BY ROD HANSEN

A petitioned warrant article meant to broaden the public’s knowledge of how their officials vote may carry with it some unintended consequences, one Goffstown selectman said.

Article 27, submitted by petition by resident Guy Caron, requests that “records (including official minutes) of transactions and undertakings of all public bodies of the Town of Goffstown ...  are to include descriptive information reflecting the affirmative or negative vote cast and noted by each individual member of such public body on all matters for which a vote is taken, such that member votes are recorded by name and subject matter of each vote.”

Caron, chairman of the Goffstown Residents Association, submitted that article with 40 signatures following a controversial selectmen’s decision last December in which the board voted 2-3 against having minutes reflect which board members cast negative or abstaining votes on any decision.

Selectman Bruce Hunter later put forth a motion to reconsider that vote. That motion passed unanimously, with an amendment from board Chairman Barbara Griffin requiring all abstaining members to note their reason for refraining from a vote.

Caron submitted his petition on Jan. 5, three days before selectmen took up Hunter’s motion to reconsider.

The petitioned article will remain on the warrant for March 13 voting.

Hunter recently pointed out that the article may have broader implications than Caron had imagined.

Namely, Hunter said the “all public bodies” language in the warrant article would include votes cast at Town Meetings, where attendance sometimes numbers more than a 100.

“If (Caron’s) talking about ‘all public bodies,’ then he’s talking about the deliberative session of Town Meeting and the deliberative session of School District Meeting,” Hunter said.

Caron has since countered that he did not intend his article to cover those meetings, and he doesn’t believe the RSA referenced in the petitioned article covers non-elected bodies such as deliberative session attendees.

“My sole intent in initiating the petition drive was to mandate recording votes by name in meeting and committee minutes when votes are not unanimous, as such information is readily available to anyone in attendance at those meetings.  Simple enough,” Caron said.

Hunter said he is researching the issue with the New Hampshire Attorney General and Secretary of State’s offices, and said the petition cannot be changed after members of the public voted to put it on the warrant at the deliberative session of Town Meeting on Feb. 7.

“The only thing that can be done to change it is a new article next year after it passes this year. And it will pass,” Hunter said, pointing to a members poll on the Goffstown Residents Association Web site that shows the measure passing by a margin of 219-5.

Caron, who had initially requested that selectmen attach names to all negative or abstaining votes, said such a measure would make research more accessible to voters unable to attend meetings.

“I, for one, like to watch Monday Night Football, and so do a lot of other people, so everyone can’t make it to selectmen’s meetings. But people should be able to look at the minutes, go to the vote they’re interested in, and see who voted negative or abstained. Because the minutes also show who was present, so they don’t need to record the ‘yes’ votes,” Caron said.