Speaking of NGOs / Charities...
I noticed this in yesterday Laconia Daily Sun (pg 11, emphasis of the text is mine):
Social service agencies to be told not to count on Gilford funding in 2009
GILFORD — In response to questions posed by social agency advocates whose requests for funding were rejected by the Gilford town meeting in March, the Board of Selectmen instructed acting town administrator Deborah Shackett to advise them that they should submit requests as they have in the past.
However, members of the board agreed that it was unlikely that they would recommend a 2009 appropriation for an agency whose request was denied in 2008.
The primary reason of doing the Warrants on the NGOs this year, if one listened to the BudComm deliberations, was that we were hoping to have put this whole issue to bed. The feeling of the majority of the BudComm was that if any NGO was voted down for funding, that was it. Done. Fini.
For those that did get a thumbs up from the voters, we might not like it, but we wouldn't try to remove them as in years past. We WANTED to know what the public thought - and now we do.
While the board said it would look more favorably upon requests for agencies that were funded in 2008, such funding was not guaranteed. The three-member board stressed that the agencies should come to the town prepared to make a strong case for their requests to both the selectmen and the Budget Committee.
Now, I'm not sure if the following this was stated by the Selectboard in their meeting or is the opinion of the reporter, Kinney O'Rourke:
If either the selectmen or the budget committee vote not to recommend an outside agency request, the organization should be prepared to petition for a 2009 town meeting warrant article.
If the former, fine - they are fulfilling their role of providing fully transparent government, letting townfolk know of the options . If not, this is intermixing news with opinion / advocacy - doesn't that belong on the Op Ed page (or in a blog!)?
The law says anyone can bring a petition warrant forward. If they do so for a charity that was voted down, I can assure you that THIS BudComm member will not be mildly amused.
