From superactivist Keith and Stuff at Free State Blogs:
Overall, the Keene general election results were promising. Keene is one of the more statists cities in New Hampshire. Around half of the cities in NH have spending caps. Though, there isn’t even a movement to try to get a spending cap in Keene.
The least bad candidate for mayor won. Kendall Lane, a Republican, promised to cut costs and reform government. He got almost all of the votes. Of course, the Democrats didn’t run anyone against him and I highly doubt he will even try very hard to keep taxes level. Lane said, “We’re looking at doing business a little bit differently than it’s been done in the past.” “We’re looking for more efficient, financially effective ways to do that; to be able to provide city services at a cost the city can afford.”
The 5 better candidates running for city councilor at-larger all lost; however, a couple of them didn’t loss by a larger margin. Joe Bendzinski, with a lot of good help, could have won as he only lost by around 50 votes in a city with around 23,500 people. In fact, Bendzinski didn’t even originally plan on running. He didn’t run in the primary, but there was a Republican write-in campaign to get him on the general election ballot. According to Ian Freeman, Bendzinski is a former city councilor and made a name for himself by voting no on things.
Bob Sutherland, a pro-liberty candidate running for one of the 5 at-large seats, only lost by 76 votes. According to Ian Freedom, Sutherland scored a 90/90 on the World’s Smallest Political Quiz. Sutherland said, “my run for Councilor At-Large position is focused on cutting or avoiding unnecessary spending and regulations.” Sutherland continued, “I seek to help the City set lower spending goals and work to meet those goals.”
In the only contested ward city council race, the candidate known for being mean to people lost. Despite being the daughter of a former mayor, Pamela Slack lost her council seat to a woman that is relatively unknown on the issues outside of her ward. The only reasons that Bettina Chadbourne’s views are known in her ward is because she walked the ward and talked to voters. Chadbourne also stood at the polls most of the day on primary day and general day. Not only did Chadbourne benefit by reaching out and connecting with voters; the entire city of Keene won with her victory as Pamela Slack will not longer be paid by taxpayers to be rude to people at city council meetings.
Out of the 7 ballot questions, voters selected the best answer on 6 of the questions. Question 2 may save the city money. Questions 3 and especially 4 slightly increase the chances of lesser known, less experienced candidates getting elected in future elections.
Compete election results
http://www.ci.keene.nh.us/sites/default/files/2011%20Municipal%20General_0.pdfPartial election results with some quotes
http://sentinelsource.com/news/local/keene-voters-elect-new-mayor-oust-incumbent-councilor/article_0b5a6dcd-de77-5794-94ab-17641467cdd4.htmlCandidate surveys
Ballot questions
http://www.ci.keene.nh.us/sites/default/files/Ward%202%20General%20Ballot_0.pdf130+ Reasons to Move to Keene Video and List
http://freekeene.com/come-to-keene/reasons-to-move-to-keene/
