Free Keene’s blogger Nick Ryder is running “at-large” for Keene city council and the Keene Sentinel recently asked him to respond to several questions. Here are the questions and his responses:
Nicholas J. Ryder
Age: 22.
Address: 29 North Lincoln St.
Family: Single.
Education: High school graduate; some Keene State College.
Occupation: Print and tech specialist at a local printing company/self-employed videographer.
Organizations to which you belong/have belonged: Cheshire TV volunteer; FreeKeene.com blogger.
Previous elected office: None.
How long have you lived in Keene? 22 years.
1. Why are you running for City Council?
My run for City Council is to give the citizens of Keene an option for elected office a little different than the status quo. People will now have the opportunity to vote for ideas that have been out in the open for a couple years now.
2. What has the City Council done well recently? What would you have done differently, and how?
Recently, the City Council voted down an ordinance related to restrictions on new bars, as well as the possibility of restricting downtown paint colors. These were great steps in upholding property rights. In terms of a recent vote that I oppose, I could not have supported giving money to a private co-op study.
3. What are the city’s greatest social and cultural needs?
This community, and I believe this applies to communities across the country, could benefit from more neighborly living. Everyone wants the right to peace and liberty on their own property, and the best way to achieve that is to respect the peace and liberty of others. That goes for government as well as private citizens. Government solutions, like police, should be sought after as a last resort in private property disputes.
4. What are the three biggest issues facing city government, and what can – and should – the City Council do about them?
The city government suffers from a misunderstanding of their responsibility. The government is established to protect life, liberty and property. Ordinances drafted outside those bounds that place restrictions on private property or private interaction are unconstitutional and not what responsible government should be doing. Government has an issue in over-control all over the place, and to narrow it down to three specific examples would leave a lot of wrongdoing unmentioned.
5. How would you guide commercial and residential development in Keene? What is your vision for the city in 10 years?
This question assumes that it is city government’s role to “guide development” in the community. I would prefer that such development be set free from government officials that feel they have the ability and knowledge to guide an unpredictable market.
6. In a bad economy, where can the city government make cuts to decrease the burden on taxpayers?
The bigger a government is, the more money it extracts from productive people. A government does not create products or wealth, but the private market does. In a poor economy, if businesses are cutting payroll expenses in the form of layoffs or reduced pay, there is no reason why a city government should not do the same thing.
In addition, government should find ways to cut spending on non-essential services. One could argue that a constitutional government would not even support services that weren’t essential to the protection of citizens’ liberties. It is difficult to advocate the government not give support to those in need of jobs and food, but those services are best left to private charity.
The only way to stop the extraction of money from productive people is to stop the forced re-distribution of wealth that is inherent when government offers non- essential services.
