iraq, we have lost credibility with many other nations who could be helpful.

Conservative ex-military leaders such as Congressman John Murtha and General William Odom, former head of the National Security Agency, believe this

• We only create cynicism by saying that even though there were no WMD's, we stayed there to create a democracy in Iraq. 
• The United States must physically leave, abandon our "lone wolf" approach, and work with other nations to stabilize Iraq.
• We need to concentrate now on protecting our own country from terrorists and natural disasters, while we repair our international relationships.
  

Economy

• Wants to rollback the tax cuts 
• Blames the tax cuts for making it harder on the middle class - high insurance, medical costs, soaring housing prices, and reductions in services 
• Wants the minimum wage raised.
• Wants to raise taxes on corporations ("pay your fair share")
  
• We all must contribute according to our ability, so we can protect our nation.
• Will work to guarantee Social Security's long-term health by voting to put a Social Security tax on someone's full income, not just the first $90,000. 
• Will fight this fiscal irresponsibility and work towards a budget that is financially sound and morally fair to all.

This is where I give my views on her stances.  Disagree with me?  Leave a comment! 

Civil Liberties

• Now we have a president and many legislators who believe that those laws don't apply to them

This is a personal assertion, not back up in any given fact.  I would like to see names, and especially see if the names would only have an R after them, and also see specifically which laws at what times she is talking about.  One of the things that I see is that politicians (right or left) are able to throw out something without facts to back them up

• They are spying on American citizens through electronic home invasion, snooping on phones and computers.

Electronic home invasion?  This is a new one on me, especially the computer one.  Prove it; give specific examples.

• They search the bank, phone, library and medical records of not just terrorists, but law abiding Americans.

Think about this - are we to first assume that everyone is law abiding until they break the law?  And how would we find out?  I understand the bank records - the illegally divulged SWIFT techniques showed that.  Data mining phone records is not snooping, and the wire taps are on international calls.  Besides, can she give us another way to find terrorists that, by definition, do not wish to be found until after they have committed terror?

Medical records are a new one.....can she justify this claim? 

• They frighten the librarian who has to turn over the records if he or she receives a National Security Letter, and they threaten to prosecute if the librarian ever tells anyone

Sure, librarians are shivering in their boots.  Remember, Democrats also voted for this part of the Patriot Act.  All of this is law.  The use of the word "frighten" is a throwaway - if you follow the law, there is nothing to be afraid of.  All the librarian is doing is turning over records; unless they have a predisposition to be guilty themselves, all they are doing is paper shuffling - they themselves are not being charged.  Of course they should be prosecuted if they break the law!

• We must eavesdrop on terrorists and search their homes to find out what evil they are planning, but America should not abandon its laws governing invasive searches and surveillance.
  

OK, tell me.....do terrorists have a special electronic flag on their phones or houses that say "I'm a terrorist?"  How does she propose going about this?  Specifics please....

Besides two items above, she decries the searching of these self same items.  Can't have it both ways! 

This is one of those areas that drive me nuts.  It is ok if you disagree with current policy. However, if you do disagree, but still insist on the same outcome even if the policy is removed, how are you going to get the same results?  Tell us SPECIFICS, if you were running the program, EXACTLY what you would do to go about the eavesdropping.  Flapping your arms and spewing the generic words above doesn't answer the question.

• America must be vigilant, but not bullying, alert, but not fearful, careful, but not liberty-trampling.
  

Semantically, the above statement says absolutely nothing.

Education

• Against school vouchers - public schools are sufficient

Ah, she believes in monopolies and all powerful teacher unions.  Yet, if the monopoly was held by a private company, would she still feel the same?  A monopoly is still one be it in the private or public sector.

• Get rid of the No Child Left Behind law.  Not in favor of standardized testing

What better way to really measure how our kids are not being taught?  Yup, let's continue the process of dumbing down of America  where kids cannot count out change out of a register....let's not hold anyone accountable.

• Wants the Federal government to get out of education and leave it to the states

Finally, something that I can agree with (at least to some extent)

• Schools are underfunded and teachers underpaid in many districts

Does not square too well with her above statement in the big picture view.  Also, does not speak to districts that are overfunded and overpaid to the results the teachers accomplish in their student outcomes.  Has she studied the per capita spending and compared that to actual results?

• Wants the low or no interest loans so that students do not have a debt that cripples them after graduation.

Her policy wants no crippling debt after graduation.  The only way to do that is to forgive that debt entirely.  My problem with that is the earning of a degree is not just educational, there is an economic cost and a value to that degree.  Generally, the more expensive an education, the more economic worth a degree has once the student graduates.  Should society at large, for example, just give a student that gets a Harvard MBS a debt free education so that they can start at a six figure salary?  I don't think so....you have to be able to account for that economic worth.

Healthcare

• Medicare for all

Social medicine - which ends up rationing medical assistance.  Just look at the problems that the Brits and Canadians are having.

• The Federal Government would have an obligation to the American taxpayers to spend their money wisely and create an efficient, fiscally responsible program

Why should the government be responsible - people should be.  Why should government be in charge of this?

Privacy 

• I believe we have a right to be free from electronic surveillance unless there is strong suspicion and a warrant.

From her stance above, this seems to be a problem.  How does one get a warrant to tap a phone when it is a cell phone that is used just once?  By the time the warrant is issued, it is irrelevant.

And, this doesn't square away too well from her above items - again, please tell me how you are going to differentiate between law abiding citizens and terrorists?  Taking it to the extreme - Are you willing to allow children to die in an attack before you allow the government to take action?

• I believe that we have a right to make our own medical decisions.

Agreed (hmm, that's twice...uh-oh)

• Women have a right to make their own reproductive decisions

And what about the rights of that potential life that she is about to kill (yes, I am pro-life, and no, I don't believe it is "just a clump of cells").  Er, what about the father;s rights - and don't dive off the cliff and immediately bring up rape and incest (and yes, in those areas, I could be persuaded [ but I still have some problems]).  Talk about the average case, which certainly is NOT rape or incest.

• Families have a right to make end of life decisions.

Agreed - three times....

• We must insist that our representatives in Congress represent us and protect us,

Another statement that doesn't have to be made - none of us goes around voting for people that would hurt us - oh, forgot about the Senate and illegal immigration.....sorry!

Speaking of which - what is your stance?

• I pledge to be a forceful defender of an individual's right to privacy.
  

The above says nothing without nitty gritty details......please provide. 

National Security

• Terrorists will only be defeated if there is goodwill and cooperation among various governments, so that all nations will aid in hunting them down.

A truism, not a policy.

• There are certainly a few rogue nations, but by invading Iraq, we have lost credibility with many other nations who could be helpful.

Name them, realizing that some have never liked us, some dislike us because of our status anyways, and some don't like it when our national interests negatively impact theirs (like despots).  Besides, some of these (like France and Pakistan) ARE helping.....

Please note that I HARDLY consider John Murtha or William Odem as being "conservatives". 

• We only create cynicism by saying that even though there were no WMD's, we stayed there to create a democracy in Iraq.
  

Do your homework....both the Senate resolution authorizing the war spoke to many items. So also all of the UN resolutions that were broken.  Review those and answer more fully.

• The United States must physically leave, abandon our "lone wolf" approach, and work with other nations to stabilize Iraq.

This is one main reason that if she wins the primary, I will not vote for her.  For example, in areas where we have not gone the "lone wolf" way, North Korea and Iran, absolutely NOTHING has been acoomplished.

Ms. Shea-Porter - please speak to the subject that most other countries refuse to act at all, even when in their own self interests are at risk? 

Please let us know what you feel the ramifications are if we left right now.....in specifics and not in politician-ese. 

• We need to concentrate now on protecting our own country from terrorists and natural disasters, while we repair our international relationships.
  

This is getting old.....and this is way too broad of a sentence.  Specifics please, at the lowest possible level (e.g., this requires careful thinking and a long list of specifics).  The above statement signals an intention, merely a political statement - tell us what you would DO other than just TALK.

Economy

• Wants to rollback the tax cuts
  

Class warfare.  She laments the "loss" of revenue, yet she fails to acknowledge that since the tax cuts have happened, federal and state revenues have soared, far outpassing any amount "lost by the government".  Besides, why should it be the government's money versus those that have actually gone out, worked hard, and earned it?

• Blames the tax cuts for making it harder on the middle class - high insurance, medical costs, soaring housing prices, and reductions in services
  

There is just NO way she can actually demonstrate that the tax custs have caused these problems.  Please elaborate.

• Wants the minimum wage raised.

No economist has ever agreed that this actually helps the poor. This is nothing more than a feel good, politics only statement that helps unions.

• Wants to raise taxes on corporations ("pay your fair share")

She says in the Aug 16 version of the Citizen (story found here at the parent paper, Foster's) that she is

a "fiscal conservative" who said the country is "broke" and one way to fix the nation's financial woes is to stop giving away tax cuts to the wealthy.

If she was a fiscal conservative, she would have the financial where-with-all to know that while a check is cut to the government, it is the customers of that company that actually pay the tax as part of the cost of sales of the product. 

And again, if she did her homework, she'd realize that it isn't the tax cuts that have caused the deficit, it is the organization that she is running for that has with none too temperate spending.  With Federal revenues at all time highs, there is NO problem with the income side of the statement. 

What are her plans for reigning in the other side of the equation - spending? 

• We all must contribute according to our ability, so we can protect our nation.

First part of this sounds like a socialist type statement, but I will leave that alone for now.  I still haven't figured out what she means by this......?

• Will work to guarantee Social Security's long-term health by voting to put a Social Security tax on someone's full income, not just the first $90,000.
  

• Will fight this fiscal irresponsibility and work towards a budget that is financially sound and morally fair to all.

I agree with the first part.  I have a hard time with the last part, as my "morally fair to all" means letting people keep as much of THEIR money as possible, as opposed to government taking as much as it wants to.

BTW, in the same article quoted above, she had the following to say:

As for health care, Shea-Porter believes Medicare should be extended to every American. And while she believes the government should pick up the tab for the costs, health care should be provided privately, she said.

"We're paying for the uninsured now anyway. People without health insurance have access to care — it's called the ER (emergency room)," she said. "The insured are paying for the uninsured. I don't want government to deliver health care, but we, the taxpayers, are already paying for it."

What is the point here?  If taxpayers / insured are already paying for the uninsured, what does she expect to gain by pushing everyone onto Medicare (except lots more red tape)?

Posted by Skip at 08:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Lots of things can happen when one goes off on vacation....including this project once again.  Certainly it is better named now - instead of a single standalone building being the subject of discussion, now it is the entire Townhall, as the decision has been made to put on an addition.

GilforGrok will certainly be willing to chime in from time to time with our views - we hope that you will too.  We certainly wish our blog friend DCE from Weekend Pundit luck in his efforts to help bring this project to fruition (sorry, still thinking about the Corpse Flower!). 

I had commented in the local papers about the previous process, and I put forward the same thing that I said before - will it be too big, or not big enough?   A fundamental flaw that I saw was the lack of an analytical effort to try to do an educated guess on the the size of the needed facility by using "call" growth (where a "call" could be a traffic stop, an actual call into the Dispatch center, or an arrest - see the Gilford Police log when it appears in the papers).  Reasonably reviewing the past call history and projecting forward some rate of growth (3%, 5%, 9% ?) would yield some ideas of manpower needs in the future, et. al., driving the size of the needed facility.  What I wrote:

My question: what did you use for call volume percent rate increase (e.g., 3%, 5%) used to determine how big the station should be?  How fast is the call volume expected to increase?  Why is this so important?  Because the answer should be driving all of the other factors that would end up with “how big?”

While I am not involved in law enforcement or construction, I would have to believe that from projected future call volumes one could derive estimated manpower needs into the future (i.e., aren’t there  standard values of the number of calls an officer should be able to handle in a year?). 

I would also think there are values of how many square feet / officer or supervisory staff require.  This would help drive overall space requirements for areas such as locker rooms, armory, offices, communications areas, vehicle parking, and sally ports, and other items over the life of the building. 

Again, based on projected call volume, one would think that there should be statistics showing the average number of arrests based on those calls and plus rates of increase of “stops” and walk-in traffic.  Those should be able to drive an average amount of evidence per arrest, length of time to store that evidence, etc., thus determining the size of areas for evidence, prisoner / cell space, interview rooms, and the like.

I am fairly sure that there are other areas that could be factored in, and educated estimates added as “fudge factors”.  Combined with generally available economic growth statistics (increased population should drive calls too), one should be able to at least derive a square footage number that could be reasonably defended (knowing from the get-go that this IS an exercise in predicting an unknowable future). 

Overall, wouldn’t this process be better in getting to a “educated estimate” sizing for the new facility rather than plucking a number out of thin air or an “I don’t know”?

Building a simplistic mathematical model shouldn't be all that difficult - just a lot of time in obtaining and setting up the data. 

In fact, I had finally offered to do just such to Captain Keenan who had buttonholed me after the after the meeting when the last project was announced and the Budget Committee voted to support it.  I even took him up on the tour that he offered, so TMEW and I did just that - it was quite obvious that additional room was needed.  Warm words were exchanged, and he promised to get me the data that I would need.

Well, to be frank, I gave up.  When it became obvious that he and his staff were kinda struggling with the idea, I changed my mind and personally offered to do the model if he would research and get the data needed - and he agreed to do so.

However, after about three phone calls (talking with him once, voice mails on the other), two face to face visits, and several unanswered emails, I have received nothing for data.  And I really don't want to go through the process of sending in an official request for that data.....

To be sure, I only ever attended that one meeting and never took part in any of the previous planning meetings or goings-on.  However, I'm not sure that  "forthcoming" is a word that I would use in getting data in order to assist in his effort in getting the new digs set up.

I hope this changes for the new committee.

Posted by Skip at 08:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Kudos to Dr. Ricciardiello in that he has certainly shown that he has a green thumb, at least visually.  It is forcast to bloom tomorrow, which if it does, one might decide by just a sense of smell (its odor of rotting flesh) that he might have a black thumb instead.  His "Tilly", the Corpse Flower is now located at the Laconia Lakeport Fire Station where it can be viewed for $10, with the benefits going to local charities - and kudos again to him for setting this up to help raise money for the worthy causes of the LRGH dental program and the childrens programs of Kiwanis

The "un-kudoes" go to  Laconia's Bob Luther's remark (as reported by the Daily Sun, 8/18) as "Laconia deflowered Gilford".  Innuendo aside, I believe the reason for Laconia being able to showcase this botanical rarity was the administrative decision of Gilford not to allow it to be shown in the good doctor's hometown and not anything special about Laconia.

Therefore, I also give kudos to Evans Juris and the Selectmen for making the right decision in following town procedures.

Even though this is an extremely rare event (and not one that can be scheduled), the rules are there for a purpose.  There was some time ahead of the blooming in which arrangements could have been made (although, they would have to have been expedited).  Having that many potential visitors, along with those here for the Triathalon, would have overwhelmed Gilford.  If it bloomed late, it would have run into the crowds for Old Home Day.

Now, will someone pass me a clothespin for my nose...... 

Posted by Skip at 08:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The following was added to a Comment to the Post about Matt McGonagle ( see also here and here). Both Doug and I have discussed this between us and in an email string with the actual author. We have had to do a bit a “re-jiggering” (as I explained it to the author) to make sure of a few things:

• From parts of this, it appears that there is a gag order of some type concerning this case. Information that might pertain to it have been redacted.
• Names and some positions have been redacted.
• Spelling has been corrected.

That said, the Comment had a lot of points that we felt were worth discussing, so much so that we've decided to have it as it's own Post rather than a Comment (even though we may not agree with it all).

Please note that where ever editing was needed meet the above concerns, it is duly noted ( i.e., [redacted -Ed] ). This has been cross-posted over at GraniteGrok.

==========================================

I am compelled to respond to the recent postings on Matt McGonagle and his "guilty" plea to felonious sexual assault against a child.

First of all, shame on The Citizen's online version for calling it "rape", and referring to his victim as plural ("girls" instead of girl) is reckless reporting, in my opinion. Second, those of you who have offered opinions on Matt's case obviously don't know Matt. You don't know anything about this case other than what you've read in the papers. Do you know Matt? Do you know the “victim"? ( Do you know that this "victim" is related to[redacted -Ed]??? HELLO! That might be the first problem. Were you privy to ANY of the behind-the-scenes negotiations between the attorneys?

McGonagle was falsely accused. Everyone involved in this case knows it, including the prosecution team and the victim.

Anyway, that's not even relevant, but it does shed light. Matt took the deal because his lawyers advised him to. Not to fault his lawyers, but here's why: NH has one of the toughest laws in this country on convicted first time sex offenders. Minimum 15- 25 years state prison if found guilty. Matt had 2 choices: Go to trial, try to prove his innocence against a 20 year old [redacted – Ed] OR, take the 2 yr deal, avoid the publicity, and TRY to salvage whatever may be left of his life once he gets out. Hmmmm.......let me think. I think he made the right decision. Do you have ANY idea how difficult it was for him to plead guilty to something he never did?( Matt does admit to having an improper emotional relationship with the girl and her family. This girl's family invited him into their home on numerous occasions, and provided many an opportunity for them to be alone together, and in fact, encouraged it. In retrospect, it is now crystal clear to him why you should NEVER find yourself alone with a child who is not yours). You couldn't even come close to imagining the horror he and his family went through in the days leading up to this
sentencing hearing, especially once they realized that he would essentially have to take the plea if he wanted to have any life left to live.

Without going into any unnecessary detail right now, I can assure you that the "victim"
certainly has her problems. And that's an understatement. Those residents of Gilford who know her, know the details of this case, and how it went down, WISH we could speak publicly at this time. We can't. We have essentially been SHUT UP, and for right now, we will shut up, but ONLY for the sake of Matt. Matt needs to stay right where he is in the [redacted – Ed]. He needs to do his time and keep a low profile. However, once his sentence has been served, Matt will be able to speak freely about this case. We look forward to that day.

Additionally, let me throw this out. Children, especially teenagers, have all the power these days. They know their rights. They know that all they would have to do to ruin a teacher's life is to accuse them of some sexual deviancy and BAM! It's over. Gone are the days when kids knew that they were in school to learn and that the teacher was the final authority. Have the authors of these commentaries about Matt ever taught school? Try it. Teachers nowadays have to basically kiss their students' [behinds -Ed]. What a sick and twisted country we live in where we've gone so far to "protect" the children that now those same children call all the shots.

Let me further comment on this by using Gilford High School as an example. Anyone who has attended, taught at, or sent their children to GHS knows that what I'm about to say is true. GHS has always had an problem with blurred boundaries between teachers and students. The open-concept classrooms of the 80's certainly started that ball rolling, but even when they began to build walls inside the school, there was/is this unspoken "rule" at GHS: Teachers and Students were friends. Many teachers were called by their first names. Teachers could often be found "hanging out" at students' homes, socializing with their parents. We were often proud of our teacher/student relationships. We thought we were progressive and cutting-edge because the teachers were "cool" and the students were precocious. I can remember SEVERAL teacher/student relationships in the 80's at that school, that if reported and prosecuted, would have landed many a teacher behind bars for years. And I'm not exaggerating.

The climate in NH, and the country for that matter, at that time was not the same. Now, we live in a powder keg environment where even the slightest hint of sexual abuse committed by a teacher means automatic guilt. Every judge, prosecutor, school administrator KNOWS that they had better be tough on child sex crimes or hell, Bill O'Reilly will publicly shame them on his Fox News O'Reilly Factor program! I've seen it! This particular situation with McGonagle and his accuser made Belknap county so scared that they had no choice but to hit him hard. (By the way, his 2 yr deal is further proof that the prosecutors KNOW he's innocent......if they really thought he was guilty, they would have gone straight to trial and put him in jail for a long, long time. But no, they didn't. They knew he was innocent, or at least not guilty of the felony charge, but had to appear that they were "tough on child molesters", so they opted for this deal.)

So for all of you self-appointed morality police, THINK before you opine on stories like this in the future. There's usually more to every story than meets the eye. True, many liberal judges let child molesters off, or with light sentences. Shame on them. I'm no liberal. I am actually a die-hard conservative who wants to protect children. Let me be clear: There is no room in our society for child molesters. They should be ostracized, alienated, humiliated, or whatever it takes to keep them from re-offending and to keep children safe. But Matt McGonagle is NOT a child molester. Not even close. You obviously have never met the man. If you knew him, you would know that there isn't one fiber of his being that would EVER hurt a child. Maybe you should go visit the [redacted – Ed] on visiting day sometime soon to actually meet this "monster" in person.

Posted by Skip at 02:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Blogging has been sparse as TMEW and I are on vacation in the heart of the Amish country – Lancaster, NH. Why here? Well, TMEW had read a series of books by Beverly Lewis concerning the Amish culture and wanted to see the people and where they lived. So, here we are.

Unlike some who visit to see the shops and shopping, we took an alternative view of our visit – we wanted to know more about the Amish culture itself versus the culture surrounding it. So, we did a tour. And another. And yet another. Without boring you with details, one thing stood out:

How the Amish youth are educated.

Certainly surprised me! 

The Amish (specifically, the Old Order Amish) have won the right with a Supreme Court decision (see here, Wisconsin vs Yoder, 1972), under the First Amendment of freedom of religion, to control the educational process for their children. Thus, Amish youth attend an Amish school until completion of the eighth grade, and then they move into the greater Amish community to become apprentices in the community for the boys or help out in the home for the girls (I bet NOW is not happy!).

One can agree or disagree with this part of their culture of not going further with their education but this is not the point of this Post. It is, however, the HOW of how that education is delivered. There are about 180 one room school houses (complete with the proverbial school bell for each) scattered among the Amish farmhouses. There are anywhere from 30 – 40 students at each school ranging from the first to the eighth grade in that single room. All of the students either walk to the school (generally within a mile or less), “ride” their scooters, or arrive in the traditional horse and buggy. Subjects taught have an emphasis on reading, writing, and arithmetic.

Discipline is certainly part of process as well, as the teacher is allowed to use corporal punishment to keep order in the classroom. And in this society, where families have an average of seven children, siblings are often in the classroom to observe the infractions so this type of news gets home quickly. Given the emphasis of family life in this culture and that the father is the head of the household, often the correction is repeated, as the parents are involved.

Although schooling ends early, the students are required to meet the same standards that public schools and other home schooled pupils are held to by the State of Pennsylvania. And who teaches these students to such a level?

No, not a teacher that has gone to an accredited college or university and then has then passed a certification exam. Rather, the teacher is an unmarried women, generally 18 – 22, that has only completed the eighth grade herself.

I am not advocating that we replace our teachers with this level of instructor in our schools. However, isn't there a lesson to be learned that successful results can be had when traditional methods are used? That when discipline is a functional part of, and applied correctly, the classroom, better results can be obtained? That some of our “modern” educational theories are just that – theories? They sound good during the discussion phase, but don't pan out when the results are reviewed (think the open classroom philosophy that turned out to be such a bust in Gilford)?

Just some thoughts during vacation....

(cross posted at GraniteGrok) 

Posted by Skip at 09:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

are investigating allegations that there was a secret sex club at Ozen High School that involved students, alumni and possibly even an employee of the school.

.

The accuser is coming forward 5 years after she says the assault took place. She claims she was part of a group known as "3K" made up of 9th and 10th grade girls who would perform sexual favors for upper class boys.

A middle school teacher and high school coach pleaded not guilty Monday to charges he repeatedly sexually abused three young boys.

Authorities say he repeatedly raped and assaulted one boy, who is now 21, at his Waltham home over the span of several years in the late 1990s, beginning when the boy was 14. Dacey also is charged with sexually assaulting two other boys, both currently 15, at his home on several dates in 2005. Prosecutors say Dacey met all three boys through his role as their drama teacher or coach.

Posted by Doug at 05:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

**Scroll Below This Post For Updates**

I will be putting up a number of Posts over the next few days.  Each will be showing how Gilford ranks with respect to other towns in NH of the same size: 5,000 to 9,999 permanent residents.  While there is some discussion that this is not correct due to the population increases during the summer and Motorcycle Week, I decided to go with the year round numbers. 

There are two main reasons why:

1. Gilford's population is approximately 7,400 people.  This is right in the middle of the population grouping used.
2. Going up to the next population grouping 10,000 - 14,999 would also have a negative action on taxpayers, as all of the positions shown would end up in a more expensive grouping (larger towns and cities pay more for the same positions).

The numbers shown are taken from the NH Municipal Association. I have also shown the data two ways:

1. Towns by alphabetical order
2. Towns listed high to low based on the maximum salary possible for each position

The only exception to this are the Land / Water areas values which have been taken from the State of NH. 

The latter is done purely for data purposes - many towns do not have minimum salary ranges for a given position - they always have maximum.  Later on, as data is received for the actual salary for a given position, the High to Low will be updated to reflect that data point. 

In addition, I will be contacting other Budget Committes in other towns in order to get the actual cost numbers so the postings will become more accurate over time.

If someone is out there that wishes to assist in this project to better inform the taxpayers of Gilford what their government is costing them, please contact Doug or myself!

-Skip 

Posted by Skip at 04:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

simple charge- determine the most cost effective way to address the space needs of the police department, with an addition to town hall given priority as the primary solution.

"everything is on the table" with regard to the use of the current space at town hall, including moving the offices of the School District- which occupy space on the lower floor, which is accessed from the rear of the building- out.

(1) Move the SAU office out of the Town Hall building. (2) Move the Planning Department and all related persons to the vacated SAU office. The existing customer friendly entrance configuration is ideal for the form of business transactions that office handles. (3) Expand the Town Clerk / Tax Collector’s section into areas vacated by the planners. (4) Study exactly what records and evidence must be kept and perhaps classify into different levels, thereby creating a realistic storage/retrieval system. (5) Construct a multi-story addition right behind the existing sally port.  (A “sally port” is a garage area where a police cruiser with a criminal can drive directly and securely into the building.) The bottom of the new addition would be the new sally port. The existing sally port can be renovated to create more efficient booking area. (6) Close off part of the existing lobby for “secure” waiting area. (7) Explore storage options. (8) Maximize efficient use of all existing areas. 

.
The work could be done in phases through two budget years, minimizing impact on the taxpayers. By attaching a multi-story addition directly to the rear area of the present police station, work could be performed with little disruption to the daily department activities. Openings between new and existing areas would be created during the very last stages of the project.

Posted by Doug at 01:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This post will show (and is setup for discussion) the per student capita expenses in the similiarly sized towns. 

In this other Post, I showed that our Town ranks 10th in per student capita spending.  That measure puts us 8.1% below the Average and 6.1% below the Median.

Contrast this with our per capita student spending at 3rd highest and at 26.3% above the Average and 27.5% above the Median.

Your mileage will vary.... 

Posted by Skip at 02:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This post will show (and is setup for discussion) the per student capita expenses in the similiarly sized towns. 

In this other Post, I showed that our Town ranks 3rd highest in per student capita spending.  That measure puts us 26.3% above the Average and 27.5% above the Median.

In other words we spend more per student than most, and more than our town "income" would seem to indicate that we should be spending.

Posted by Skip at 02:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Up on your Nabokov by Alec O'Meara- Editor, The Gilford Steamer

Doug Lambert is right. Well, check that. He’s almost right; we’ll give him that. Lambert, a member of the Gilford Budget Committee and longtime local columnist, recently wrote about the sentencing of former middle school teacher Matt McGonagle. In his column, he raises some interesting questions. He also raises some we disagree completely with, namely insinuating that a cover-up occurred so that the school could continue raising taxes and avoid bad press. We don’t think that’s the case here.

.

Obviously, if there had been a cover-up, that is very serious business. In this particular case, were there both teachers and students at the time who knew something was up, but never went to authorities? It is a fair question, but since the entire administration of the middle school, high school, and SAU office has turned over since the incident, the question lacks the explosive implications it would have had otherwise.

.

However, here’s a much more interesting question that is still in the ballpark of Lambert’s comments: how much of a role does gender play in how we all react to these cases?  More specifically, would that courtroom have been as full of friends and family supporting McGonagle if this had been about a 14-year-old boy instead of a girl? Would there have been as many “blind eyes” back in 2000? Does he get two years? What if he was black, or Hispanic? What happens then?

It could be argued that McGonagle benefited to some degree from a good deal of our own stereotypes. Good looking white guy, good family, respectable job,and so on. Have you heard anyone try to explain this away by saying, “at least she was in high school” this week? Did you say it to yourself, even though you know in your heart that 14 is just as bad as 13, or 17? Knowing nothing about her, have you, the reader, created any totally unfair preconceived notions about the victim, perhaps about what she wore to school?

. 
If this had been about a 14-year-old boy and the accused teacher had been a 30-year-old woman, we know the story plays out much differently. In that version, the student becomes a pop-culture hero and the teacher is little more than fodder for late-night talk monologues. It’s worth pointing out.

.
What McGonagle did is wrong in every possible moral, ethical, and legal sense of the word, and we’re very sorry, but the “isolated incident” stuff doesn’t really fly with us here. Perhaps kids performing vandalism can be written off as an “isolated incident.” One car accident in 10 years can get the “isolated incident” treatment. Good people don’t sexually assault a minor 16 years younger than they are, regardless of the genders involved, even just once. We don’t know what the standard sentence for this is off-hand, but two years in prison seems awfully generous to us.

.
So, to a degree, Lambert hit on an interesting topic of discussion. It’s a talk worth having with your own family, but after that, let’s all put this ugly chapter behind us and move forward.

.
Oh, and for the record, it would be completely out of line to bring this particular issue up in a Budget Committee meeting, guys, especially if it was used as a motive to propose a budget cut. Even if you felt this issue was representative of a problem in the school, and we don’t, but even if you did, then you should be aiming to raise this policy issue with the School Board, not the Budget Committee.

Doug responds to the last paragraph:

Posted by Doug at 09:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

August 7, 2006
Letter to the editor:

 I believe the advocates for safer boating laws need to refocus their energies on the real issues regarding boat safety. Over the last three years, boating deaths must be up about 500% due to drowning while swimming from a boat. It appears that a near zero speed limit wouldn’t have prevented these tragic deaths. Maybe we should outlaw swimming from a boat or require certified swimming certificates prior to swimming from a boat. You could even get those certificates on line! Perhaps we simply required all swimmers to wear life jackets regardless of where they are swimming from. It would certainly save money on funding dive recovery teams and definitely save lives.
 Maybe they’re looking at this all wrong. Wouldn’t a minimum speed limit keep people from jumping out of their boat? I don’t know about you but if I’m going 80 MPH in a boat, I’m staying in it!
I know these ideas are silly. It’s a boating speed limit (80) that will finally make the lake safe.
  

Terry Stewart

Posted by Doug at 07:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

While I cannot prove on my own that this is fact, it does seem that local building developments are attracting great numbers of senior citizens to our town.  Seniors make great neighbors BUT----Seniors want/need many services and demand tax reductions.  It also seems that many of the Seniors moving into our area are savvy to the ways of protecting their assets.  More and more are putting their homes in trusts etc.  And the average life expectancy is higher than ever (not that we want to wish a speedy demise to the Seniors of Gilford but we must recognize that the tax breaks and resource demands go long. 

Now here's the problem as I see it.........how can we accommodate these new drains on our local resources?  Granted these Seniors don't have kids in school but they also are finding clever ways to avoid contrib