Collins: Buco won’t do
It would appear that those who say this radio show and its coverage of and commentary on events isn’t worth paying attention to are paying attention in the Timberlane Regional School District. In a disturbing email obtained by Girard at Large yesterday, Timberlane Regional School Board Member Rob Collins asked the Sandown Board of Selectmen to remove Selectman Cindy Buco from the district’s C I P Committee because of her appearance on on this radio show. Wrote Collins, quote “As you know, the situation between the school district and three of the representatives from Sandown has been very dysfunctional. There are many reasons for this and I’d rather not get into the details of this dysfunction at this time. Rather, I’m writing to you to point out the actions of one of your Board members, Cindy Buco. Last week Ms. Buco took it upon herself to go on a radio show and contribute to the disparaging of our Superintendent, throwing fuel on the fire.” End quote.
Buco: The interview that raised Collins’ ire.
Collins goes on to say quote “Dr. Metzler is an integral part of our CIP Committee and therefore all members need to have a functional, working relationship with him, the administraton of the schools and the other members of the committee. Ms. Buco’s actions, whether or not you agree with what she has to say, have seriously impaired these efforts before we have had a single meeting. I’m writing to you today to kindly request that you send a different nominee to the School Board to sit on our CIP Committee. We are trying to take a step in the right direction and I fear that Ms. Buco has already pushed us backward with this interview.” End quote.
Translation: We want nobody who will question or otherwise cause Metzler to justify his requests or actions in an attempt to hold him accountable. Please send us a rubber stamp.
Metzler: Apparently can’t work with those who question and expect
In the email, Collins provides a link to the interview on Girard at Large dot com and urges the selectmen to listen. Funny thing is, Buco urged them to listen, too saying she did nothing wrong during the interview. Collins, who co-chairs the C I P committee with Superintendent Earl Metzler, closes the email with a not so thinly veiled threat to the Sandown Board of Selectmen saying quote: “Please let me know how the Board feels about this request ASAP. The School Board’s next meeting is this Thursday 12 /4 and we would like to approve all nominees and move forward with the CIP Committee’s tasks.” End quote.
We emailed Collins with several questions in the matter and he has yet to respond. Fear not fair friends, for we shall share that email and our thoughts on this and will air part deux of our interview with Buco this morning.
News from our own backyard continues after this.
O’Brien: Nomination in jeopardy
The path of State Representative Bill O’Brien, Republican of Mont Vernon, to reelection as Speaker of the House may not go as expected today. State Representative Shawn Jasper, Republican from Hudson is expected to launch a floor fight for the position as the House gathers today for Organization Day.
Chandler: Standing with O’Brien
By four votes, O’Brien defeated State Rep. Gene Chandler, Republican of Bartlett, to be the party’s nominee for speaker. Chandler, who was the Republican Leader in the last term and is a former speaker himself, asked the caucus to cast one vote for O’Brien to make his nomination unanimous after his loss. While that didn’t happen, O’Brien announced yesterday that he would appoint Chandler as Speaker Pro Tempore, an important position in the leadership structure. Jasper, who has held leadership positions in the House, however, was not so fortunate.
Jasper: Leads mutineers against O’Brien
Sources tell Girard at Large that O’Brien would not name Jasper to a leadership position because members found him abrasive and very difficult to deal with. Sources also say he’s been working with the Democrats and die hard critics of O’Brien to gain enough G O P votes to put him over the top. The last time something like this happened was back in the nineties when G O P Senator Ralph Hough of Hanover got the vote of one other RINO and all of the Democrats in the State Senate to become its president. You’ll never guess who called the shots in the Senate back then. Anyway, while Jasper has yet to reply to our inquiry on the matter, it is rumored that he will only put his name forward if O’Brien fails to win it on the first vote. So, the question is whether or not Jasper will be able to convince forty Republicans to not vote for O’Brien on the first ballot. We’ll know how this comes out later in the day and will let you know.
Save it for the budget
The Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen met last night and it was something of a ho hummer. They did, without discussion, chance the zoning on thirty five acres on Hackett Hill to allow the construction of at least one hundred fifty high density multi unit dwellings. Yay… They fast tracked it, by the way.
The also re-referred to committee a request for bollards made by the Polaris Charter School to protect their playground at the corner of Kelly and Cartier streets. Accidents at the corner have thrown cars into the playground, creating an obvious safety hazard.
The Committee on Human Resources and Insurance gave preliminary approval to suggestions from Human Resource Officer Jane Gile to make payments into the Health Savings Accounts of new hires and to allow the aldermen to buy into H S A plans, too. And, over the objections of Mayor Ted Gatsas, gave the nod to a request from the Elderly Services Department to give them money from the city’s contingency account so they could convert a part time position to a full time one to help with an alleged onslaught of seniors using the facility. Gatsas said it wasn’t the time to be growing the government given the obvious budget uncertainties the city is facing and said the discussion should be left to the budget process.
Arnold: Makes it official again
Finally this morning, former Ward Twelve Alderman and mayoral candidate Patrick Arnold made his bid for mayor official yesterday. In a statement announcing his candidacy yesterday, Arnold said he was running quote “because the residents and taxpayers of New Hampshire’s largest city deserve better than the complacency and failed policies of the status quo.” No doubt, we’ll be hearing more on that. We’ve uploaded the release with this newscast at Girard at Large dot com.
That’s news from our own backyard, Girard at Large hour ___ is next.
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