At a recent selectman’s meeting there was quite an outburst from one of the regulars at the public comment part of the meeting. In part, my professional relationship with selectman Bob Aldrich was brought into question and I think it needs to be responded to.
I think Bob has done a very good job as not only a selectman; but, as vice chairman of the board. Bob is EXCELLENT on budget numbers; in fact Bob is a numbers cruncher, a very valuable position on any public board, Bob is the administrative type. Matt finds Bob an easy person to work with and a great source of knowledge. Both Matt and I have respect for Bob, not only as a person; but, a dedicated public official who works very hard for the people of Exeter. As a public elected official you cannot please everybody all the time; but, when you make decisions that are based on the best interests of the town, at least the sane members of the community will respect you. Bob has earned our respect by his hard work, dedication, and respect for the town of Exeter and its taxpayers. When or if, Bob runs for reelection I would be happy not only to support him; but, work on his campaign if asked. I don’t think there is any wiggle room on my relationship or respect for Bob.
Unfortunately, we have a fringe group that has nothing good to say about anybody or anything. I would like to cut a deal with them, if they stop lying about us, we’ll stop telling the truth about them.
At the last deliberative session this fringe group was stomped on when everything they proposed was killed by overwhelming numbers. This same group has been bad mouthing everyone that disagrees with them, Matt included and has two candidates running for selectman in the hopes of beating Matt and gives them more control of the town. This group has nothing good to say about Exeter or some of the people in the town that disagree with them have proven to be a dangerous element to deal with. They are coming across as a small out of control group; I’ve seen this in some groups in Concord where they attack anyone who disagrees with them, it is too bad to have one in Exeter. Whether this group gains traction in Exeter is up to the voters; but, right now John Childs and Matt might be the only line to hold not allowing these people to take control of Exeter.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
AROUND TOWN!!!
The deliberative session is behind us one more time. The use of the new high school was just perfect, the seats were comfortable, it was warm, the rest rooms were very easy to get to and the refreshments were right on the spot. In other words it went the way people wanted it to go.
Some of the observations I saw were quite interesting. I saw about 200 people there and they knew what they wanted and didn’t want. The elected boards were all shot down handily, even after plenty of discussion and debate. The voters weren’t buying what a small group was pushing in their attempt to take over some functions of the town. We have a couple of issues; one being taking authority away from the board of selectmen and the other issue is changing the process that is used to appoint boards. Many people seem to feel that they didn’t want to change the process of how boards are appointed and some didn’t support the people wanting to make the changes. Another interesting observation is that no one ever quits a board in Exeter they leave because they put in enough time, several different reasons, the budget committee members didn’t quit, they resigned. The water sewer didn’t quit they resigned to protect their families from potential law suits; but, many of them wanted to get elected to the same boards they quit/resigned from. I think I’m getting old; they didn’t make a lot of sense to me.
Another issue was whether the voters could change the warrant articles at the deliberative session; they used the passage the day before of HB 77 that said you couldn’t change the substance or subject matter of the warrant article. The governor signed the bill on Friday and we were all trying to figure it out on Saturday.
I checked on this bill and talked to the bill writer who told me the intent of the bill was to prohibit amending a warrant article to say, “To see”, and that would be the warrant article. By not defining subject matter or substance, it was apparent the Exeter voters acted properly in how they amended the warrant articles.
Sam Bruno did an exceptional job of explaining the Comcast contract and the rates of 3% on just your television bill, so if your cable TV costs you $100 (just on your TV-not phone or internet) the cost would be $3 extra. Sam went on to explain the benefits and expanded coverage that the town seems to want. When Sam was done explaining the program there was no question that the opposition was putting out misleading and in some cases false information. I would just like to say thanks to Sam and quality shows, Sam your quality.
It was interesting to see each time Frank Fararo got up and spoke more votes seemed to go towards Matt and John Childs in the upcoming selectman’s race. I was taken back at the number of people that came to me asking what they could do to help Matt in the election, they were most encouraging. I really got the feeling that the fringe group has burned up its credibility and people were tiring of their constant negative tirades and a conspiracy behind every decision attacks on the town, the citizens will only tolerate this haranguing for so long and reject those who are doing it.
Some of the observations I saw were quite interesting. I saw about 200 people there and they knew what they wanted and didn’t want. The elected boards were all shot down handily, even after plenty of discussion and debate. The voters weren’t buying what a small group was pushing in their attempt to take over some functions of the town. We have a couple of issues; one being taking authority away from the board of selectmen and the other issue is changing the process that is used to appoint boards. Many people seem to feel that they didn’t want to change the process of how boards are appointed and some didn’t support the people wanting to make the changes. Another interesting observation is that no one ever quits a board in Exeter they leave because they put in enough time, several different reasons, the budget committee members didn’t quit, they resigned. The water sewer didn’t quit they resigned to protect their families from potential law suits; but, many of them wanted to get elected to the same boards they quit/resigned from. I think I’m getting old; they didn’t make a lot of sense to me.
Another issue was whether the voters could change the warrant articles at the deliberative session; they used the passage the day before of HB 77 that said you couldn’t change the substance or subject matter of the warrant article. The governor signed the bill on Friday and we were all trying to figure it out on Saturday.
I checked on this bill and talked to the bill writer who told me the intent of the bill was to prohibit amending a warrant article to say, “To see”, and that would be the warrant article. By not defining subject matter or substance, it was apparent the Exeter voters acted properly in how they amended the warrant articles.
Sam Bruno did an exceptional job of explaining the Comcast contract and the rates of 3% on just your television bill, so if your cable TV costs you $100 (just on your TV-not phone or internet) the cost would be $3 extra. Sam went on to explain the benefits and expanded coverage that the town seems to want. When Sam was done explaining the program there was no question that the opposition was putting out misleading and in some cases false information. I would just like to say thanks to Sam and quality shows, Sam your quality.
It was interesting to see each time Frank Fararo got up and spoke more votes seemed to go towards Matt and John Childs in the upcoming selectman’s race. I was taken back at the number of people that came to me asking what they could do to help Matt in the election, they were most encouraging. I really got the feeling that the fringe group has burned up its credibility and people were tiring of their constant negative tirades and a conspiracy behind every decision attacks on the town, the citizens will only tolerate this haranguing for so long and reject those who are doing it.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Elliot Hospital Has a Clinic in Raymond!!!
To those who are worried about losing their health care provider in the Anthem/Exeter Hospital Fiasco the Elliot Hospital has a well stocked clinic in Raymond to deal with any ones health care needs.
Although I still believe the two warring entities will still reach a contract agreement there is an alternative just up the road; the following information is for anyone who is interested in a stabilized health care program:
Elliot Pediatrics and Primary Care at Raymond
Located in the Raymond Shopping Ctr., 15 Freetown Road, Raymond, NH
Phone number 895-8000
Elliot’s Raymond office is currently accepting new patients of all ages.
Elliot’s providers include the following three physicians who are all board certified in both internal medicine and pediatrics and one nurse practitioner:
Jason Emmick, MD
Nancy Husarik, MD
John Klunk, MD
Karen Fradette, APRN
If patients are interested in learning more about Elliot’s providers and their practice they can either ask for the Practice Manager, Julie Brayall or Practice Coordinator, Melissa Long at the above practice number.
If patients would like assistance selecting a physician, they can contact the physician referral line at Elliot OnCall at 663-4567.
Although I still believe the two warring entities will still reach a contract agreement there is an alternative just up the road; the following information is for anyone who is interested in a stabilized health care program:
Elliot Pediatrics and Primary Care at Raymond
Located in the Raymond Shopping Ctr., 15 Freetown Road, Raymond, NH
Phone number 895-8000
Elliot’s Raymond office is currently accepting new patients of all ages.
Elliot’s providers include the following three physicians who are all board certified in both internal medicine and pediatrics and one nurse practitioner:
Jason Emmick, MD
Nancy Husarik, MD
John Klunk, MD
Karen Fradette, APRN
If patients are interested in learning more about Elliot’s providers and their practice they can either ask for the Practice Manager, Julie Brayall or Practice Coordinator, Melissa Long at the above practice number.
If patients would like assistance selecting a physician, they can contact the physician referral line at Elliot OnCall at 663-4567.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
WHEN A BUDGET CUT IS NOT A BUDGET CUT!!!
At a public selectman’s meeting several weeks ago Matt asked the other selectman to come up with proposals for a 2, 5 and 7 % budget cut proposals to see how that would impact the town services and departments; keeping in mind that public safety, Fire and Police, major emphasis on Fire to keep as much services as they can in tack. The other selectman said that it was too early to do that and they needed to wait until the budget reached the selectman.
When the budget reached the board, the selectmen were talking about at least level funding. Matt voted responsibly against most spending increases and proposed spending proposals only to find that they couldn’t even level fund the budget and appeared to make cuts to the spending proposals and not to the budget. As a point of reference and discussion he made a motion for a 7% budget cut. Some of the selectmen acted like rats fighting over cheese accusing him of not saying anything before this, etc, etc and etc.
Well he did and waited to see if the board was serious about making any cuts to the BUDGET and not just providing lip service to the process. As they came to realize Matt is quiet but committed to do what he says.
It was also good to see members of the audience support him in his quest to reduce our taxes with positive suggestions for cuts. I was truly pleased to see that and not just complaining. I hope those who like to go to the selectman’s meetings will continue to provide positive input, it will benefit the town and hopefully save us money.
When the budget reached the board, the selectmen were talking about at least level funding. Matt voted responsibly against most spending increases and proposed spending proposals only to find that they couldn’t even level fund the budget and appeared to make cuts to the spending proposals and not to the budget. As a point of reference and discussion he made a motion for a 7% budget cut. Some of the selectmen acted like rats fighting over cheese accusing him of not saying anything before this, etc, etc and etc.
Well he did and waited to see if the board was serious about making any cuts to the BUDGET and not just providing lip service to the process. As they came to realize Matt is quiet but committed to do what he says.
It was also good to see members of the audience support him in his quest to reduce our taxes with positive suggestions for cuts. I was truly pleased to see that and not just complaining. I hope those who like to go to the selectman’s meetings will continue to provide positive input, it will benefit the town and hopefully save us money.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
WE’RE WATCHING IT!!!
According to the Seacoast News Papers that was the comment from some of our local politicians on the Exeter/Anthem situation. I guess if you don’t know what to do you probably will do less damage if you stand on the side lines and watch. Quite frankly I have never been one to sit on the side lines when there was work to do.
Last Weds. I met with Roger Sevigney, the NH Insurance Commissioner, Roger, Matt and I have an excellent working relationship, and we had a frank and honest private conversation. Roger is on top of this and is walking a regulatory tight rope with limited but some authority to get involved.
The prior insurance commissioner was involved in the Tufts insurance debacle. If some of you remember Tufts was a big HMO, on the financial ropes, couldn’t come to grips with the Exeter Hospital pricing, lost Exeter (I was told about 16,000 subscribers throughout the area) then lost Bath Iron Works in Maine and folded up and left NH. So we are now going through a second Exeter Hospital/Insurance carrier situation with the insured being used in the PR war. Actually I believe the fight has gone too far and both entities have severely hurt their reputations.
In the last campaign I don’t know if I got the message out as well as I would like; when (at candidates forums or going door to door) people would ask what I thought the biggest cost drivers were in health care/health insurance I would say, “greed”; GREED, on the part of the hospitals and greed on the part of the insurance companies. Unfortunately greed is a built in factor in a capitalistic society. The only time government gets or should get involved is when it becomes a consumer protection issue or consumers are getting screwed in any other way. We don’t want to regulate; but, we need to have the authority to get involved when a situation gets out of hand.
Like I said, I met with Roger and I believe he is on top of the situation and I made my and Matt’s feelings known.
THE DIRECTION OF THE LEGISLATURE!!!
The speaker of the house, speaker William O’Brian (some refer to him as “Billy O”, has given his marching orders, the house will prioritize the budget and financial part of our business as the prime objective. Of course there other bills out there repeal gay marriage, parental notification and others; but, it is more of a routine maintenance in the legislature than a social reform swing in any direction. I have a couple of bills one to study insurance contracting with medical providers and a couple of other study committees, one dealing with pre-buys for oil contracts and a few others; but, being on finance the main gist with Chairman Ken Weyler and marching orders from Billy O is budget, budget and budget. We’ll get the other stuff done and will fix our finances as well. Remember the old saying, “If you put liberals in office they spend, if you put conservatives in office they save”. The republicans are in office and we tend to be fiscally conservative.
AN IDEA TO HELP SAVE TAX PAYERS $’s IN EXETER!!!
I did a little checking around and it looks like it would be legal to elect our tax assessor. That would make him directly responsible to the voters and tax payers and not the Selectman or Town Manager. That way maybe we would avoid the Vision Appraisal fiasco of them increasing our tax bill and refusing to come to check the taxpayer’s property.
What it appears it would take would be 25 petitioners to sign a warrant article/petition to put it on the town warrant. Anyone that wants to can go to it.
Last Weds. I met with Roger Sevigney, the NH Insurance Commissioner, Roger, Matt and I have an excellent working relationship, and we had a frank and honest private conversation. Roger is on top of this and is walking a regulatory tight rope with limited but some authority to get involved.
The prior insurance commissioner was involved in the Tufts insurance debacle. If some of you remember Tufts was a big HMO, on the financial ropes, couldn’t come to grips with the Exeter Hospital pricing, lost Exeter (I was told about 16,000 subscribers throughout the area) then lost Bath Iron Works in Maine and folded up and left NH. So we are now going through a second Exeter Hospital/Insurance carrier situation with the insured being used in the PR war. Actually I believe the fight has gone too far and both entities have severely hurt their reputations.
In the last campaign I don’t know if I got the message out as well as I would like; when (at candidates forums or going door to door) people would ask what I thought the biggest cost drivers were in health care/health insurance I would say, “greed”; GREED, on the part of the hospitals and greed on the part of the insurance companies. Unfortunately greed is a built in factor in a capitalistic society. The only time government gets or should get involved is when it becomes a consumer protection issue or consumers are getting screwed in any other way. We don’t want to regulate; but, we need to have the authority to get involved when a situation gets out of hand.
Like I said, I met with Roger and I believe he is on top of the situation and I made my and Matt’s feelings known.
THE DIRECTION OF THE LEGISLATURE!!!
The speaker of the house, speaker William O’Brian (some refer to him as “Billy O”, has given his marching orders, the house will prioritize the budget and financial part of our business as the prime objective. Of course there other bills out there repeal gay marriage, parental notification and others; but, it is more of a routine maintenance in the legislature than a social reform swing in any direction. I have a couple of bills one to study insurance contracting with medical providers and a couple of other study committees, one dealing with pre-buys for oil contracts and a few others; but, being on finance the main gist with Chairman Ken Weyler and marching orders from Billy O is budget, budget and budget. We’ll get the other stuff done and will fix our finances as well. Remember the old saying, “If you put liberals in office they spend, if you put conservatives in office they save”. The republicans are in office and we tend to be fiscally conservative.
AN IDEA TO HELP SAVE TAX PAYERS $’s IN EXETER!!!
I did a little checking around and it looks like it would be legal to elect our tax assessor. That would make him directly responsible to the voters and tax payers and not the Selectman or Town Manager. That way maybe we would avoid the Vision Appraisal fiasco of them increasing our tax bill and refusing to come to check the taxpayer’s property.
What it appears it would take would be 25 petitioners to sign a warrant article/petition to put it on the town warrant. Anyone that wants to can go to it.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
WHERE DOES ONE START??
Let’s start with the Exeter/Anthem contract impasse. What we have is two 900 pound greedy gorillas and a situation where there is a lot of money at stake. Some of the numbers that are being thrown around is about 20,000 insurance subscribers and total costs have not been released yet.
What we are looking at is the most expensive hospital in NH by about 50% and a greedy insurance company with a lot of purchasing power. I remember being told, by reliable sources that an Anthem CEO was paid about $600,000 salary and a million $ bonus on top of that. Where do we think this money is coming from? I think it is coming out of health insurance premiums and I firmly believe that greed is what is driving up our health insurance costs as well as our health care $’s.
It seems every contract negotiation period we go through these negotiation gyrations and people like you and me get dragged into the PR war of who is right and who is wrong and how we are all going to lose our favorite doctors. Fortunately, Dorie and I moved our health care to the Portsmouth Hospital and our PCP too so we are not directly affected by all of this; but, what I do know is there is too much money at stake for both parties to continue playing one upsmanship and I would not want to be the Anthem CEO that loses 20,000 subscribers who are paying about 1,000 a month for their health insurance premiums. I don’t believe Exeter Hospital can afford a mass exodus to Portsmouth. There are times that when Dorie and I have gone to Portsmouth Hospital, or any of our other doctors offices, it seems like we are always bumping into friends or other Exeter residents; more people seem to be going to Portsmouth, than Portsmouth patients coming to Exeter and this cannot be good for Exeter Hospital so another hemorrhaging of Exeter patients will not be good.
That is why I think an agreement we will be reached as soon as one of the protagonists blinks.
I have a meeting with the NH Insurance Commissioner next week and we can chat about this.
WHEN IS A FINANCIAL MESS A REAL FINANCIAL MESS??
When the legislative auditors tell you the NH State budget deficit just went up another $100 million dollars to $900 million; when you elect liberals don’t be surprised when they spend us into a huge deficit and the republicans have to come in clean up the mess. The old political saying is put the liberals in control of the social programs and the fiscal conservatives in charge of the purse strings; that way everyone is happy.
My committee assignment is on the finance committee, division one, with Ken Weyler from Kingston as my chairman. Ken and are have been friends and supporters for years and I have the greatest respect for his MIT education and intellect. If anyone can help lead us out of this mess it will be the excellent financial team that Speaker O’Brian has brought together on Ways and Means (they figure out how much money we have to spend) and finance (who figures out where to spend it). I believe the state cuts will be deep and painful; but there might be some hope and ways to mitigate the cuts without passing anything along to the towns.
We need to all remember that what the state does has only minimal impact on you local tax bill. The majority of times it is YOU that determines what your tax bill is by voting in all the local spending increases for the town and especially the schools. If you don’t show up at the deliberative session and vote no on some of these increased spending proposals, then you own your tax bill, not the state. When we complain about our tax bill we are actually complaining about our own action or inaction.
What we are looking at is the most expensive hospital in NH by about 50% and a greedy insurance company with a lot of purchasing power. I remember being told, by reliable sources that an Anthem CEO was paid about $600,000 salary and a million $ bonus on top of that. Where do we think this money is coming from? I think it is coming out of health insurance premiums and I firmly believe that greed is what is driving up our health insurance costs as well as our health care $’s.
It seems every contract negotiation period we go through these negotiation gyrations and people like you and me get dragged into the PR war of who is right and who is wrong and how we are all going to lose our favorite doctors. Fortunately, Dorie and I moved our health care to the Portsmouth Hospital and our PCP too so we are not directly affected by all of this; but, what I do know is there is too much money at stake for both parties to continue playing one upsmanship and I would not want to be the Anthem CEO that loses 20,000 subscribers who are paying about 1,000 a month for their health insurance premiums. I don’t believe Exeter Hospital can afford a mass exodus to Portsmouth. There are times that when Dorie and I have gone to Portsmouth Hospital, or any of our other doctors offices, it seems like we are always bumping into friends or other Exeter residents; more people seem to be going to Portsmouth, than Portsmouth patients coming to Exeter and this cannot be good for Exeter Hospital so another hemorrhaging of Exeter patients will not be good.
That is why I think an agreement we will be reached as soon as one of the protagonists blinks.
I have a meeting with the NH Insurance Commissioner next week and we can chat about this.
WHEN IS A FINANCIAL MESS A REAL FINANCIAL MESS??
When the legislative auditors tell you the NH State budget deficit just went up another $100 million dollars to $900 million; when you elect liberals don’t be surprised when they spend us into a huge deficit and the republicans have to come in clean up the mess. The old political saying is put the liberals in control of the social programs and the fiscal conservatives in charge of the purse strings; that way everyone is happy.
My committee assignment is on the finance committee, division one, with Ken Weyler from Kingston as my chairman. Ken and are have been friends and supporters for years and I have the greatest respect for his MIT education and intellect. If anyone can help lead us out of this mess it will be the excellent financial team that Speaker O’Brian has brought together on Ways and Means (they figure out how much money we have to spend) and finance (who figures out where to spend it). I believe the state cuts will be deep and painful; but there might be some hope and ways to mitigate the cuts without passing anything along to the towns.
We need to all remember that what the state does has only minimal impact on you local tax bill. The majority of times it is YOU that determines what your tax bill is by voting in all the local spending increases for the town and especially the schools. If you don’t show up at the deliberative session and vote no on some of these increased spending proposals, then you own your tax bill, not the state. When we complain about our tax bill we are actually complaining about our own action or inaction.
Friday, December 17, 2010
A REMINDER IN HISTORY.
General VoNguyen Giap.
General Giap was a brilliant, highly respected leader
of the North Vietnam military. The following quote
is from his memoirs currently found in the
Vietnam war memorial in Hanoi :
'What we still don't understand is why you Americans
stopped the bombing of Hanoi . You had us on the
ropes. If you had pressed us a little harder,
just for another day or two, we were ready
to surrender! It was the same at the
battle of TET. You defeated us!
We knew it, and we thought
you knew it.
But we were elated to notice your media was
helping us. They were causing more disruption in
America than we could in the battlefields. We
were ready to surrender. You had won!'
General Giap has published his memoirs and confirmed
what most Americans knew. The Vietnam war was not
lost in Vietnam -- it was lost at home. The
same slippery slope, sponsored by the US media,
is currently underway. It exposes the
enormous power of a Biased Media to
cut out the heart and will of
the American public.
A truism worthy of note: ... Do not fear the enemy, for
they can take only your life. Fear the media, for
they will destroy your honor.
General Giap was a brilliant, highly respected leader
of the North Vietnam military. The following quote
is from his memoirs currently found in the
Vietnam war memorial in Hanoi :
'What we still don't understand is why you Americans
stopped the bombing of Hanoi . You had us on the
ropes. If you had pressed us a little harder,
just for another day or two, we were ready
to surrender! It was the same at the
battle of TET. You defeated us!
We knew it, and we thought
you knew it.
But we were elated to notice your media was
helping us. They were causing more disruption in
America than we could in the battlefields. We
were ready to surrender. You had won!'
General Giap has published his memoirs and confirmed
what most Americans knew. The Vietnam war was not
lost in Vietnam -- it was lost at home. The
same slippery slope, sponsored by the US media,
is currently underway. It exposes the
enormous power of a Biased Media to
cut out the heart and will of
the American public.
A truism worthy of note: ... Do not fear the enemy, for
they can take only your life. Fear the media, for
they will destroy your honor.
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