The Porcupreneurs panel at Keenevention 2013 was presented by State Representative, Free State Project early mover, and Porcupine Real Estate agent Mark Warden. This panel covered being an entrepreneur in NH, including business and housing. Panelists included Chris Suprock and William Kostric. Here’s the video:
As some of you are already aware local bully and tyrant, Fred Parsells, submitted a letter to the Keene Sentinel titled: Stealing from Keene taxpayers, early last week. In it he actually suggests that the residents of Keene should blame their high property tax on the Robin Hooders. I immediately submitted my own rebuttal but it was denied because it did not meet the Sentinel’s standards. It would seem that it is quite alright for Fred to call the Robin Hooders thieves but not for me to call him a busybody and a parasite. Here is my submission:
In response to Fred Parsell’s letter “Stealing from Keene taxpayers.”
Sorry Fred, you got it wrong. The Robin Hood of lore was not stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. He was in fact taking money back from an oppressive government that stole through forced taxation and giving it back to the rightful owners. The taxpayers. A lot of folks don’t seem to understand that part.
Something else people might not be clear about: This year the city estimates it will take in $634,406 from meter collections and fines, but will end up spending $602,000 on the parking enforcement operating costs for a whopping total gain of $32,406. Does anyone not see a problem here? The fines and collection barely pay for the enforcers and their uniforms. So why even have them? If the city managers believe it’s so important to get folks to visit downtown and spend their money, why risk scaring them away with nasty tickets?
The bottom line here: Fred, who has been living off the backs of the taxpayers his whole working career, can’t fathom the idea of a community operating with any efficiency without the heavy hand of a tax-payer funded city government making every decision for us. The answer is the free market. If Keene is to survive the coming days, it must evolve past this mentality that government is the only solution to all of its problems.
Fred, what do you actually do? Besides collecting $56,610 a year in pension and $x/year as a housing inspector. Every time I’ve seen you downtown you’re either helping the parking enforcers write tickets or washing chalk off the sidewalks with your little spray bottle. You’re nothing but a busybody and a meddler. If you really cared about the taxpayer, you’d quit your job and give back some of that pension.
Conan Salada – Candidate for City Council – ward 4
Last Monday, the Keene Sentinel ran a letter to the editor from petty-tyrant Fred Parsells titled Stealing from Keene taxpayers. Fred writes, in part, “Since my earliest years, I have always been of the belief that the English folklore tale of Robin Hood was about a man and his band of merry men who stole from the rich and gave to the poor.
Fast forward 60-plus years and now I, and those of us who live and pay taxes in Keene, are confronted with a variation on the theme in that a modern day group of individuals, who have adopted the name Robin Hood(ers), are in my opinion stealing from the people of Keene, of which the overwhelming majority are surely far from rich… The end result is that Keene property taxes will be raised accordingly in order to balance the loss of revenue.”
I wrote a response to Fred’s letter, which was published today (Pumpkin Fest day – which likely means more paper sales) which reads:
On Oct. 14, The Keene Sentinel published a letter to the editor from Code Enforcement Officer Fred Parsells, in which he said “I have always been of the belief that the English folklore tale of Robin Hood was about a man and his band of merry men who stole from the rich and gave to the poor.”
He then went on to say that the Robin Hooders who plug parking meters are “stealing” from the “far-from-rich Keene taxpayers” by plugging parking meters and saving those same “far-from-rich Keene taxpayers” from $5 parking tickets.However, Parsells begins on a flawed understanding of the tale of Robin Hood. Robin Hood did not steal from the rich and give to the poor. The poor were having their wealth confiscated by Prince John, so Robin Hood stepped in to take that wealth back from the king’s men to return it to the poor.
Parsells also claims to be concerned about the taxpayers, yet he receives a taxpayer-funded pension as a retired member of the Keene Police Department, and a paycheck as a code enforcer. Fred claims that by preventing people from getting parking tickets, the Robin Hooders will cause property taxes to “be raised accordingly in order to balance the loss of revenue.”
If Fred were really concerned about the taxpayer, he would not only resign his position as a code enforcer and surrender his pension, but he would advocate for the City Council to eliminate the code enforcement department. Inhabitants and business-owners spend nearly $3 million per year on licenses, permits and fees, and untold amounts of money complying with various zoning regulations and other ordinances that dictate how one is to live or work.
The two code enforcement officers, of which Fred Parsells is one, make a total of $122,588 per year. This directly costs the taxpayers more than any amount of Robin Hooding will ever supposedly cost (assuming that helping people comply with the parking ordinances — i.e. preventing the collection of a fine — actually costs money).
As a candidate for mayor, and the only opposition to Kendall Lane, I fully support the abolition of the code enforcement department and all zoning ordinances. There are several municipalities in New Hampshire that have no zoning. Nationally, there are large cities that have no zoning, Houston being the largest city without zoning ordinances.
Homeowners care about their safety, and have an inherent interest in making sure they live in a house that won’t fall in on itself. People should not be forced by government dictate to live in a building that meets someone else’s standards.
I would like to make one slight correction, Fred is a Housing Inspector, not a Code Enforcer. The 2012-2013 budget listed 1.34 Housing Inspectors at a total cost of $56,585. The entire budget for the Health & Code Enforcement Department for FY 2012-2013 is $903,663.
Rich Paul bravely faced down 100 years in prison to stand up for principle and attempt to hasten the demise of the insane war on drugs. Yesterday, Rich was sentenced to one year in county jail, many more suspended in prison, a three year probation, and fines.
At the sentencing hearing the court heard well-researched and passionate speeches from defense attorney Kim Kossick, Rich’s parents, and Rich himself:
You can see raw video below of Kim and Rich’s parents’ speeches as well as a ridiculous beginning portion where judge John C. Kissinger enters the court and immediately threatens the audience regarding cameras. (more…)
It’s that time of year again when the great and wise city planners of our lives bring out the new year’s budget. It of course is an increase from the previous year. It always is. It doesn’t matter where you live. And that is the nature of any successful parasite. They feed and then subsequently grow larger. Until either the hosts dies or finds a way to remove the parasite. Either way the end is often messy and unpleasant.
This year in Keene the city manager, Prince John, has proposed a budget increase of a whopping 3.37% and the wise city planners will most likely swallow that pill without any fight whatsoever. After all, these people have a plan for a majestic city on the hill and it requires Your money to see it through. How do they get away with this year after year? Easy. No one cares. At least no one cares until it is too late. These meetings are painfully boring and ripe with legalese. The only people who really ever attend these events are the lobbyists seeking handouts from the city. Out of a population of 23,000 only around 20 people showed up to this event. 6 of them were activists. This is how they get away with it year after year.
The entire meeting can be seen here.
While out in front of the “town hall” with Kelly Ayotte in Fitzwilliam, NH I encountered Gary Chase, a property owner in the geographic area commonly known as Winchester. The people calling themselves the “Town of Winchester” stole over $300,000 worth of industrial equipment from his shop because he was not willing to sell his property to the town to turn it into a parking lot. This is his telling of the awful aggression against him. We then take a trip to Winchester to see the property.
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