Category: Conway Daily Sun

Budgets and Stuff…

Ever put together a $33 million budget?

Me neither.

The budget process for towns and schools in New Hampshire is officially broken. Honestly, having come from a city form of government before this, the way they deal with things in towns is crazy.

Here’s the problem: there is a proposed budget, and a default budget. The proposed budget is what the town hopes to pass, and the default budget is a fallback budget, where last year’s budget is only increased by contractually obligated amounts.

Normally the proposed budget is more than the default budget. If voters don’t like it they can reject it. If voters add to the proposed budget that’s fine, because if the body politik as a whole doesn’t approve they can always fall back on the default budget.

These days, however, are not normal. Budgets are being slashed in the midst of one of the worst state and municipal budget crunches in decades. (I listened to a story on NPR about how bad it is just tonight on the ride home.) 60 Minutes had a segment about it a number of months ago. Things really are bad, particularly on the state and local levels, where politicians don’t have a treasury that can print money to fall back on.

So what have local lawmakers done? Slashed budgets. The proposed budgets for both the town of Conway and for SAU 9 were less than last year. Some of that was voluntary, and some of it was by force. Some departments did as they were requested by the boards overseeing the budgets, and some had their budgets cut without their approval. It got ugly at times.

But New Hampshire is about local democracy, so those cuts had to go before the voters. The voters with something to lose came out, and in both cases the cuts were restored. In the case of the town the cuts were restored and then some, but the towns budget is about one-third of the school, so less people got up in arms about it.

But therein lies the problem—remember the fallback budget, the default budget? It’s last year’s budget plus contractually obligated increases, right? So it’s last year’s budget plus a little. No big deal. But then take the proposed budgets, the cut budgets, and then add back the voters requests. Suddenly that proposed budget becomes last year’s budget, maybe plus a little. All the sudden there is no fallback. There is no option for people to turn to should they not approve of the proposed budget. There is one choice for voters, which equal to no choice.

Or there was a choice, but that choice was to show up to the deliberative portion of town meeting to fight for cuts or increases. Now that choice has passed, and there won’t be another shot at it.

But think about it: the newspaper says Budget Committee Cuts, If Passed, Will Eliminate 60 Jobs at the School. Who will come out for that meeting? The person who wants those cuts? No, they think “my elected representatives are doing what I want them to do, no reason to raise concern.”

No, it’s the people who want to fight the cuts that come out. That’s what happened with both the town and the school—people opposed to the cuts came out, and people in support of the cuts stayed home.

I know what you’re thinking, “maybe the town doesn’t really support these cuts.” But last November’s election argues that. Every election in the region went to conservatives. It seems strange all those same people would be looking to raise their taxes. And all the budget committee members and all the selectmen were struggling to be frugal—one would think the elected officials would be representative of the people that put them into office.

But the votes for both the town and the school were overwhelmingly in favor of giving them more money. That seems hard to believe, that a town would so wholeheartedly endorse higher taxes.

And if the voters who showed up at the meetings aren’t representative of the electorate as a whole, it’s too late now. The people will have two choices—vote for a little increase, or vote for a larger one. That, to me, is a broken system.

And it’s funny, I’m not against increased spending personally. But when I go to meetings (and I go to a lot of them) I hear a lot of citizens concerned about spiking property taxes and increases in local spending. I would wager it’s roughly equal to the number of people willing to watch their taxes go up for more services. But that isn’t the impression Conway’s form of government gives. It, unfortunately, has built-in assumptions about perpetually increasing budgets and a legislative format that brings out the special interest groups at the expense of the general public. It gives a disproportionate amount of power to the few, albiet at the fault of the many who don’t show up.

It’s been interesting to watch, but I’m not sure it’s good democracy. And that’s what it’s meant to preserve.

Just in case you missed the link, here’s the 60 Minutes segment about state debts:

Hanging With Mitt

Mitt Romney was in the Mount Washington Valley tonight, criticizing President Barack Obama and laying the groundwork for a 2012 presidential bid. The New York Times, among other media outlets, was there to report. I was bumping into photographers, television reporters and other print journalists who were all there trying to capture the moment.

It’s a bit surreal to watch the horserace begin this early. I have not lived through a New Hampshire primary, so I haven’t seen this before. It won’t be as lively as 2008, when there were two parties nominating candidates, but there will likely be rhetoric to spare.

The more reporting I do the less I understand partisanship. I have political views, but they aren’t convictions. I don’t believe them to be true. I feel one way, but I don’t think it’s the only valid model. I studied political science in college, but as I get into it now I realize reporting on this race or any like it is not the journalism that excites me. It isn’t shining a light into places where no one else is going, and while there is room for insightful reporting I don’t think I’m the one to do it. It’s certainly interesting to be in a room with a past and future presidential candidate, a U.S. House representative and a U.S. senator, but that isn’t the coverage for me. I don’t like races, particularly ones that go on for years. I guess that’s good to figure out now.

What’s In a Committee?

It’s town meeting time, and with tight budgets around Conway that has meant fights all over the place. The budget committee has had several heated meetings, and the selectmen have gone the same way. The school board is struggling to keep their budget numbers up while people on all sides are looking for cuts, and the police are asking for more money to fund more officers at a time when other departments are cutting.

We were talking today about the role of the budget committee, which recommends final figures that then go to the voters and (if not revised) onto the ballot. The budget committee is supposed to be elected, but of the 11 person board (don’t quote me on that number, I’m just spouting here) only one was voted in. The rest were appointed, some by the budget committee itself.

Which raises an interesting question: what role does a self-appointed committee have in a democracy? It’s only self-appointed because there isn’t the interest among residents to fill the seats through elections, true, but the committee makes serious recommendations for the rest of the town and they are not appointed by the people.

Like with the school. The budget committee cut 11 percent from the school’s $33 million operating budget. The voters have the option to add back most but not all of that. $700,000 they just can’t get back. That means an 11 member board decided to cut the school budget, and even if the entire town showed up to protest the closest they could get is $700,000 less. Direct democracy could be restrained by a self-appointed group.

And who would people have to blame? Themselves. Anyone who wants to run can, but in the past they haven’t. This year, however, there is a lot of interest in civic duty. Maybe it comes with challenging times. It certainly has been interesting to report on, and it is only going to get more exciting.

Muckraking

Every once in a while you get to do a story you’re really proud of. It isn’t about the quality of the photos, or the interesting video you captured, or the interesting audio you put together. In those stories, it’s the reporting that matters.

This is one of those stories.

I dug around a little and found out the Conway Police Department had been spending their surplus money on equipment. They had blown their $4,000 equipment budget by more than 500 percent one year, and by more than 200 percent another, spending money that otherwise would have gone back to the town to offset taxes.

The moment I looked at the budget breakdowns I realized I had something. It was like seeing an old friend—I smiled so hard I almost laughed. It isn’t that I think they police were wasting taxpayer money—they didn’t buy anything not intended for police business—but I knew in this economic climate it wasn’t going to go over well that they were spending $20,000 or more in the last few days of the year.

Digging is something you do in your spare time at a paper the size of the Sun. There are too few people and too much going on to really be dedicated to it. But there are more staff at the Sun than there were at the Reporter, and more people look to this paper to address their concerns since it’s the only one in town.

I’ve received several calls from readers thanking me for reporting on this. People wonder where I got the information and who the insiders was. One of the police commissioners wanted to know the same thing. But the entire story was built from the town finance records and the police commission meeting minutes. It isn’t a big conspiracy, it’s just putting the puzzle pieces together.

But what’s next is even better. This is phase one, but since I’ve been looking around I found phase two. There is more in store for the next installment, just wait.

Digging

I stumbled on a great story today. It was the kind of thing where as I was pouring over budget line items and meeting minutes it became clear: something isn’t right here. Too much money is going out the door in far too short a time, and I’ve got the information in my hands to prove it.

I’ve got a couple more things to dig up before I go around asking questions, but it’s a great feeling to stumble onto a clear case of waste and abuse. That’s what I got into this for—to make sure people aren’t being taken advantage of. And today I got to do just that.

Or I got well on my way to doing it. There’s still more work to do.

I was thinking about that tonight—there are two versions of what I do that I love: recognizing people who are deserving of it and haven’t been, and pointing out examples of people power poorly applied. “Waste and abuse” a member of the budget committee said the other day, although he was referring to another organization completely.

It’s funny, the politics around Conway have been heated now that it’s budget season, and that heat has done more damage than good. I’ve watched as selectmen and committee members yell at each other and residents. I watched it in Berlin as well, but there it was with frustration, not vitriol. I’ve got to wonder how “town government” works when the town is too big to make decisions as a group and too fractured to come together as a community.

But even worse, amid all the fighting and name calling no one notices actual waste and abuse. It falls through the cracks, when there are multiple boards that are supposed to be looking. That’s no recipe for town government, even if it uses local control.

I’m glad, however, to have my part in it. I’m happy to point out when someone is doing well, and I’m happy to point out when someone isn’t doing what they’re supposed to. I’m looking forward to when the paper comes out that lets people know about it, and with town meeting they can make their own decisions about it. The harsh side of local control…

And the Next One…

I’ve been home for, um, a week and a half, and tonight I’m supposed to have a conversation with someone about my next international reporting trip.

This one is still a ways out, and the details are fuzzy, but it’s there. It has been great to get home, catch back up with friends and family, and to get into the routine of reporting on the local. Things have been crazy, exciting and busy even here, in the Conway area, with budget season and such.

The rest of the time I’m still hustling. I just had a piece in the Union Leader, and I’ve been trying to do a piece on Egypt but my timing was off. I’ve got a couple NHPR stories up my sleeve, but I don’t have the time to get them out right now.

It’s been jarring to get back here after the trip, but it’s exciting to have so much going on. I’ve been running in and out of the Sun office every day this week, with meetings, arraignments and events to cover. Let’s see how much longer it lasts before there’s another plane ticket on the horizon…

Almost Back

I’ve been home for nearly a week, and it still doesn’t feel like I’m back. Things have been so busy, with catching back up at the Conway Daily Sun to side projects to stepping back into life it’s been hard to catch my breath. But I’ve got a lot of great things going on.

Already I’ve been looking at another international story: Egypt. A friend put me in touch with an American woman who stayed behind, so I’m talking to her today to see if I can get her on the radio. That story has been exploding over the past two weeks and is only now settling down, but it still has serious implications. I’m interested to hear the American perspective.

Then, of couse, there are the local politics playing out in the Conway area. It’s interesting to shift from international reporting to talking about who is supposed to clear the sidewalks. My mind hasn’t quite done it, but I’m getting there.

And I’m definitely looking for my next big project. I’m not sure what or where, but I do know that covering something in the manner I did this story is incredibly rewarding. I will keep doing it, I just need to figure out how.

Three Days…

I have my bulletproof vest and helmet, my ballistic goggles and my sleeping bag. I’m still waiting on a new microphone for the road, but I’m pretty much set to go.

So here’s the plan — I’ve been talking to NHPR about what we’re going to do, and they’ll be linking here to LPJ. I’m sending them a number of regular length feature stories, on topics from what the day to day is like to how soldiers relax in their time off. I’m also going to sit down for four one on one interviews with soldiers. Those will get sent back and posted to NHPR’s website. And I’ll send back a couple batches of photos. They’re going to put a place on their website for people to ask questions if they want to, in order to make it interactive.

I’m hoping to create an audio slideshow or two by combining the photos with the soldier interviews. We’ll see how that goes.

I’ve also got the Sun. I’m hoping I can make connections with Mount Washington Valley soldiers or North Country soldiers, to run in the Conway or Berlin Daily Sun. I may also send back dispatches, but the specifics of that have not been discussed.

And I’ll be doing some other statewide stuff for the Union Leader. I haven’t hashed out the details with them yet, but I’ll be looking for stories that don’t fit into the Sun’s purview for that.

Granted, with the vest rental, airplane ticket and equipment I’ve bought I don’t see this being a money-maker, but the business of journalism seldom is these days. I’m going to be telling a story people haven’t heard lately. That’s the value in the trip.

I’ve still got one more package to get, and then I’m good to go. I also cleared up the last questions about a visa, so I should be good there as well. And I might get to meet up with a friend in Kuwait before I fly into Baghdad, so that’s even more good news.

I’ve got two weeks to tell a story that’s been almost eight years in the making — I don’t see that happening to it’s full potential. But it’ll be a start, and if I like it it’ll be one among many. So here’s to Saturday morning flights…

News Spot

Busy day of work today: finish up a story about a change in the law that affects who you can pull a gun on (it goes in effect Saturday), report a story about an “armed” robbery in Ossipee (the note said he had a gun, but no one saw it) and run over to Fryeburg to watch an old dowel mill burn down.

That’s news. I was at the fire alongside three vans from Portland-based television stations. And there weren’t even flames. That’s a long ride for smoke.

I have to admit, I like reporting about legislation and town government more than fires and robberies. The term prurient interests comes to mind. A fire is news, in the most basic sense of the word, but it is less than crucial information for a citizenry hoping to self-govern.

I know that may seem a little over the top, but the forth estate is protected by the U.S. Constitution because information is central to democracy. Factual and relevant information is what the founding fathers hoped would enable people (Ok, in there day it was only landholding Christian white males, but still) to join together to make the best decisions for the plurality. The free press was and is crucial for that.

But it also has a seedier side — one interested in crime, death and destruction. Why does a fatal accident matter? One doesn’t. If there are a string of them, tied to an unsafe vehicular design or a dangerous stretch of road, then maybe it does. A newspaper should point out the latter, I believe, and ignore the former.

But if it does that it’s ignoring news. There is a distinction, between relevant news and sensationalized news, and it can be difficult for a paper to walk. The smoke at today’s fire was clear from Center Conway. People are going to want to know what happened. And this was the third time the same Rite Aid pharmacy has been robbed. That’s a pattern, I would say.

These are important stories, but they aren’t (or shouldn’t be) a paper’s bread and butter. A story about legislation that changes how gun owners can brandish their weapons when threatened — that’s something every citizen should know. Abuse within a residential care facility — that’s worth noting. Legislation that changes taxation and fees for a group of people — that too is worthwhile.

As are the “boring” stories about town hall, city council and school board. At least on the local level, those can’t be undersold. If all politics are local, then all reporting should be too.

Not Fun, But Still a Gift

Some stories aren’t that great to tell, but they are invaluable nonetheless.

My Christmas story this year, which hopefully won’t come out on Christmas, is about a 10 year old special needs child who was physically assaulted in a local residential treatment center. Her mother was going around desperately trying to find someone willing to listen to her story about her daughter, who was put in a choke-hold, pulled out of her chair and dragged down a hallway floor by her arm.

Those aren’t great stories to tell, and they aren’t great stories to tell two days before the holiday weekend. But they are stories that need to be out there. They suck, but they are also the reason I got into this. I will touch up the story tomorrow, and it will likely run next week, but what I did was give this woman a voice. Hopefully no other disabled kids suffer the same fate.

That’s not a bad present, is it?