Keene Voters REJECT $12 million bond

by | Mar 11, 2014 | 16 comments

Keene voters have rejected the 20 year bond that the School District has spent $30,000 advertising. Question 1, which would have authorized the Board to borrow $12 million to renovate the five elementary schools and repurpose Jonathan Daniels School to be a pre-k failed to obtain the needed 60% to pass. That warrant article received 1298 votes, or 55.66%. The School Board’s proposed budget of $63,578,424 passed by a vote of 1376-606 (60% of ballots cast).
The new teacher’s contract was also approved, that contract will increase yearly expenses by an estimated $500,000 per year.
Warrant Articles 2, 3 & 4 all failed, while Warrant Articles 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 & 13 all passed.

Christine Parshall was elected to the 1-year seat with 49.45% of the vote, Ian Freeman received 5.41% of the vote.
Edward R. Murdough, Dawn M. Mutuski & Jim Carley were elected to the three 3-year seats.

Full results can be downloaded here.

Four voters sue Keene School District

by | Feb 19, 2014 | 4 comments

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Before the Deliberative Session, Conan Salada collected signatures on 7 warrant articles to be placed on the official ballot before voters in the upcoming Keene School District election.

During the Deliberative Session, all 7 warrant articles were amended in a manner that eliminated the subject. These amendments were challenged as out of order, however the moderator over-ruled those motions, and the majority of voters in attendance agreed with the moderator. The Keene Sentinel described these changes as “Machiavellian legal maneuvering… to avoid letting voters decide the merits of the articles“.

After the Deliberative Session, Darryl W. Perry, was directed to the 2011 Rockingham Superior Court decision in the case of Bailey v. Town of Exeter. In Bailey, the Court ruled, “the Court finds and rules the only way the phrase ‘no warrant article shall be amended to eliminate the subject matter of the article’ can logically be read is to conclude that any amendment that made the subject matter of the article a nullity was forbidden,” adding that “[m]erely because the majority of the voters were more clever in the way the amendment was worded to create the nullity does not mean their action was not a violation of the statute.”

Perry, Salada and two other voters (David Crawford and Eric LaRoche) have filed suit against the School District due to the illegal actions at the Deliberative Session that have disenfranchised the voters of Keene, including petitioners.

The filing can be read here. A court date has been set for Friday, February 28 at 11am.

FSP Participants use bitcoin to (possibly) make history

by | Jan 26, 2014 | 0 comments

FSP Participant Neal Conner was recently interviewed by a Fox News correspondent after he advertised his car for bitcoin, and the Concord Monitor recently reported on the wide range of goods and services available for bitcoin. However, in what is believed to be the first time a car has sold for bitcoin in New Hampshire, vlogger and new mover Robert Mathias (aka Voluntaryist Rebel) purchased a 2006 Nissan Sentra from Free Keene blogger and radio host Darryl W. Perry using bitcoin.

UPDATE: Amanda Billyrock Arrest

by | Dec 14, 2013 | 7 comments

billyrockAround midnight on the morning of Saturday, December 14, Amanda Billyrock was stopped by Laconia Police. According to a witness, she “jumped the gun” on a red light, anticipating that it would turn green. After being stopped, she did not speak to the LPD member who pulled her over, and was arrested. Additionally, she had license and registration problems, and her car was impounded.
The Laconia PD has not released details of any charges against her, though did confirm that there was no bail, adding, “she probably refused bail.” It is believed that she will be held at the Belknap County Jail until she is arraigned on Monday morning.
At 12:15pm, it was reported that Amanda Billyrock had been released on personal recognizance.