Bow News : elections

Bow woman celebrates vice presidential pick at convention

Bow Editor — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:08:00 GMT

Jayne Millerick wasn’t at Fenway Park, but with the electric atmosphere surrounding her, the Bow resident said she felt the excitement of a big game.

For both candidates remaining in the presidential race, the next two months are certainly a run for a championship, and Millerick said that was the feeling she got during her week in Minnesota at the Republican National Convention.

“I would say the atmosphere on the floor was like a World Series Red Sox game,” she said. “Everyone is so excited and was there for the same purpose – to celebrate. It was highly energetic and amazing to be a part of.”

Millerick was chosen to be among the New Hampshire delegates attending the convention and traveled to St. Paul to take part in the festivities, which wrapped up Thursday, Sept. 4.

This was Millerick’s third convention, as she had been to two previous ones, thanks to her involvement with the Republican Party. This year’s celebration was different than Millerick’s prior experiences, however, because of hurricane Gustav.

“We got there over the weekend thinking we’d start right off, and, of course, when we learned there were many Americans being affected we did things to support folks that needed help, like making care packages to send out,” said Millerick.

Once the convention got into full swing, Millerick and the other delegates would arrive at the Xcel Energy Center floor and listen to various speakers, with presidential hopeful John McCain’s speech serving as a culmination of the event.

“It was amazing,” Millerick said. “It was my third convention and just being there and being a part of history and listening to the message of reform that each speaker had was energizing and incredible to be a part of.”

One of the most memorable parts of the week for Millerick came on Wednesday, Sept. 3, when vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin gave her speech at the convention.

As Millerick and the other New Hampshire delegates were enjoying dinner following Palin’s speech, they were greeted by a surprise guest.

“As we were eating, Sarah Palin came down to meet people in the restaurant,” said Millerick. “Getting a chance to meet her in person after she gave such a wonderful performance is something I’ll never forget.”

Millerick got the chance to be photographed with Palin and also got an autograph on her convention credentials.

Although Millerick has been campaigning for McCain for two years, she said the convention helped her learn even more about the potential future president.

“It’s getting to know these people more, and also working together with the other delegates to strategize and put that extra effort in to get John McCain and Sarah Palin elected into the White House,” said Millerick.

Too late for SB2 in Bow

Bow Editor — Wed, 14 May 2008 21:33:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

A petition by a group of Bow residents to move to the official ballot law, often called SB2, on the ballot for Election Day was submitted too late, leaving the issue on hold for another year.

The group submitted the petition April 4, believing it was in on time to make it onto the ballot. However, since it missed the notice deadline to be posted for the School District Meeting, it was rejected by the School Board.

Looking for a second opinion, the group took the matter to Merrimack County Superior Court, which supported the School Board’s decision.

“We researched the state laws and the state laws are not very specific, at best they’re very vague,” said Rick Hiland, one of the organizers of the petition that, if approved, would change Bow’s voting process to official ballot law, where voting on all articles takes place on election day, not at Town Meeting. “The judge said we had a good reason to be there, because it’s not clear. But he was not in the position to legislate.”

School Board Chairman Pansy Bloomfield said the Superior Court decision was the correct one.

“The petition was not in time,” she said. “The judge stressed that it wasn’t just the issue of the timing, but that it couldn’t be posted to warn voters of the issue.”

Hiland, who was one of 37 signatures on the petition, said he supports SB2 because it is in the best financial interest of the town.

“We’ve always felt our school district financially has been out of control,” he said. “We figured that more people able to vote on the budget each year would be better to the community.”

Hiland said he already has 100 signatures on his petition for next year’s ballot, and also said it will be filed by the correct date next time.

Bloomfield said she does not believe the support for SB2 is any higher than previous years. She said it has been on the ballot and failed several other years.

“I don’t know that support is growing. Every few years there is a group that becomes more vocal about it,” said Bloomfield. “When times are tough, it resurges. It’s something people are interested in when they are feeling the pressure of taxes going up.”

In addition, Bloomfield said the School Board also considered placing the issue on the ballot, “as a move of goodwill.”

Although the Superior Court and School Board rulings did not go the way Hiland had hoped, he still believes he and other SB2 supporters were successful.

“If the economy keeps tumbling and the School Board keeps doing what they’re doing, it’ll make for an easy decision, in my opinion,” said Hiland. “I think we sent a message to the School Board, and I think that’s the idea.”

Bow incumbents retain town, school seats

Bow Editor — Wed, 14 May 2008 21:26:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

Votes were spread out evenly in the contested races during Bow’s Election Day on the school and town sides, with incumbents winning in nearly every category.

Incumbent Selectman Harry Judd won a tight race over opponent Robert Louf by a 732-679 vote, earning him another term on the board.

“I am gratified by the vote of the town, and I think it is a recognition that the Board of Selectmen is doing a good job,” said Judd. “This was not a referendum on me, but on the board as a whole and the direction we’re taking.”

Judd said the town needs to focus on developing the industrial zone in the Route 3A area in the upcoming years.

“We need to put together a solid plan for water and sewer. If we don’t build it, they won’t come,” said Judd.

The School Board race was also a tight one, as incumbents Anne Baier and Deb McCann retained their seats, earning 658 and 649 votes, respectively.

Van Mosher came close to earning a spot on the board, but fell 37 votes short with 612.

“I am sure that Mr. Mosher was pleasantly surprised with the amount of votes he got. He has his supporters,” said McCann. “We (School Board members) know we have to keep a tight line on the budget. There’s still work to be done. This is a great community and we’ll pull together.”

Though Mosher lost his bid for a seat on the School Board, he earned six write-in votes for the school clerk position – a seat for which no candidates filed.

Baier was happy with her reelection, although surprised by the ballot totals.

“I guess I am surprised it was as close as it was,” she said. “We had a goal-setting session two weeks ago and at the top of the results was communication, and this result tells me that the communication needs to be there.”

The continuity of retaining all five board members is important, Baier said.

“I think that being on the board is excellent experience. People who haven’t been on the board and haven’t attended meetings don’t have any idea of how much is involved,” said Baier. “It’s not a simple situation. It’s a complex process.”

Incumbents Peter Cheney, 608 votes, and George Lagos, 587 votes, were re-elected to their seats on the Budget Committee, with Brad Hutton finishing in third place with 540 votes.

“It isn’t an easy process,” said Lagos. “You have to balance the services required and manage the increase and tax increase, which is seemingly more and more difficult.”

Cheney said the committee has a harder time during trying economic times.

“It is quite difficult. The selectmen and town manager have learned from last year’s experience that they need to tighten things up a little bit,” said Cheney. “I think they got the message after last year’s Town Meeting.”

The only incumbent who was not re-elected was Thomas Ives, who was defeated 605-530 by Lisa Richards in the race for a five-year term as library trustee.

“I bring to the position a new perspective. I am really in shock that I won. I am really looking forward to getting to meet the new library director,” said Richards. “It’ll be really exciting to have a new person and to work with him or her to expand the services in town.”

The final contested race went to incumbent Henry Uchida, who defeated John Caron 580-496 in the vote for trustee of trust funds.

In the uncontested races, Jim Hatem was re-elected school moderator, Sara Swenson was voted supervisor of the checklist for six years, Deborah Demoulpied was voted supervisor of the checklist for four years, and John King was elected library trustee for a four-year term.

No candidates ran for school treasurer, but Mark Lavalle got the nod, as he received nine write-in votes.

Town Clerk Jill Hadaway said she will check with the Secretary of State on whether a write-in nomination requires 10 or more votes to place a person in office.

Of Bow’s 5,851 registered voters, 1,439 voted on Election Day, a 24.5 percent turnout.

Here’s who’s running for election in Bow

Bow Editor — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 01:01:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

Bow residents heading to the polls on Election Day will have five contested races to decide, as candidates recently met the deadline to get their names on the ballot.

For one open seat on the Board of Selectmen, incumbent Harry Judd is running against challenger Robert Louf for the three-year term.

The most contested races are for two seats on both the Budget Committee and School Board. George Lagos, Steven McManis, Peter Cheney and Brad Hutton are vying for two seats on the Budget Committee.

Anne Baier and Deb McCann both filed for re-election to the School Board this year, and are running against Van Mosher, Marc Brunelle and Jack Finan for three-year terms.

Henry Uchida and John Caron are running for a threeyear term as trustee of trust fund, while Lisa Richards and Thomas Ives will face each other for a five-year library trustee seat.

Peter Imse is running unopposed for town moderator, while Jim Hatem will do the same for another three-year term as school moderator.

Also running unopposed is Sara Swenson for six years as supervisor of the checklist, Deborah deMoulpied for the fouryear position as supervisor of the checklist and John King for four years as library trustee.

No residents filed to run for three-year terms as school treasurer and school clerk.

Voting takes place Tuesday, May 13, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Bow Community Center. Town Meeeting is Wednesday, May 14, at 7 p.m., at Bow High School.

Time to file for Bow elections

Bow Editor — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:04:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

With one wave of elections and town meetings concluded around the state, Bow residents will be asked to file for 11 open seats on this year’s ballot in May.

The School Board and Budget Committee will both have two three-year seats to be filled, with candidates vying for one open spot in the other nine races. Budget Committee seats are currently filled by Peter Cheney and George Lagos, and Deb McCann and Anne Baier on the School Board.

Candidates can also apply to fill a three-year seat on the Board of Selectmen, currently held by Harry Judd.

Both the town and school moderator positions are up for election, a two-year term on the town side and a three-year position for the school.

Other open positions include three years as trustee of trust funds, six years as supervisor of checklist, five years as library trustee, four years as library trustee, three years as school treasurer and three years as school clerk.

Residents will have until Friday, April 4, to file for the open positions. Applications are being accepted at the Town Clerk’s office from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Election Day in Bow is Tuesday, May 13, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., at the Community Building.

Town Meeting takes place the Wednesday, May 14, at 7 p.m., at Bow High School.

The Budget Committee will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, April 9, at 7 p.m. in the Bow Memorial School music room.

During last year’s Town Meeting, voters approved a 6.4 percent cut from the proposed budget, which led to cuts in several areas, including shutting off the majority of the streetlights in town.

At the meeting, then newly elected Selectman Tom Keane proposed an amendment to cut the budget from $8.1 million to $7.7 million. The amendment passed 128-60, and several areas in town took hits in order to get the budget to meet Keane’s amended level.

Keane, Kenison win selectman bids

Bow Editor — Wed, 09 May 2007 18:42:00 GMT

BY RYAN O’CONNOR

Voting in Bow was down almost 33 percent from last year, with only 16.5 percent of Bow’s 5,510 registered voters turning out to cast their ballots on Town Election Day, Tuesday, May 8, where there were shakeups in both contested race.

Thomas Keane shook the landscape of the Bow Board of Selectmen, defeating Chairman Thomas Fagan.

“I really enjoyed working with Thomas Fagan. He was an excellent selectman who cared very much for the town of Bow,” said Town Manager James Pitts. “I look forward to working with the newly constituted board, including Thomas Keane.”

“One of the things I want to do and one of the things I’ve promised to do is keep people informed, and I’ll be setting up a Web site and writing editorials in The Bow Times to do that,” said Keane. “I appreciate everyone’s vote. It was an uphill struggle and I want to say that I think Tom Fagan was a great selectman, and I want to thank him for his service to the town and wish him well.”

Keane, 5 08 votes, and incumbent Leon Kenison, 522 votes, narrowly defeated Fagan who accumulated 484 votes.

Likewise, on the budget committee, John Burton III, 285 votes, lost his attempt at re-election, while Rick Hiland, 391 votes, will be rejoining the board after losing the vote last year and taking a year off.

Jacquelyn “Jet” Jennings, 254 votes, also lost her bid for the budget committee, while Kally Abrams won a seat, with 418 votes, after losing a close race in 2006.

“I’m resilient and I’m glad I was elected. Over the next three years, it’s going to be an interesting group of five different people that all bring different things to the table,” said Abrams. “There is definitely going to be work to do to get the town where it needs to be.”

In addition to keeping a close eye on the school system, which her son is currently a part of, and making sure the Public Works Department continued receiving the funding it needs, Abrams said one of her top priorities on the Budget Committee is the new public safety building for the police and fire departments.

“We, as the people who live in the town of Bow, should be embarrassed by (the fire station),” said Abrams.

“Everyone wants to have their own town pride, but having a fire station and community center that’s in nearly disrepair is something we should take very seriously.”

Burton and Jennings may still apply for a one-year appointment on the Budget Committee to fill the void created by the recent death of Robert Graves.

The deadline for applications is 4 p.m. on May 16.

Those winning uncontested races include Henry S. Uchida, 715 votes, who will serve the next three years as trustee of the trust funds, and Regan R. Mack, 690 votes, who will serve a five-year term as library trustee.

To coincide with town elections, the Bow School District moved, for the first time, from March to May, though there were no contested races.

Current school board Chairman Warren Fargo, 610 votes, and board member Pansy Bloomfield, 593 votes, each gained another three-year seat, and Anne Baier, 673 votes, won another term in the board’s one-year seat.

File for Bow elections

Bow Editor — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 19:38:00 GMT

Voters interested in placing their names on the ballot for Bow town and school board seats may file from Wednesday, March 21, to Friday, March 30, at 5 p.m.

Town
• Two selectmen seats for three years.
• One trustee of the trust fund for a three-year term.
• Two budget committee seats for three years.

Open positions to be appointed by selectmen include three heritage commission seats for three years; three conservation commission members for three years; two planning board seats for three years, plus one alternate; and one zoning board of adjustment seat and two alternates for three years.

School
• Three school board seats for three-year terms.
For more information, call the Bow Town clerk at 225-2683 or the school SAU at 224-4728.