Mayor Guinta decries yet another effort by Aldermen to subvert the will of the people
July 8, 2009Mayor Frank Guinta blasted members of the Board of Aldermen for “yet another effort to subvert the will of the people” with their vote to send the spending cap referendum to court. Despite the legal efforts of petitioners last year and the ruling of three state agencies (Attorney General’s Office, Secretary of State; and Department of Revenue Administration) attesting to the legality of the referendum’s language, seven aldermen are continuing their efforts to deny the people of Manchester a vote.
“It is unbelievably disappointing that aldermen continue to subvert the will of the people,” Guinta said. “Last year, they did everything in their power to get this pushed from the 2008 to the 2009 ballot. Now, they are pulling out all the stops to get the courts to do their dirty work and throw the referendum off the ballot all together. So far, seven aldermen are winning; the people of Manchester are losing.”
On July 7, the aldermen voted, 7-5, to reject a request to withdraw a court case that could potentially throw the spending cap off the 2009 municipal ballot. On Sept. 5, 2008, eight aldermen blocked efforts to have the spending cap initiative on the 2008 ballot, despite an eight-hour marathon session in which Mayor Guinta tried to get the initiative placed on the ballot.
“The argument the eight aldermen made was that the people needed more time to learn the pros and cons about the referendum. At that time, they promised public hearings and information sessions. Instead, in the last 10 months, these aldermen have worked with special interests to get this thrown off the ballot,” Guinta said. “Even today, we’ve read about how the spending cap works in Franklin and, in an emergency, can be overridden. This process gives power to the people; policymakers retain their ways and means authority. The process works.”
Guinta states that he respects those that oppose the spending cap and looks forward to having a vigorous and informative debate on the issue. “However, I am staunchly opposed to the actions of a small group of lawmakers disenfranchising the voters of Manchester.”
OleCurmudgeon
Jul 8, 2009
Waaaaah, and get a shot and a beer at a sleezy club that’s all he can do while the rest of us have to lock our doors against a violent crime committed at least once a day, Guinta as a mayor is a collosal failure so he is no better than the idiot aldermen wasting city money in useless court challenges and hopefully he will fail in his effort to mis-represent us in Congress.
Richard L. Fortin, Manchester
steve vaillancourt
Jul 8, 2009
Sorry Ole One, I’m usually with you, but I’m with Guinta on this issue. Manchester Aldermen have done nothing except subvert the will of the people since this spending cap grass roots effort began. They are disgraceful and while I agree, Guinta should have cut more spending (I just paid my ever increasing tax bill yesterday), he’s far better than the Gang of 14 who claim to represent the will of the people. We need new blood on the Aldermanic Board.
And that does not include me. While shopping at Building 19 recently (great book bargains there), someone came up to me and said the word on the street was that I’m running for Ward 8 Alderman. The street is wrong, I told him. I have no desire in being Ward 8 Alderman again, but I guess we’ll just have to wait until 4:59 two weeks from this Friday to learn who will run. To all those who ask me to run, I say only that life is too short to deal with the likes of Ms Malarkey from Goffstown or 14 malservants from Manchester. Certainly a good fiscally responsible person from Ward 8 will step forward.
Steve V (one but not future Alderman)