Hampton selectman wants NH to fork over $20M for Hampton Beach costs: Hampton Letters

Trash, recycling and state beach responsibilities in Hampton

To the Editor:

A few thoughts on two very controversial Hampton topics:

Trash and recycling: The solid waste collection and transportation portion of the Hampton Department of Public Works 2022 budget totals $1.7 million or 28% of the total DPW budget. Transportation expenses have gone from $553,357 in 2020 up to $966,080 in 2021, or a 75% increase. Neither the selectmen, the Budget Committee, nor the Solid Waste Committee seems to bat an eyelash at this increase.

As an individual selectman, I have brought up solid waste collection and transportation costs several times, but the response is always crickets. Why is that? One could argue it is because making a decision to discontinue or limit trash and recycling services is much too controversial. To continue at the rate, we are going for trash and recycling costs, the town is looking at a soon-to-be $2 million-dollar annual expense. What else do we budget $2 million a year for? I would argue, not much. Definitely not road and sidewalk maintenance.

The question of this board should be: How can we offset the tax effect of this large continuous expense? I would suggest that the board immediately begin to implement an "annual per cart fee" to "parcels with more than 10 carts" for the additional carts issued by Hampton Public Works. These parcels with 10 or more carts are already outlined in the town of Hampton Cart and Service Collection Policy, with the exception of "23 Island Path," which was noted and addressed by DPW and the BOS at last week's public meeting.

Again, this new fee would be applied to any additional (over the 10 maximum) carts. The fee to be determined by Hampton Public Works in time for May 1, 2022, implementation.

This would be a convenient way for Hampton Public Works to collect some offsetting revenue for the solid waste collection and transportation annual costs. Ideally, many would argue, including myself, that the town should get out of the trash business, however, we cannot simply just pull out of something that was implemented so poorly to begin with. This solution would at least offset some of the astronomical cost for the benefit of town-wide taxpayers, most of which only require one recycling and one trash cart to be collected by Hampton Public Works on a weekly basis. This board and/or any future Board of Selectmen should explore and implement this as soon as possible.

State beach responsibilities: Another controversial topic that could easily be solved, in my view, is if the Hampton BOS as a body demanded well-deserved financial support from Concord. $20 million of relief is not too much to ask for, many Hampton taxpayers would agree. The money is there, it just needs to be redirected from the state education trust fund back to municipalities.

Regina Barnes

Hampton

Vote no on school fund balance article

To the Editor:

As most taxpayers know, the school budget accounts for more than half our property taxes, and, except for the operating budget, voters often don’t pay much attention to School District warrant articles. This year, however, there is a warrant article on the North Hampton School District ballot and the Winnacunnet High School ballot that deserves your full attention.

Town Meeting 2022: A look at big-ticket requests from Exeter to Hampton to Seabrook

Currently, at the end of the fiscal year, any money left unspent by the school has to be credited back to the town. For each of the last two years over $300,000 has been turned back to the town of North Hampton by our local school. The proposed warrant article changes that. Instead of sending that money back to the town (the taxpayers), the warrant article would allow the school districts to keep up to 5% of their annual budget, more than $450,000 for the North Hampton School.

The town has a similar fund where unspent tax dollars accumulate. The major difference between the town’s fund and the proposed school fund is how the money can be accessed and used. There are only two ways that money in the town’s fund can be used: the Select Board can use money in the fund to reduce taxes, or money in the fund can be used for a specific purpose through a warrant article when authorized by a majority vote of the town’s registered voters.

In contrast, the money in the proposed school fund can be spent by the School Board after holding a public hearing. As we know, a public hearing does not bind the School Board even if a majority of the public at the hearing oppose the expenditure. The other difference between the town fund and the proposed school fund is that the money in the school fund can be used for any purpose. Hypothetically, if the Budget Committee or voters at a deliberative session cut funding for some item in the school operating budget, the School Board could circumvent this by spending money from this fund for that item.

One might say that the School Board should be allowed to have access to funds in case of an emergency. State law already provides for this. The School Board is allowed to expend funds for an emergency after getting approval from the Commissioner of Education and approval by the Budget Committee, thereby placing reasonable controls on spending.

The North Hampton Budget Committee voted 8-1 to not recommend passage of this warrant article.

The North Hampton School deliberative session will take place on Tuesday, February 8 at 7 p.m. in the North Hampton School gym, and the Winnacunnet deliberative session will take place on Thursday, February 10 at 7 p.m. at the high school. Municipal voting will take place on March 8 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the North Hampton School gym.

I urge voters to vote no on the North Hampton School District warrant article and the Winnacunnet article authorizing the establishment of a fund balance.

Frank Ferraro

North Hampton

Experience Hampton starts Dan Lanio Memorial Scholarship Fund

To the Editor:

This community is amazing. The outpouring of support for Dan “Desi” Lanio has been emotionally overwhelming.

It warms our heart to see all of the tributes and memories that you all have shared over the past few days. Many out there have sought out ways to honor the man who brought so much joy to all of us, and Experience Hampton has been working with people from all over the town of Hampton to create the Dan Lanio Memorial Scholarship Fund.

This fund, will make a scholarship available for the WHS Extended Learning Opportunities Program (ELO). A couple of years ago, Desi raised close to $4,000 to start the first scholarship for ELO. This program was near and dear to Desi, as was supporting all the students from Winnacunnet High School.

More: Desi Lanio, 401 Tavern founder and unofficial Hampton mayor, mourned by community

Experience Hampton offered to accept donations to create this fund, and ensure that the donations being made were channeled to the official “Dan Lanio Memorial Scholarship Fund.” Please know that we will ensure your contributions will only benefit the student recipients of this fund, and not be used for any other operational expenses.

As our way to honor Dan “Desi” Lanio, Experience Hampton will be contributing $2,500 as the initial opening donation. Desi was a key member in creating Experience Hampton, and we are truly grateful to the legacy he left behind, and we will do our best to honor his memory moving forward.

If you are interested in donating, no matter how big or small, please send and make out all checks to: Experience Hampton, PO Box 444, Hampton, NH 03843

(Please indicate in the memo portion that the check is for the Dan Lanio Memorial Scholarship Fund).

Experience Hampton

Supreme Court pick should be made on qualifications, not race

To the Editor:

President Biden is facing another important decision. And, like most of his previous decisions (Afghanistan, southern border, energy independence, economy and inflation etc.) he has already blown it.

His decision? He has already decided to nominate a Black female judge to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Simply put, gender and race should not be considered for any employment decision and definitely not for a Supreme Court nomination.

I am not alone in my thinking.

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Democrat from Hawaii, stated unequivocally and rightly, “Biden’s mistake: He should not be choosing a Supreme Court justice based on the color of their skin or sex, but rather on their qualifications and commitment to uphold our Constitution and the freedoms guaranteed to all Americans in that document which is the foundation of our nation.”

C’mon Joe. Get at least one decision correct and nominate the best person for the Supreme Court and not base it on any politically correct qualifications.

Sincerely,

Laurence F. Messner

Hampton

Hampton fortunate to have Amy Hansen run for selectwoman

To the Editor:

The town of Hampton has been given a most precious gift in Amy Griffin Hansen’s candidacy for selectwoman.

Amy is intelligent, hardworking, compassionate, and someone who cares more deeply about the town's needs than her own agenda. She spent many years in the bi-partisan home of Cliff and Kate Pratt. Different opinions were common. Discussions were civil.

Compromise was the usual outcome. Amy has lived learning to work together with opposing opinions. She and Whit, her husband, out of respect, took over the town clock project, seeing it to completion as a tribute to Cliff Pratt.

Amy was an active member of the advisory group on the construction of Hampton Academy, bringing the 1938 high school into the 21st century as a middle school. Having taught for 36 years in the old building, I am comfortable saying that the upgrades were desperately needed for the children of our community.

One of Amy's greatest gifts is her ability to be able to see issues from someone else's perspective. She listens well and learns quickly. She deliberates before she makes decisions. And her decisions are based not on her personal wishes, but on what is best for our community.

Please vote for Amy in March.

Sheila Nudd

Hampton

Tamara Le announces bid for WHS School Board

To the Editor:

Thank you voters of North Hampton, Hampton, Hampton Falls and Seabrook for reaching out to encourage me to run for the Winnacunnet School Board. With my family’s blessing, I am in! I have registered for the North Hampton seat on the WHS Board and ask for your vote, March 8th.

Yes, the governance of community schools and school boards has endured a number of battles of late. Therefore, now is precisely the time to heed the call of public service. Especially for those of us who value and believe in a quality, public education opportunity for all students.

I’ve been active in education most of my professional life and have served North Hampton/SAU 21 in a number of related roles. As a member of the North Hampton and SAU 21 Joint School board for six years, I was part of a number of dynamic teams managing projects such as a building renovation and expansion; bridging the introduction of subject standards to competencies; guiding special education systems review and redevelopment; and negotiating voter-approved teacher and administrative contracts.

Our budgets became increasingly fiscally responsible with minimal impact on taxation. From that experience, I continued to serve on North Hampton’s Budget Committee for another three-years and as a state representative, for four.

It was as a state representative serving on the House Education Committee where I began to understand just how crucial unfettered access to top-quality public schools such as Winnacunnet is for the 90+% of N.H. students who attend them.

WHS helps to sustain the economic vibrance and stability of our entire region. From drawing much-needed employers and workers - to employing and creating professional, skilled workers for our future - our successful community school programs are the rising tide that floats all boats.

Know that I will continue to work hard to not let that change.

As a member of the N.H. House Education Committee, I was an Assistant Majority Floor leader; served on the Seacoast Pediatric Cancer Commission and was grateful to be a co-sponsor on death benefit legislation for firefighters and teachers. I was appointed to the N.H. Special Education Advisory Committee for students; founded the Bipartisan Legislative Disability Caucus, and; was honored as Legislator of the Year by the N.H. Developmental Disability Council.

I consistently received endorsements from N.H. Educational Associations, N.H. Professional Firefighters, environmental protection and LGBTQ rights organizations.

Much of my professional career was in public broadcasting (Boston and New York). I’ve been honored to serve on boards of a number of area education-based, non-profit and arts organizations since moving to the Seacoast 20 years ago.

Like many families managing the pandemic, the nature of my husband Quang’s work required he remain onsite. I chose to pivot in order to best support our SAU 21 school-aged daughters (Chelon 2024 and Colette 2026) in remote learning from home. We support their continued, safe, in-person involvement in academic programs, the arts, music, sports and yes, more sports.

Thank you again for your support. Please vote March 8th for Tamara Le for North Hampton representative to the Winnacunnet School Board. Together we will keep Winnacunnet strong.

Tamara Le

North Hampton

Voting laws repugnant to NH law

To the Editor:

There is only one "law of the land," and it is the N.H. constitution. Over time, bipartisan efforts have created legislative statutes that were never authorized by the citizens of N.H., state voting laws are just one example.

First, let us look at Article 11 of the N.H. Bill of Rights:

Elections and Elective Franchises.

"All elections are to be free, and every inhabitant of the state of 18 years of age and upwards shall have an equal right to vote in any election. Every person shall be considered an inhabitant for the purposes of voting in the town, ward, or unincorporated place where he has his domicile. No person shall have the right to vote under the constitution of this state who has been convicted of treason, bribery or any willful violation of the election laws of this state or of the United States; but the supreme court may, on notice to the attorney general, restore the privilege to vote to any person who may have forfeited it by conviction of such offenses. The general court shall provide by law for voting by qualified voters who at the time of the biennial or state elections, or of the primary elections therefor, or of city elections, or of town elections by official ballot, are absent from the city or town of which they are inhabitants, or who by reason of physical disability are unable to vote in person, in the choice of any officer or officers to be elected or upon any question submitted at such election. Voting registration and polling places shall be easily accessible to all persons including disabled and elderly persons who are otherwise qualified to vote in the choice of any officer or officers to be elected or upon any question submitted at such election. The right to vote shall not be denied to any person because of the non payment of any tax. Every inhabitant of the state, having the proper qualifications, has equal right to be elected into office." June 2, 1784

There has been no constitutional amendment to this article since 1984. Therefore, all state voting laws passed by the House and Senate and signed into law by the N.H. governor since 1984 need to be declared "null and void" by state citizens of N.H. Recent election law bills always refer to "residents," but as we can see in the above Article 11, the constitution provides that inhabitants shall have an equal right to vote. Any legislative act that describes residents of the state having the right to vote is repugnant to the state constitution.

Second, we will review Article 12 of the NH Bill of Rights:

“Nor are the inhabitants of this State controllable by any other laws than those to which they, or their representative body have given their consent.” June 2, 1784

Since there has been no constitutional convention awarding state voting rights to residents rather than inhabitants, all legislative acts describing the voting rights of residents of N.H. have been created without the consent of the people of N.H.

Third, the following Opinion was Issued on August 28, 2020, by the Supreme Court of New Hampshire:

“Indeed, “[n]o branch of State government can lawfully perform any act which violates the State Constitution.” LaFrance, 124 N.H. at 176. Burt v. Speaker, N.H. House of Representatives, 2020

Many of our current state voting laws, especially ones created by the governor and Senate in 2020, violate the state constitution and should be repealed immediately. It is time state citizens of N.H. demand that state voting laws mirror Article 11 under the Bill of Rights of the N.H. state constitution.

Any N.H. state voting law passed without a constitutional amendment is not only repugnant to the state constitution, but also condones voter fraud in N.H.

Regina Barnes

Hampton

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Hampton NH selectman wants NH to fork over $20M for Hampton Beach costs: Hampton Letters