As both a resident of Derry and an alternate member of the Conservation Commission, I am truly appalled by Town Councilor Janet Fairbanks' accusations made regarding the Conservation Commission’s acquisition of conservation lands during the July 10 council meeting.
I hope concerned members of the public will tune in to the reruns of this meeting to witness this pathetic display of purely personal and petty politics. Watch for it at the very end of the meeting, folks.
Ms. Fairbanks clearly has a personal and/or political ax to grind with Commission Chairman Paul Dionne. However, the implication that he or any one person has absolute decision-making power on a seven-member board is an insult, not only to the members of this board who volunteer considerable time and effort for the betterment of our town, but also to the citizens of Derry, who have had quite enough of this silly political infighting.
For Councilor Fairbanks' benefit, as well as anyone else who may be unaware, as our town government currently stands, there is no separate municipality of East Derry. Nor is there a North, South or West Derry. We are all one Derry, and it’s time our elected officials as well as the public came to that realization.
It’s a relatively small town. You can drive from one end to the other in 10 to 15 minutes. Why must we continually refer to people “from the other side of town,” as if they’re from a different planet? Why can’t we all just try to get along?
There are 12 very specific criteria that are applied to any and all potential conservation properties considered by the commission that have been carefully thought out and are in line with modern conservation practices, as well as the practices of many other conservation commissions and groups.
And while the councilor has implied that these criteria are somehow slanted, I would publicly ask her which of the 12 should be changed, and why? I don’t recall seeing her at any of our public meetings to offer her input on this previously.
Though I am a relative newcomer to the commission and only serve as an alternate, I am deeply offended by these accusations. I volunteer my time and effort to try to and make a better Derry not only for myself and my family, but for our entire community.
There are many on the Conservation Commission who have done far more than I will ever do and given more time than I’ll ever have to give. Some would be considered pillars of our community. Ms. Fairbanks' comments question the integrity of not only these folks, but the entire commission.
Kudos to Council Chairman Craig Bulkley for calling Ms. Fairbanks' comments what they were: inappropriate. I would hope that Councilor Carney, who serves as council liaison to the Conservation Commission and is present at all public and nonpublic meetings, might offer a similar opinion. As an impartial representative on the commission, he might help remove whatever cloud Ms. Fairbanks hopes to cast on the commission.
Neil Wetherbee
Conservation Commission alternate
Derry
Why I support Mitt Romney
To the editor:
Between the two major parties, there are nearly 20 candidates running for president, and Americans are frankly wondering who would be the best person to lead our country during these uncertain times. Today, we face a global fight against radical Jihadists, lurking questions about our nation’s economy, and a growing effort to undermine our core family values.
While many of the Republican candidates possess admirable qualities, only Mitt Romney has the proven track record, leadership experience, strength of character and personal conviction to guide our nation into the next decade.
Mitt Romney is not a career politician. He is not a Washington insider, and he has an impressive record of accomplishment in both the public and private sectors.
Throughout his career, he has been a problem solver and turnaround specialist. He’s taken on tough challenges, such as helping major retailers like Staples get off the ground. He saved the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City which was marred with corruption and scandal. And he turned around the financial balance sheet of Massachusetts, transforming a nearly $3 billion deficit into a $1 billion surplus in just one term, while holding the line against raising taxes and using his veto pen against unnecessary spending.
As citizens, our government needs to be accountable to us. We’re tired of the partisan bickering that emanates from the nation’s capital. Wasteful spending and inefficiency in Washington have cost us billions of dollars every year, and we’re not getting the leadership we deserve. It’s time for a change.
With Mitt Romney, we would have a president with the business experience to reduce costs by eliminating duplicative work and to make the difficult decisions to limit spending. We know that Mitt Romney has a proven record and the ability to get work done in tough situations. As governor of a largely Democratic state, he worked with members of both parties to reduce government waste, balance the budget and protect conservative family values.
In addition, Mitt Romney recognizes the importance of strong families. He and his wife Ann have been married for 38 years, raised five sons and now have five daughters-in-law and 10 grandchildren. Governor Romney shares our deep and abiding values. He knows that we can keep America strong by recognizing that during difficult times you don’t build up the size of the nation’s government, but you build on the strength of the nation’s people.
And most importantly, Mitt Romney has a strong moral fiber, coupled with a demonstrated humility. Personally, I'm proud that the governor was able to see his way on an important issue | the sanctity of life. And it is this character of conscience that we need in our nation’s leaders. Our next president will be tested with great challenges and will need to make tough decisions | not for political expediency, but for what is best for our country.
This primary season, we all have many choices for president, and we may get even more before it’s over. But Mitt Romney, by running a traditional New Hampshire campaign and standing before us and answering our questions, has proven to me that he is the only one | running or not | who will strengthen our military, our economy, our families and our nation’s future.
Mitt Romney has earned my vote, and I hope you’ll give him a listen too.
Sen. Bob Letourneau
Derry
Taxpayers hold annual meeting
To the editor:
The Coalition of New Hampshire Taxpayers, New Hampshire's largest and most successful grass-roots taxpayer advocacy group, held its ninth annual Taxpayer Reunion Picnic at the Hopkinton State Fairgrounds on Saturday, July 7.
Among the almost 30 local organizations present were the New Hampshire Carbon Coalition, Second Amendment Sisters, Fix Our Flag, New Hampshire Parents for Educational Freedom and many presidential campaigns. All campaigns, both Democrat and Republican, were invited.
Candidates present who spoke to the crowd were John Cox, Mike Huckabee, Daniel Gilbert and Robert Haines. Duncan Hunter spoke to the crowd by phone, and the Sam Brownback, Rudy Giuliani, Tommy Thompson and Mitt Romney campaigns were represented. James Gilmore had planned to attend but was recuperating from emergency eye surgery.
Dr. Rand Paul, ophthalmologist and son of candidate U.S. Congressman Dr. Ron Paul, made an appearance in his father's place.
A straw poll was taken. The day belonged to Ron Paul, who garnered 65 percent of the vote.
Thanks to all who made this very important event a success.
Jane Aitken
The Coalition of NH Taxpayers
Concord
Shea-Porter off-base on the war
To the editor:
On Jan. 29, I e-mailed Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter to ask a straightforward, simple question | "Do you want us to win in Iraq?" Several weeks later, I received a phone call from one of her staff members, who informed me that Ms. Porter was backlogged with work and would contact me in the very near future with a response.
A week ago, at the annual state convention for the New Hampshire VFW and Ladies Auxiliary VFW, I ran into Carol Shea-Porter -- an interesting way to conclude my fourth term as the state legislative chairwoman for the Auxiliary.
I told her that I needed to speak with her. I advised Ms. Porter that I had not received an answer to my question of five months earlier, and told her what the question had been. I asked her, as I had in my e-mail, for a simple yes or no answer with no political doubletalk. I realize that this is a real challenge for any politician.
Ms. Porter began with "Well you need to understand …" I stopped her there and again asked for a simple yes or no. This happened another couple of times before I guess she realized that career military wives do understand, don’t need to be patronized, and that I was not going to listen to a 20-minute dissertation that would still not culminate in a yes or no answer.
She was frustrated by my persistence, and her aide who was with her jumped into the conversation. He asked me rather rudely, "Why are you being so adversarial?" Hmm … I pay this woman’s hefty salary through my tax dollars, want 10 seconds of her time to simply answer yes or no, and all they want to do is waste my time.
Concluding about 20 minutes of verbal wrangling, she finally gave me an answer which was, "It’s impossible to win in Iraq." Wow. Talk about emboldening our enemies and at the same time insulting our troops. She should get paid double for being able to do two things at once.
I can’t imagine why I sounded adversarial, with three sons who have worn the uniform of this country and a husband who spent over 30 years on active duty in the Marine Corps, including three volunteer tours in Vietnam.
Carol informed me that all of the military generals say that the war is impossible to win. She handed me a newspaper clipping as back-up for her conclusion. I read the article five times searching for that phrase. Nowhere in that article are the words "impossible to win." It did, however, say that the report that they were referring to in this June 2007 article was released "… in January, before Bush announced his decision to send nearly 30,000 more troops to Iraq."
She further advised me that she had polled New Hampshire troops when in Iraq and was informed by every one of them that they would "rather be home than in Iraq." Well, duh ... I'd rather be in Hawaii than in New Hampshire in the winter.
Her aide then informed me that the Zogby poll shows that 72 percent of our troops say we should not be in Iraq. I researched this one. This poll that he referred to was performed in February 2006, with 944 military personnel. Her aide forgot to mention that this poll asked the troops why they think some Americans favor rapid U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq.
The majority of those polled responded that "those people are unpatriotic," and that they "…do not believe that those Americans understand the need for the U.S. troops in Iraq." People such as Carol Shea-Porter? The poll also showed that a majority of the troops surveyed said that the United S. should "double both the number of troops and bombing missions in order to control the insurgency."
I believe that New Hampshire veterans and their families should demand this woman be removed from the Armed Services Committee. She displays no faith in our troops, which is detrimental to those serving as well as to those amazing family members who wait for them.
One other point | I asked Ms. Porter when she was going to meet with the military mothers, blue and gold star. The meeting that had been scheduled originally with them was canceled due to her scheduling difficulties. She told me she had extended an invitation to them, but had not heard anything back.
Yesterday, I attended the OAR rally in support of our troops (which Shea-Porter did not). The Gold Star Mothers and Blue Star Mothers organizations were represented there, and I discussed with them what Porter had told me. They said they have received no such invitation.
