Well, things were interesting at last night’s meeting of the Goffstown Board of Selectmen, at least during the public participation part of it. Goffstown Today dot com publisher Bill Wynne called for the resignation of Selectman Mark Lemay over his leafleting of mailboxes in Pinardville with fliers from the Goffstown Fire and Rescue Association. He complained that Lemay’s actions damaged the integrity of the town and the Fire Department. Lemay is the president of the association which lists the address of the fire station in Goffstown Center as its place of business. Goffstown Fire Chief Richard O’Brien defended Lemay saying that no town monies or facilities were used to produce the fliers. Former Selectman Scott Gross got into the act. Gross, who falsely accused Planning Board Chair John Hikel of violating the town’s Code of Conduct by failing to disclose a conflict of interest, a charge he made right here on Girard at Large, said that leafleting mailboxes was nothing new and the way things were in their small town. He also essentially accused Wynne of muckraking, noting his charges of electioneering against the library. It would be fair to say that selectman candidate Peter Georgantas agreed with Gross, suggesting that the town put a dunk tank on The Common so Wynne could throw big balls at all of them. That caused Wynne to take to the mic a second time to share how Georgantas was forced to remove two large campaign signs from private property he didn’t have permission to post them on. Wynne then asked the board to have the public works department go around town and pick up all of the signs illegally placed on public property. Hey, if these guys keep it up, they might give the Hooksett School Board a run for their money when it comes to back biting politics and the sheer entertainment value of it all.
Speaking of the Hooksett School Board, the man who will not be silenced, John Lyscars has posted video clips of the board’s actions with respect to its approval of the tuition contract with Pinkerton Academy. The clips come from the board’s November nineteenth meeting in which Superintendent Charles Littlefield says he failed to negotiate an agreement within the board’s parameters and a meeting from the following week when the board did an about face and accepted what it had rejected the prior week. Of course there were captions broadcasting the contradictions in the videos which put in stark terms the decisions made and remade without any explanation from the board as to why. Lyscars is hoping the electorate will take notice of the contradictions and make themselves known at the polls. We’ve linked to both videos from this newscast at Girard at Large dot com.
Littlefield says Pinkerton contract dead, need Memorandum of Understanding with Pinkerton.
Contract rejected on 11/19, accepted on 11/26. What changed?
News from our own backyard continues after this.
The Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom released a study of the state’s K thru twelve needs based scholarship program which conveys up to a twenty five hundred dollar tax credit against the business enterprise and or profits tax for participating businesses. The study found that ninety seven percent of the parents of scholarship recipients are satisfied with their chosen private or home school, sixty eight percent noticed measurable academic improvement in their child since receiving the scholarship and seventy four percent of recipients reported the would have been unable to afford tuition without the scholarship granted by the Network for Education Opportunity from the funds it raised to provide the assistance. The program has come under heavy attack by Governor Margaret Wood Hassan, the democrats in the legislature and activists on the left who’ve tried to sue the program into oblivion, which is kind of odd considering that the study found an overwhelming percentage of recipients qualified for free or reduced hot lunch in public schools. We’ll hear more about that and the program in general this morning when we interview Jason Bedrick, a former N H state rep who is responsible for the study, which we’ve posted with this newscast at Girard at Large dot com.
Former US Senator Bob Smith will officially launch his campaign to reclaim the seat he once held. The former three term Congressman from the First District and two term senator from the state says his conservative, constitutional approach to issues will provide a clear contrast between him and incumbent Senator Jeanne Shaheen, giving him the best chance to win in November. Smith will hold a press conference in the Legislative Office Building in Concord today at noon, after which he will go to the Secretary of State’s office to file his candidacy with supporters. Meanwhile, Fosters Daily Democrat is urging Republicans to consider the candidacy of former State Senator Jim Rubems. While they didn’t endorse Rubens for the office, they said he defies labels and might just be what the GOP needs to win in November.
That’s news from our own backyard, Girard at Large hour ___ is straight ahead!
