During yesterday’s Keene School Board budgetary meeting the school board and the teachers showed their true colors. They care little about what the voters of Keene have to say and have little respect for the ever increasing property tax that has been inflicted upon the people who live in Keene. Conan Salada submitted multiple petition articles to the Keene School Board to be on the March ballot. Articles covered budget reductions as well as limiting the power of the school board to throw their weight around to get their way. In one exchange with school board member Ann Szot regarding the way the board rearranged the order of the articles straight out said they ordered them that way because they didn’t want them to pass. Interestingly Ann also donated money to Robin Hood of Keene for having saved her from a parking ticket recently.
Through out the entire proceeding the anti-liberty sentiment grew. “If they want to live somewhere without government maybe they should move to Somalia,” said town lacky Fred Parcells who was manning the ballot box. Audible sighs of frustration when a liberty minded individual got up to speak and other remarks of displeasure that people who dare oppose them decided to show up. People were saying, “The Free Staters are wasting everyone’s time.” Which is an odd thing to say since it was town busy body lawyer Ted Parent that kept proposing amendments to change all of the petitioned articles to completely change their meaning and intent in order to remove any choice from the voters. Quite ironically, we constantly hear “if you want to change something you have to go through the proper channels” except when that’s done they all throw a hissy fit.
According to NH law, amendments to warrant articles are not to change the subject of the article. The chair seems to have an extremely lose definition of “subject.” This lose application resulted in warrant articles to be completely changed which also completely changed the subject. A warrant article that is to set an operating budget has a subject of setting an operating budget. Amendments made changed it from setting a budget to making it an advisory budget, which is a completely different intent as well as a completely different subject.  Isn’t the point of having a petition article to let people who can’t make the budget meeting still have a voice in regards to the ballot?  Obviously not since since one crowd member said “Well they’re not here so we’re going to change it.”
The most egregious example of this was the last article of the day. The article was to repeal an authority from the school board that was given to them last year. The amendment changed this article from an article to repeal something to an article that would only reaffirm the authority or do nothing. Meaning regardless if the article passed or failed nothing would happen regardless of the vote. The chair manipulated his way through the whole meeting. The school board showed that they don’t think the voters deserve to have choices. They force feed the town exactly what they want to feed them. The school board illegally changed 8 warrant articles that were put there by the voters via petition. The voters wanted these on the ballot and the school board made sure they wouldn’t get the chance. The people don’t deserve choices… according to the school board. You don’t deserve a choice. School board has spoken.
