Long: Tackling problem properties
Manchester Ward 3 Alderman Patrick Long is looking to convene a committee to investigate deteriorating multi unit dwellings in the city. During discussion of a report on housing presented by the Granite State Organizing Project back in May, Long asked the Committee on Public Safety, Health and Traffic to support appointing a group that investigate how the city could better respond to problematic properties. It would include advocates, landlords, property managers, tenants and city officials. Aldermen heard from Planning and Community Development Director Leon LaFreniere about the difficulties the city has in even locating parties responsible for the bad buildings. Considerable time was spent discussing the issue of lead paint. Long raised the two dozen cases of lead poisoning in the city last year as evidence that the city has a problem. But LaFreniere said it’s not a city problem, it’s a national one and one not easily solved. He opposed suggestions that the city test dwellings for lead paint noting the enormous liability that would come with certifying a place lead free, only to be wrong, in addition to the three to four hundred thousand dollars it would cost to run such a program. The committee went along with Long’s suggestion to appoint the committee, which may or may not come up at tonight’s meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. One item not discussed was who would be responsible for appointing people to this committee. Anyway, believe it or not, we believe there’s a simple fix to the problems express last night and we’ll be sharing that during the show this morning.
Metzler: Contradicted by the facts again
Those of you following the near daily abuses of power by Timberlane Superintendent Earl “F Dot” Metzler and the school board that gives him cover to attack members it doesn’t like might recall our news story where Metzler flatly denied district enrollments were plummeting and criticized unnamed elected officials and members of the public for spreading false information during a school board meeting. Well, unfortunately for Metzler, whose new name on this show will be Megalo Metzler, as in Megalomaniac, the district has to make annual enrollment reports to the state Department of Education. Now that the numbers are in, guess what? Enrollments are plummeting. The district is down one hundred forty students this year over last; a decrease of nearly four percent. Over the past two years, the district numbers have fallen by nearly three hundred, or more than seven percent.
Arthur & Donna Green: Vindicated by the facts, again.
There are now about one thousand fewer students in the Timberlane Regional School District since the two thousand seven, two thousand eight school year, a more than twenty percent decrease. Kinda funny to think back on Megalo Metzler saying that it’s not true because some towns are up and some are down. Oh, and there’s more, like skyrocketing budgets and per pupil costs. We’ve linked to the most recent blog post on the topic published by Timberlane Budget Committee Member Arthur Green. We also wonder, at what point will people realize that Metzler, who, by the way at more than one hundred forty five thousand dollars per year is now the fifth highest paid superintendent in New Hampshire…making more than his counterparts in Portsmouth and Nashua, is “wasted administration.” That man owes a lot of people apologies, which he should make on his way out the door, and so do the school board members who’ve enabled his disregard for taxpayers and reign of terror against those who question and disagree.
News from our own backyard continues after this.
Stotsky: Coming to Mont Vernon
“Common Core 1 0 1” is coming to Mont Vernon tonight. Neighbors, parents, educators, school committee members and administrators of Mont Vernon and nearby towns are invited to an informational meeting presented by Dr. Sandra Stotsky, a nationally recognized expert on educational standards and Common Core. Dr. Stotsky was a member of the Common Core Validation Committee. As members of this audience know, Stotsky, along with her mathematics counterpart Dr. James Milgram, refused to validate the national standards because they simply were not the superior standards supporters claimed they were. This event will take place tonight at 7:00 o’click at the Mont Vernon Village School located at 10 Harwood Drive.
Merrimack Police Chief Mark Doyle?
Merrimack Police Chief Mark Doyle has announced that this years Trick or Treat hours will be Friday October 31, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. Police ask you to use caution during those hours as there will be many children on the streets. They will have a presence in the neighborhoods and people are encouraged to call if they see anything suspicious. Oh My Head. By the way, we’ve linked to Halloween safety tips published by the Londonderry Police Department from this news read at Girard at Large dot com.
Brown v. Shaheen: Rumble in the Mt. Washington Valley.
“I am not on the ballot this fall. Michelle’s pretty happy about that. But make no mistake, these policies are on the ballot; every single one of them. I’m not going to tell you who to vote for, although I suppose it’s kind of implied.” Those words were recently spoken by the current occupant of the White House in Chicago, no doubt to the chagrin of democrats in this state who are trying, with the exception of Second District Congresswoman Ann McLane Kuster, to put as much distance as they can him and themselves. That played out in yesterday’s senate debate as G O P U S Senate candidate Scott Brown tried to make the President’s point stick to incumbent Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Health Care Queen, by repeatedly reminding the audience of her voting record, which was in favor of the President’s policies over ninety nine percent of the time. Shaheen did nothing to disavow the fact, except to try and make Brown out to be a tool of Big Oil and somehow blame him for the price of gas, which has doubled since President George Bush left the White House. Shaheen’s answer to Brown’s charge that she was the deciding vote on Obamacare was basically to admit it, saying if Brown had his way, thousands of people would have their health insurance ripped away from them. I guess the tens of thousands of Granite Staters that couldn’t really keep their plan or their doctors no matter how much they liked them don’t count in Shaheen’s calculations. Anyway, the news clips of their debate is a great tease for those that are on the way and due to be televised. Just thought we’d share.
That’s news from our own backyard, Girard at Large hour ___ is next.
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