Tidbits

-- by Ed Naile

Some of the back-room proponents of the Pennichuck Waterworks takeover by the city of Nashua seem to be staring down into their empty tea cups. This power grab at a private municipal water company by local politicos looking for feather beds will soon wind up on the scrap heap. All that is left is the legal bills and some dead, wheel greasing, eminent domain legislation offered by Rep. Scanlon of Bedford..

The movement to take Justice David Souter's mother's place on Cilley Hill Rd in Weare has been delayed for a year by some publicity hound from California. The NH press, in desperately helping Souter keep his abandoned, paint and maintenance starved “homestead” in Weare are using this out-of-state non-entity to divert attention from the fact that a properly worded warrant article presented to Weare voters does have a chance to pass. Just ask all the once again quoted local leaders who are brushing off the possibility. They were all wrong two years ago about dumping the out of control police chief Miles Rigney for an elected chief with a citizens warrant article. Weare voters jumped at the chance. It has worked like a charm. Bye, bye Rigney.

It looks more and more like the DRA and the Board of Tax and Land Appeals are trying to help Avitar, the states largest assessing firm, create a usable Computer Assisted Software System - that works. In town after town Avitar's software has come up short. Short as in unusable for some thing as important as land values in some instances. No matter. The BTLA comes to the rescue with a chance to have another go at it in the years to come. Taxpayers are left holding the bag for the re-assessment costs and bad values used for taxation placed on their homes. The elected officials in most cases are willing victims who would rather accept in most cases an unlawful assessment than admit they were taken.

Jaffery has a hot issue with their town manager. For those who are not aware, town managers are often blessed with a Napoleon complex that would make Bonaparte blush. Its the old “how stupid can people be syndrome” developed by eggheads who run a municipal anything. They are forced to repeat the basics of municipal government day after day to people who could give a rats flatulence as long as they can walk out with some public document they came in for. You see, many people consider going to town hall like another form of shopping - youse ask fo yo stuff and youse gets whats youse wants. Taxpayers are mistaken though. When you are facing the standard town manger you are in the presence of “true leadership” - check their degree - it says so. In any case, the Jaffery Town Manager has ruffled a few feathers. And beaks are being sharpened.

The “Little Governor Who Might” passed up on a no-lose issue last week in his weak SOS speech. When pray tell are we going to take up the no cost, tourist attracting, overdue, tasteful tribute to “The Old Man In The Mountain?” Check our www.cnht.org web site for details on the plan to erect a seventy-foot memorial to our state symbol. What, does the phrase “privately funded” scare Governor Not Benson?