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
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.
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.
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