Gilford Steamer muses on Moultonborough and Gilford
Since the Gilford Steamer and the Meredith News are owned by the same company and cover different areas of the Lakes Region, I was not surprised to see this editoral on last week's events.
Reprinted with permission...
August 01, 2007
These days, the Meredith News and the Gilford Steamer are very much sister papers, so an event like last week's visit by Moultonboro representatives to see how Gilford's elected officials feel about the budget committee had the feel of one of those crossover "events" TV networks attempt to bolster ratings. Like if that old lady on "Murder, She Wrote" took a vacation to Hawaii and ended up solving a mystery on "Magnum, P.I." during a special two hour program.
(By the way, after coming up with the above analogy off the top of our head as a joke, a quick check online confirmed that this exact crossover actually happened in 1986. We're speechless.)
Really? Speechless, naw....not them! But certainly a cute story.
Works for me! But here, I think the editorial meant the Moultonborough Study Committee rather than "Board of Selectment" - but I get the drift.This meeting is going to represent something very different to both communities. Gilford's School Board is coming off an acrimonious season with the Budget Committee, and it would almost assuredly color the comments the board would make. In its meeting with the Board of Selectmen, Gilford's reps had no harsh words for the process. However, their comments reflected a town that considered but ultimately rejected a warrant article to disband the Budget Committee. If pressed, town officials would likely say that a board is only as good as the members elected to it and leave things at that.
Works for me! But here, I think the editorial meant the Moultonborough Study Committee rather than "Board of Selectment" - but I get the drift.We'll be interested to see what sort of message is brought back to Moultonboro. On that side of the lake, several town officials have contrasting views of what a Budget Committee would represent to the community.
I certainly will love to see those notes. Further, I hope that the Moultonborough citizens that came down to watch their elected / appointed officials ask for the notes that created the minutes! Hate to belabor the point, but watch the video from the week before to get a sense of how the committee members already feel about buget committees.
Me too!Despite dealing directly with the very issues Moultonboro officials seemed most concerned about, Gilford officials remained positive on the process. We hope that message is delivered to the Moultonboro Board of Selectmen.
Yes it would an interesting meeting....charge those batteries, Hollis!Another interesting piece of this crossover episode was the meeting of the two towns' respective volunteer videotapers, Skip Murphy and Hollis Austin.
Oops! Er, try Doug, not me.
Moultonboro residents will instantly recognize one of these names, while Gilfordites will recognize the other. We've met both, and without being in on the conversation, we can say comfortably that these two gentlemen likely hit it off famously.
Actually, we all talked after the meeting, and we did quickly get to the understanding that the goals that are shared are for open and transparent government. I believe that Gilford is much, much further along that path than Moultonborough if last week's meeting is any indication. But things in Gilford can always get better.
Elected and appointed officials should conduct the peoples' business in public view - I cannot wait for the Gilford Channel to arrive. Then it will be possible for anyone to watch their officials at work from the comfort of their living room (although I'd rather see them actually participate in person!).
We're sure they heard what they wanted to hear from one another, and we won't be in the least surprised if the meeting doesn't result in more than a couple collaborations. In fact, we'd be surprised if Austin and Al Hume weren't full-fledged Grokkers by the end of the year. Moultonboro folks might not know what getting Grokked is yet. In time, we think they'll have a new appreciation for the word after this fateful meeting.
Given the signature at the end of the Editorial, I think I can revive his previous word - Groksters! And if part of the definition is to do the activities to make government better for Moultonborough, then I'm all for it! Activism keeps interest up, and that can only be good.
There is still plenty of debate regarding how serious a spending issue a town with a $7 tax rate actually has. Now, if the state goes through with donor towns for education funding, Moultonboro will likely be pinched the hardest, and that tax rate could rise. Quickly.You betchem! However, we've quibbled about going after just a tax rate as an indicator of how high taxes are for the "regular folks"....another time, another post....
In that situation, residents will suddenly be looking at all kinds of spending within the community, and that in turn will likely color political discourse for the next several years. In a lot of ways, Hume and Austin have plenty in common with Lambert and Murphy. Likewise, the "Original Groksters" would be fascinated by recent issues in the town across the lake, we think, if only from a right-to-know perspective. Not that anyone would, but if you asked us, Lambert and Murphy might find projects of greater value than continuing to stir Gilford's pot on the other side of the lake.Yes it would an interesting meeting....charge those batteries, Hollis!Prescient? Perhaps, perhaps....we're always open to new ideas....tell me, are they having other RTK issues? The answer - more flashlights!
But Gilford is our home and our main concern. Helping others? Sure...that's what life is all about. Come and talk to us, Mr. Editorial Writer!
It's hard to say what the end result of this particular crossover story will be. Regardless, we hope that the Moultonboro committee has a visit planned with the Winnisquam School District communities as well. Despite overwhelming opposition from that board, residents voted in favor of creating a Budget Committee for the district this past March, in large part because of unanimous support from the Tilton, Northfield, and Sanbornton Boards of Selectmen.That would be an interesting meeting as well. A.O.One ending? That Moultonborough Selectmen and citizens take a hard look at the MSC and the incoming attitudes of their members toward a Budcomm, and ascertain if they will negatively color their final report. As our Selectmen said, another layer of oversight has helped Gilford these past 50 years (a bit longer than Mr. Laliberte allowed for).
Yes it would an interesting meeting....charge those batteries, Hollis!
