budget committee meeting tonight

It has been awhile since the Attorney General sent the cease and desist order to the current chairperson of the Newmarket Budget Committee Amy Thompson- May 21, 2014 to be exact. Since then there have been a couple schools of thought. One being she should be removed from her position for partaking/ spearheading the letters sent to Newmarket residents that were full of lies and misinformation. The other one being to let her stay and complete her term on the committee.

I feel there is another way to end this situation. Let her stay however make it known on the Budget Committee record of minutes that not everyone on the Budget Committee was a part of sending those letters and in no way did each member of the committee agree with what was in them. Some of the members were a part of the Vote No group and had their hand in the letter, they managed to keep their identities a secret. 

This is one of those town issues that should not be swept under the rug and forgotten over the years. 

A resident of our town. 

An elected official on the Budget Committee. 

The Chairperson of that committee. 

Sent out Vote No letters to residents with no valid group name or author.

Even after discussions were had online and in the newspapers, no one came forward saying they were a part of this group calling themselves "Newmarket Citizens for Responsible School Solutions/ NCFRSS". It was all very secretive.

Why be so secretive if you believe in something that strongly?

The letter below appeared in the newspaper in June and is from Amy Thompson.

Free speech denied being denied in Newmarket

Saturday, June 7, 2014

It’s a dark day indeed when ones constitutionally guaranteed free speech rights are used as a battering ram.

(See: http://tinyurl.com/Newmarket-vote)

Acting as the chairperson of a group of taxpayers called “Newmarket Citizens for Responsible School Solutions” which advocated a “no” vote on the seriously flawed plan for a new school facility that could have bankrupted the town, I sought guidance on how to proceed with a mailer. I was given vague and misleading information by both the state and the postal service. In one instance it was explained to me that the governing RSA 664:14 applied only to statewide issues. It was because of this misinformation that our mailing was “out of compliance”. The AG’s office has stated that this is a “Closed Matter”. There is no “there” there.

That is the sum total of what happened. I sought information in an effort to be sure that we were in compliance and I was, I assume, unintentionally misinformed. The losing side of the school issue would insist that I (we) made a deliberate attempt to deceive and conceal our identities and that is a complete falsehood.

It’s that simple.

No vast conspiracy to mislead anyone and I can assure you that any future mailers will most certainly be in compliance.

As Americans we have a constitutionally guaranteed right to express ourselves on public matters. Sometime we win and sometimes we lose the argument. It’s utterly appalling how some will resort to aggressively vicious personal attacks simply because they wind up on the losing side of an issue. It’s one thing to suffer a loss at the ballot box but it’s quite another to be subjected to the thuggishly aggressive attacks of the sore losers.

This same group would further attempt to punish me for the exercise of my free speech rights by urging my removal from the chair of the Newmarket Budget Committee, once again, because I actively disagreed with them on the totally unrelated matter of how to proceed on the school issue.

I want to thank the people of Newmarket for all the messages of support and understanding. I’m not going away. I am a woman who will not be pushed around because of my opinions.

These outrageous attempts to silence me on public matters will not succeed.

Amy Thompson
Newmarket

Yes Amy Thompson does have the right to free speech. But she needs to follow all the laws accordingly to use that free speech.

Her passing the buck on being "unintentionally misinformed" by receiving "vague and misleading information by both the state and the postal service" is just that.... passing the buck. I did a Google search of RSA 664:14 and found the information quickly.

II. Political advertising to promote the success or defeat of a measure by a business organization, labor union, or other enterprise or organization shall be signed. The name of the enterprise or organization shall be indicated and the chairman or treasurer of the enterprise or organization shall sign his name and address. Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit contributions which are prohibited under RSA 664:4.


III. In the case of printed or written matter, the signature and address of signer shall be printed or written in a size of type or lettering large enough to be clearly legible.

Residents and voters of Newmarket- let us not forget this incident as we go forward in trying to solve our school situation. Remember who has done and said what when their terms come to a close in March 2015.

yes i did and am not ashamed to say so

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, along comes a famished shark and chomps your leg off.

At least that is how I feel right about now.

The new year came in with a much debated warrant article concerning the building of a Junior Senior High School for our fair town. I wrote here on my blog concerning my position of wanting the school to be built. I posted status updates on Facebook my desire as well as added pictures telling everyone what I wanted. I put signs on my lawn. I walked in a family event march in support of a new school. I was more than forthcoming. For all of that, I am proud to say I did everything I could to try to get the town's children a new building in which to receive an education. I am not ashamed of any of it. And I still believe that the only individuals who lost out on March 11, 2014 were the students of Newmarket. 

During that time, many households in Newmarket received two letters from a group calling themselves Newmarket Citizens for Responsible School Solutions (NCFRSS). These letters were full of misinformation. I wrote blog entries concerning their errors which you can read here, and here.

I am posting both of the mailings below.

What is missing from these letters is an actual real live persons name who will take responsibility for sending these out to the voters of Newmarket. That is the law. If you send something to voters telling them how to vote in an election, the name of the responsible person must be included. Not a made up group name which played off of the real live Newmarket Solutions group name, but an actual real live registered voter in town. Both of the letters sent out did not include such information.

When it was made public that this law was being violated with these mailings, concerned residents in town sent in complaints to the Attorney General's office. I am not ashamed to say that I was one that complained about the NCFRSS mailings. I did receive a letter back from the Attorney General letting me know that the complaint was being looked into and I would be hearing again at the close of the investigation.

Fast forward to earlier this week when I received the letter below.

It is addressed to the responsible party Amy M. Thompson. Those of us who made complaints are listed in the CC at the bottom of the second page. I am proud to have my name attached to this cease and desist order addressed to Ms. Thompson. 

Now for the fun part-- Ms. Thompson is the chairperson of the town's Budget Committee. The talk in town is that she should be forced to resign from that board for her actions during the 2014 voting season. Once again I will put myself and my opinion out there and will agree that Ms. Amy Thompson should not be allowed to be a member of the Budget Committee going forward. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse for breaking it and as an elected official, the standards of ethics need to be upheld. As of right now, nothing has been decided but we shall see.

Of course the few outspoken NO voters that do all of their talking via the internet have tried to crucify those of us who complained. I have not read any of their complaints because my life does not revolve around what they say or think about me or the March 11th vote and am basing the above statement on what I have been told. I proudly stand behind my actions and statements. If I wouldn't say it to your face or in a public forum/ place, I would not put it on the internet. I ask the NO voters to do the same or keep their mouths shut. 

Proud that I voted YES for a new school and will continue to fight for the education of Newmarket's students.