As you might imagine, many people in Keene do not want these parking meters, but they should speak for themselves. The Keene Sentinel recently published a letter from Luann Udell that outlines some great reasons the city council should say no to these awful meters. (Of course, ALL the meters should go, but that’s another issue entirely.) Here’s Luann’s letter:

Parking kiosks are a problem

To whomever makes parking meter purchase decisions:

I am not enjoying the new parking meter system in downtown Keene. And if we can judge by the unusually high number of empty parking spaces in that area lately, I have a lot of company.

I’ve had to wait in line at the kiosks, even when I simply need six minutes to run an errand.

No matter where I park, I have to detour to go to the kiosk. In fact, this system completely eliminates the concept of a “great parking spot.” It’s no longer in front of your destination store, because you still have to go out of your way to get to the kiosk.

When the weather is lovely and my arthritis isn’t acting up, and now that I no longer have small children in tow, a detour to a kiosk is no big deal. But when snowbanks are piled high, when it’s raining or freezing out, when sidewalks are icy, when I’m in a hurry, when I’m carrying a child or two, when I’m recovering from yet another knee surgery, that extra trip is just a pain, literally and figuratively.

The kiosks don’t accept debit cards or credit cards, so we’re still stuck fumbling for change. However, it looks like it will be lucrative for the city, because when the kiosks misfire and refuse to accept change, you have to put a dollar in no matter how little time you need. And when it refuses to make change, well, we lose again.

But who really loses? Downtown merchants.

This morning, I went to Prime Roast for coffee. The row of spaces in front of their store was completely empty, except for one car. I haven’t seen the street that empty, on a weekday morning, in 20 years.

If you make it a hassle for customers to patronize downtown businesses, they will go somewhere else to shop.

I’d rather have the old meters back. Simple and quick. Or better yet, a meter (no kiosk, please, God! ) that accepts change, dollars and debit/credit cards.

Or a parking pass card, like EZ Pass.

Pay a monthly or annual fee, get a car sticker or a swipe card, and never worry again about how many quarters I have.

Please — just make it less annoying to shop downtown, okay?

LUANN UDELL

271 Roxbury St.

Keene

Yesterday while handing out some information at a local high school, the principal mistakenly things that free speech doesn’t apply in public spaces. Despite repeatedly making threats to use force (call the police), a student-council representative tells us he doesn’t appreciate how disrespectful the FreeKeene activists are toward the principal.

Are we forcing anyone to take the information? Will the police use force against us at the whim of a government worker’s say-so? You bet. I won’t speak for others, but I was prepared to be arrested if my only “crime” was handing out literature in a public space. Why? This is why:

Sign the online petition to keep Keene Bearcat-free!

The public will have an opportunity next week to speak about the Keene Police Department’s acquisition of a new grant-funded armored vehicle.

Last month, the Keene City Council approved the acceptance of a $285,933 federal Homeland Security grant to purchase a LENCO BearCat Special Missions Vehicle. But some residents questioned whether such a vehicle is necessary in a community of Keene’s size, and a petition signed by more than 100 residents asked the council to reconsider accepting the grant.

Councilor Terry M. Clark submitted a letter to the council requesting the issue be sent back to the council’s finance committee to allow the public to speak on it, and the full council approved the request, supported by the committee’s chairman, Mitchell H. Greenwald, Thursday night.

“I think it’s good they decided to do that (open the topic for public discussion), but it’s unfortunate that it took Terry Clark to do that when we had a petition with over 140 signatures,” said Ian Bernard, a member of the Free Keene group who signed the petition and goes by the name Ian Freeman. He and other members of Free Keene attended Thursday’s council meeting, some holding signs that read “No Bearcat,” and “Thanks, But No Tanks.”

The vehicle comes with thermal imaging and off-road capabilities, as well as hazardous gas detection equipment, and police said the vehicle would be valuable when responding to extreme weather events, suspects with weapons and suspicious packages, among other situations.

u The finance, organization and personnel committee meets Thursday, Feb. 9, at 5:30 p.m. in City Hall.

Here’s a facebook event for the upcoming meeting.

 Previous podcasts can be found at
http://LadiesInKeene.Com/LIK-Podcast.

Cameraman Jason Rapsher is working on cutting up the full version, but here’s a taste of what to expect:

For a full-screen slideshow of the event, CLICK HERE.

If you enjoy this type of activism, help us keep it going by sponsoring these projects at FR33Agents.com!

Click the pic to the right for a full-size version.

UPDATE: A full photo album is here on Kelly’s website.

- Motion to dismiss PDF
- Notification of criminal defense PDF
- Motion to refrain from authorizing physical force to demand respect PDF

Wes’ recent letter from jail (hopefully we’ll get a blog post from him soon), where he is sitting for six months for the dastardly “crime” of missing a court date (“contempt”) is as follows: (You can write to him at Mail-to-Jail!)

Please relay these messages to the appropriate people. None of what I’m writing to anybody is private, so you can publish this entire letter on Facebook if you want. The reason I’m sending this all in one letter is because purchasing stamped envelopes is relatively expensive and I must keep room for other hygiene and food items.

Cassidy: I greatly appreciate your letters and look forward to any visits you may make. Knowing that people on the outside are thinking about you is the only way to not sink into depression in here. Cool pictures, too. Thank you. Nothing but love.

Garret: The reason your letter was intercepted was because you used marker. Markers are against the rules, lol! Thanks for always being conscious of me when I’m incarcerated. BTW, you are a great journalist. Been reading some of your work from Free Keene (Ian sent me) and the stuff is very professional.

Robin: I am not sure if you can order me items or not. My CCN # is 49493. That should be all you need to know in order to put $ on my account. As far as books go, I’d really like a copy of the Principia Discordia. If you can’t find that, any funny fiction will do. I know $ can be put on my canteen through an ATM at the jail. There are also other ways to put $ on my canteen but you’d have to ask the jail how as I am unaware. Thanks for the Eyedea lyric. I’ve got Rhymesayers lines popping in-and-out of my head all day in here. Thank you much!

Whoever sent The Machinery of Freedom: Thank you very much! This book is a bible of raw logic and nit-picking at the specifics of voluntaryist thought. I hope it wasn’t as expensive as it says on the book. If it was, thank you again! I’ve derived ideas from it that I’ll be using for a couple of articles that I hope can be published to Free Manch once I’m done with them.

Anybody: My CCN # is 49493. This is the # you need in order to make a contribution to my canteen. There is an ATM-like machine at Valley St where you can add $. As far as books go: The Principia Discordia or any funny fiction. My address is “Wesley Gilreath, CCN #49493, 445 Willow Street, Manchester, NH 03103″ or you can use the interface at Mail-to-Jail.com.

I’d like to be kept up to date on Ademo’s felony wiretapping charges. Also, any landline phone #s would be useful (along with days and times that I can call) as I ran out of time with all my other phone #s. If anybody wants to visit me (the highlight of my life right now), you must bring legal identification and be here 30 mins early. My visiting hours are 7pm (6:30pm) on Wednesdays and 9am (8:30am) on Saturdays. Thank you, Chuck, Carla, Joan, and Emily for letting me use your info. If they call please tell them what they want to hear. I’d highly suggest my fellow activists steer clear of disobedience as a tactic in Manchester. Manch PD and Valley St are not fun to deal with and the Rule of Law is made real by people believing in it. More thoughts on this to come.

Gratitude,
Wes

The public will likely get a second chance to weigh in on a new armored vehicle for the Keene Police Department.

Last month, the City Council approved a $285,933 federal Homeland Security grant to buy a LENCO BearCat Special Missions Public Safety Vehicle. But some voiced concerns about whether such a vehicle was necessary for a small community, and a 144-signature petition was brought before councilors asking for an additional public hearing.

Mayor Kendall W. Lane accepted the petition as informational — meaning the council didn’t take action on the request — because “it didn’t ask the council to do anything.

“It asked for a public hearing before the full council, but that’s not an appropriate subject for the council to hold a hearing on,” he said.

Now, two councilors say they plan to ask for a hearing, this time at the committee level, which Lane says is an appropriate request that he plans to grant.

The vehicle would be the first of its kind in this part of the state; the closest such vehicle is at least an hour away, Keene police said.

They said the vehicle, which comes equipped with thermal imaging, hazardous gas detection and off-road capabilities, would help the department in numerous situations, such as extreme weather events, inspecting suspicious packages, and incidents involving suspects with weapons, police said.

At Thursday night’s meeting of the City Council’s finance committee, a handful of members of the group Free Keene attended, one holding a sign reading “NO BEARCAT.”

During a break in the action, finance committee Chairman Mitchell H. Greenwald informed the Free Keene members that Councilor Terry M. Clark, who cast the only vote in opposition to accepting the grant in December, had requested a public hearing on the matter before the committee and Greenwald said he would support that request.

Clark, who was unsure of how many residents supported his opposition to the vehicle, said he received more than a hundred phone calls and emails from people sharing his opinion after his initial opposition.

“We really should have a hearing because people genuinely feel they were left out of the process,” Clark said Friday.

Greenwald, who still supports purchasing the vehicle, said it’s important the public has a chance to be heard.

“I didn’t think this would be so controversial,” he said. “But if the public wants to be heard, let’s do it.”

Lane isn’t sure there’s a need for a public hearing, but doesn’t mind deferring to the committee on the matter.

“I don’t think it warrants it (a public hearing), but everyone can form their own opinion,” Lane said. “There’s nothing special about this particular vehicle; it’s an ordinary pickup truck with oversized tires and armor.”

Clark said he was surprised when Lane accepted the petition as informational, and by the time he had wrapped his head around it, the item had passed for discussion.

“It started to really bother me that I didn’t speak up,” he said, explaining what led to his written request for a hearing.

u The finance, organization and personnel committee will meet Thursday, Feb. 9, at 5:30 p.m. in City Hall.

Kyle Jarvis can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1433, or kjarvis@keenesentinel.com.