Auburn News : Board of Selectmen

Auburn leaves traditional Town Meeting behind

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 19:49:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Aside from electing their town officials, Auburn voters also decided whether to go to an official ballot style of voting on town matters and school matters.

In an overwhelming vote, it was decided the town and school district would now be governed by the official ballot law, often called SB2 for the Senate bill that became the law, leaving the traditional Town Meeting behind.

A total of 538 voted to change to SB2 on the town side, with 308 voting not to change. On the school side, it was 537-310 in favor of SB2.

Prior to the election, Auburn Selectman Jim Headd said he would have liked to see the issue debated at Auburn’s Town Meeting on Saturday, March 15, rather than making it a ballot item.

“It would be funny if we could bring it up and talk about it on the floor,” Headd said, adding only 14 people showed up at a public hearing on the question on Feb. 25.

The Auburn School Board recently showed its position against going to the SB2 form of election used in 50 municipalities and 70 school districts in New Hampshire, the board having taken a stance at a meeting in February against adopting the official ballot law.

While the Board of Selectmen did not take an official stance on whether or not to go to SB2, a public hearing on Feb. 25 featured much discussion among the board members and Auburn residents on whether voting by official ballot was a good idea for the town.

According to 2006 population figures, Auburn has more than 5,160 residents. Currently, the town has about 3,500 registered voters on the checklist.

Several town and school officials have argued that the town is still small enough to maintain the Town Meeting practice, which typically draws a few hundred people in Auburn.

Some are worried the switch to official ballot for all town and school issues would permit many residents to skip the meeting altogether and could possibly bring uninformed voters out to the polls.

Candia, sitting next to Auburn with a population about 1,000 residents fewer than Auburn’s, adopted the official ballot law in recent years and saw the voter participation at the town and school district deliberative sessions plummet by the hundreds from the number which attended the traditional Town and School District Meetings.

While it may be easier under SB2 for more voters to make it to the polls than can attend a lengthy meeting to vote, they may not have as good a handle on the issues, some officials say.

In another upset, long-time Selectman Harland Eaton was supplanted by Paul Raiche in the town’s only contested race for a single open seat on the Board of Selectmen.

The only other ballot issue was to extend the town clerk term from one year to three years, which passed 624-230.

Auburn considers switch to SB2

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:36:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Auburn’s Board of Selectmen and School Board are holding public hearings for two citizens’ petitioned warrant articles asking whether the town’s voters would embrace converting to the official ballot law form of town and school elections, often called SB2.

In such towns, voters can only amend warrant articles at the town and school district deliberative sessions; they don’t actually vote on the articles. The vote comes through the ballot boxes on a separate date.

The School Board’s public hearing on the warrant article will take place Thursday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m., in the Auburn Village School cafeteria.

The public hearing for the town will take place Monday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m., during the regular selectmen’s meeting at Auburn Town Hall.

School Board Chairman Elaine Hobbs said the school board voted unanimously not to recommend because the traditional School District Meeting and Town Meeting format has worked well for Auburn in the past.

“We are afraid that, with SB2, voters will make uninformed decisions,” said Hobbs, adding that many more Auburn residents will likely show up to the polls than will attend the deliberative sessions to modify school and town warrant articles and budgets.

Selectmen Chairman Harland Eaton said the board has not yet taken a formal stance on the question of SB2, but will do so in the near future.

While he would not comment on whether he favors going to SB2, he noted pros and cons of a growing town like Auburn making the change, such as more people showing up in voting lines rather than getting acquainted with the issues at Town Meeting.

“I guess what I see here is a change in the era,” he said, noting the more passionate arguments for or against warrants that often come out at Town Meetings.

The latest population study for Auburn shows the town’s 2006 population to be just over 5,000.

Auburn’s neighbor, Candia, has a smaller population of about 4,000 and switched to the SB2 form of voting for the town two years ago. This year is Candia’s first year voting on school articles as an SB2 town.

Auburn may double parks and rec budget

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 22:12:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

The Auburn Parks and Recreation Department is looking for a budget of $99,302 for the year to make improvements to facilities and recreation areas around town, pay salaries for part-time employees, and fund family and senior events.

Last year, voters approved a little more than $40,000 for the department after resident Norm Bouley said he asked for about $200,000 in his original proposed budget to begin making some of the repairs and improvements that he contends are vital to the safety and enjoyment of the town’s parks and facilities.

Selectmen approved the 2008 budget amount at a meeting on Nov. 19, down $13,000 from what Bouley proposed to the board.

Bouley told selectmen the department is playing catch-up now with projects that are long overdue.

The department asked for $35,000 in improvements and maintenance costs for playgrounds and parks, which includes $14,000 to make Wayne Eddows field ADA-compliant and $2,300 for the Bicentennial stone project.

Bouley said many of the facilities and fields need new equipment, and potholes plague the soccer fields, all of which constitute safety hazards.

Selectman James Head acknowledged there were safety issues with the fields. The board asked Bouley to cut $10,000 out of that amount before it goes to the Budget Committee. Other points of contention over the budget came from the proposed salaries for the Parks and Recreation secretary, Tracy Noonan, and a general maintenance position.

Selectman Harland Eaton pointed out that they have to be able to justify the salaries to voters, and asked if Noonan’s added duties in the past couple of years constituted a redefinition of her role.

“That’s the decision the selectmen are faced with,” Noonan said. Her proposed salary, $10,000 for the year, remained untouched.

A $12,000 line for the maintenance salary was cut to $9,000, which the selectmen and Bouley agreed upon. Last year, only $1,500 went to that position. Eaton agreed that all of the repairs and improvements in the budget were needed, but that cuts were made in the interest of getting the budget passed. He suggested that some items be put off until the next budget year.