This page was last updated on
07/10/06.
On April 11, 2006, voters radically changed the way business is going to
run in the town, and they elected an entirely new group of people to run
it. Many of the people chosen are part of the the same group that took
over the school board in 1994. The group is named
Merrimack Cares. The elections were won the same way they
were won in 1994, in the name of lower taxes. The group now controls The Board of Selectman and the Budget Committee. It's interesting
that the Budget Committee now will make recommendations only on school
issues, the one group that Merrimack Cares does not currently control
(they hold the minority right now 2-3).
Expect to hear a lot about them over the next few years!
The group was very careful to recommend
passing of all school issues. However, they recommended their candidates
to the two open school board positions, one of which was elected.
Hopefully this group has learned something since
1994. Their rise to power is about taxes.
It is NOT about conservative social
and religious values.
THIS IS THE PLACE TO SEE WHERE MERRIMACK IS HEADED IN 2006 and
beyond.
Let's hope we are not going to go through
1994 all
over again
Dave comments:
The election took me by surprise. Obviously the town is not
happy with the way tax money was handled in the past few years.
Merrimack received a windfall when the state property tax favored taxing
the Seacoast more heavily a few years ago. I predicted that it was only
temporary and that it would swing back the other way. The selectman
chose to not return the entire windfall back to the taxpayers of
Merrimack at that time. I content that was the beginning of the end for
the current BOS. Now that the pengilum has swung back this way taxpayers
were faced with a huge tax increase. In additon, the BOS has been
holding on to a large chunk of change. I don't know the details and
perhaps that was the smart thing to do. The failure of the BOS was in
not disclosing the details of what they were doing. All surplus
will now be returned to the taxpayers. In addition, now that the town
voted to return the library savings account, that will be returned as
well. That means there will be no surplus. In additon, 3% of last years
budget has been cut without regard to what that means. With the cost of
inflation and the higher fuel costs, that reduction is probably in the 6
to 7 percent range. It sounds pretty scary. On the other hand, its been
proven over the years, that the only thing you can count on is change
itself. It's going to be interesting!
The election of the remaining two councilors in June 2006 is
interesting. The two that were chosen are the two that were NOT
recommended by Merrimack Cares. It is too early to tell if that is
meaningful, but the current councilors should take notice that they need
to exercise caution before making any radical changes.
If you have articles or any news please send it my way!
Related News Articles
March 14, 2006, Merrimack Connection,
Single vote determines
cut in Town's proposed operating budget (actual
link)
April 11, 2006,
Merrimack
Cares Voter Guide (see who they support)
April 13, 2006,
Town
Election Results (pdf)
April 13, 2006, Nashua Telegraph (ed),
Merrimack change
will be profound (actual
link)
April 13, 2006, Merrimack Journal,
A near-sweep for
anti-tax group (actual
link)
April 14, 2006. Nashua Telegraph,
Mower cuts ties with
selectmen (actual
link)
April 16, 2006. Nashua Telegraph,
Town debates its fate
(actual
link)
April 18, 2006. Nashua Telegraph,
New-look school board
shapes up in Merrimack (actual
link)
***
April 18, 2006. Merrimack Connection,
Election Results
April 18, 2006. Merrimack Connection,
Merrimack's
Tea Party (actual
link)
April 20, 2006, Nashua Telegraph,
Selectmen pick McCray for chairman (actual
link)
April 21, 2006. Nashua Telegraph,
Selectmen begin process
of slashing town budget (actual
link)
April 27, 2006. Nashua Telegraph,
Spending cuts top
mandate (actual
link)
April 28, 2006. Nashua Telegraph,
Board votes in mall foe
(actual
link)
July 04, 2006. Merrimack Connection,
Mahon
and Rothhaus elected to Town Council (actual
link)
Merrimack Links