Kudos to downtown business owner Peggy Schauffler for speaking up against the parking enforcement in Keene in her recent letter to the editor to the Keene Sentinel. In the letter she describes the constant negative feedback she receives from customers regarding Keene’s parking enforcement. She indicates that people tell her they are less likely to shop downtown due to the parking enforcement and she herself says she refused to shop downtown prior to starting a business there!
If the city council wanted to do something good for the downtown, they should eliminate the parking department entirely and let business and downtown property owners decide for themselves how to handle parking. Of course, don’t expect a single city councilor to put that idea on the table. If we’re lucky, they’ll stop the proposed increase, but that won’t bring people back downtown who refuse to shop there TODAY.
Here’s Peggy’s letter:
“I hate coming to Keene!” I looked up as a customer walked through the door.
I said, knowing the root of the problem, “What’s the problem?”
They replied “I have never been in a city before where the meter people are so unfriendly.”
Conversations on meter readers is a continual topic in my store, and I have yet to hear one that is pleasant. (more…)
On April 20th at 4:20 pm activists from Keene, Manchester and the rest of the state converged on the State House in Concord New Hampshire. State Representatives Mark Warden and Mike Sylvia were also in attendance. There were also dozens of people there that are not Free Staters. Considering this was also Easter Sunday, there was a good turn out. The purpose of the event was to act in civil disobedience to the law regarding marijuana. Even though marijuana is legal in Colorado and Washington, it is not yet legal in New Hampshire and is still regarded as contraband. It is time for prohibition to end so that peaceful people can be left alone. Hopefully in the near future people like the organizer of the event Rich Paul will not see the inside of a cage again for simply selling or possessing a plant.
After the 420 celebrations had hit Keene and Manchester in 2009 on a daily basis, liberty activists created semi-yearly 420 events at the Concord state house, one on November 5th, the other on April 20th. The April event turned five this year, and dozens gathered on the steps of the state house to smoke cannabis in defiance of the insane “war on drugs”.
As has been the tradition NH natives and Free State Project participants first held signs and conversed out by Main Street before walking to the state house steps to officially kick off the event.
FSP early mover Rich Paul, the event organizer, who was absent last year due to being incarcerated for selling the illegal flowers, once again took the helm and megaphone to issue his standard call to action,
“We smoke these in remembrance of lost liberties and in hope for a day when the people do not fear their government, because the government fears the people! Smoke ’em if you got ’em!”
Cannabis was smoked by many and even a couple of NH state representatives got into the action, including Mike Sylvia, who had pledged to toke up if there were enough people wearing fancy outfits to the event. Kudos to Mike and all the others who had the courage to come out and face possible misdemeanor charges for possession of a plant. Of course, as with previous years, the police left us alone – this year not even making an appearance besides driving by on Main St.
It’s time for drug prohibition to end. If you love freedom, please move to NH and get active! Already in NH? Check out the 420 Foundation and NH NORML as well.
In an inspiring show of solidarity, dozens of downtown business owners have signed a petition opposing the city’s proposed parking rate increases! You can see that petition here in the agenda packet for tonight’s city council meeting. Please support these fine businesses and thank them for standing up for their customers and against the proposed increased rates and fines for parking!
Kudos to downtown business owner Peggy Schauffler for speaking up against the parking enforcement in Keene in her recent letter to the editor to the Keene Sentinel. In the letter she describes the constant negative feedback she receives from customers regarding Keene’s parking enforcement. She indicates that people tell her they are less likely to shop downtown due to the parking enforcement and she herself says she refused to shop downtown prior to starting a business there!
