Goffstown voters were smart, handily defeating the fire department’s proposed ’round-the-clock coverage and the selectmen’s proposed fire/police merger – both expensive plans, and approving kindergarten funding and the school budget.

Why did voters turn down the 24/7 fire proposal? Because the addition of 18 full-time firefighters would’ve cost a pretty penny on the tax rate, despite the union’s assertions to the contrary. They also defeated the selectmen’s merger idea, knowing that this, too, would cost more money, especially in the short term, with cross-training and the other expenses this would require. Sometimes status quo works.

They ousted incumbent Selectman Gossett McRae because he supported the merger and was part of the decision to fire Chief Carpentino, since reinstated to the fire department based on a judge’s order. Simply put, this irritated voters and they made it known, even if they didn’t support what likely would have been even more expensive – 24/7 coverage.

Voters gave the thumbs up to kindergarten funding to show their support for the opening of the long-awaited school and to make sure the district has enough money to run it efficiently.

This week, March 12 to 18, is Sunshine Week. That has nothing to do with our closest star, but everything to do with letting the light of day shine on government operations.

We’ll leave the national and international implications to the big news operations. From our perspective, small local governments like town councils, selectmen, school boards, police departments and district courts can be the absolute worst at allowing the public access to public information.

Many local public servants seem to think their job is to zealously guard information like police logs, meeting minutes, salaries, court decisions and how they voted from the public they’re supposed to be serving. It appears no one ever educated these public officials that they are supposed to make it easy to get information. This week, we hope they reconsider their policies and make that information easily accessible to all – as it should be.

— Editorials published by Neighborhood News Inc. are written by an editorial board. The board is composed of Publisher and President Amy J. Vellucci, Executive Editor Ginger Kozlowski, Managing Editor Christine Heiser and News Editor Susan Clark.

To the Editor:
It is apparent that the actions of the Medvil Cooperative Board of Directors, with a number of informational meetings for all residents, the Straight Talk newsletters, legal advice and support from our attorneys, liaisons with our lending institutions and the hiring of a professional management company have resulted in the correct move by the residents.

We voted on March 11 to purchase the parks so we can control our own destiny. We are blessed to have people who search out both sides and understand the facts rather than rumors and untruths.

Fred Cass
Goffstown
A happy and satisfied Medvil member and resident of Medford Farms

To the Editor:
I thought that this country, that I fought for, was for freedom and the right to do business that pertained to my private holdings could be done at my discretion to persons of reliable character at my own discretion.

Now, an organization that my wife and I don’t belong to and never will sends us some documents that state if I wanted to sell the home in Medford Farms, which, by the way, we own free and clear, we have to get a clearing from the Medvil Cooperative Association after the prospect I choose puts up a nonrefundable amount of cash before they interview the prospect!

What has this country come to? A dictatorship? I would like to know.

Charles Danielian
Goffstown

To the Editor:
Although the Goffstown School Board often receives recognition for the success of the public schools in Goffstown, the positive strides and accomplishments within our institutions are in fact the result of a collaborative effort.

Working together, the parents, guardians, school board members, SAU staff, teachers, administrators, parent/teacher groups, and Goffstown community members have truly made a difference. Above all, we thank the Goffstown voters who have historically been very supportive of public education.

Over the last several years in the Goffstown School District, this collaboration has resulted in a great deal of success. We have made tremendous improvement in our curriculum, renovated the high school and are about to implement public kindergarten.

We would also like to extend our gratitude to all the volunteers who assisted in disseminating information about the school district’s warrant articles.

As our lives become busier, your school board understands that we must deliver information in a variety of ways. We are continuously developing new methods of providing the public with information. Examples of this are the airing of meetings on GTV, improved school Web sites, the district e-mail registry, increased news articles in local newspapers, and the encouragement of public involvement in the education of our children.

Our meetings are always open to the public and we welcome your comments and questions.

To all the teachers, administrators, staff, volunteers, and voters who have supported public education in Goffstown, we thank you for your efforts and continued support.

Keith Allard
Goffstown School Board

To the Editor:
The stories and letters in the paper these days are filled with so much vitriol that they are hard to read. There’s a lot of controversy in our town right now, but if you ask me, the biggest problem we are facing is the loss of Lauren Bartlett to our community.

Those of you who knew Lauren know automatically what I mean without explanation. For those of you who didn’t have the privilege of knowing her, I’ll explain. Lauren Bartlett was a true angel of God, a shining star in our midst. Whenever she spoke to you, you were the most important person on Earth. She had a smile that could warm your heart and keep you warm for days. She never had a mean or sarcastic word to say, and was always interested in what you had to say. She loved giving complements and would just glow if you gave her one. She was taken from us much too soon, but her memory will live on forever. As the priest at her funeral remarked, those of us who knew her will never forget Valentine’s Day, 2006, the day God received her, and we will never, ever forget Lauren Bartlett.

When I asked my own pastor what we would do without Lauren, he said that each of us had to try to be a little bit more like her now that she is gone from us. And so I ask you, whoever is reading this, to please try to be a little bit like Lauren. Let everyone you see feel that you are happy to see them, and that they are the most important person in the world. Compliment and smile without guile or sarcasm. Live and love with joy.

We can all learn a lesson from Lauren Bartlett. Let us never forget her.

Judy Pancoast
Pinardville

To the Editor:
Your recent editorial about election officials denying the Neighborhood News access to the polling places earns a D+ for expression of common sense.

The Founding Fathers believed that truly free and robust speech and the press (which we now take to include TV, radio, posters, iPods, large trucks with multi-thousandwatt loudspeakers, etc.) was and still is necessary. You have the right to print as many copies as you wish of candidate profiles to be put in the hands of voters through your regular access points, plus via U.S. mail, personal carrier delivery, and who knows what else you might employ. The Neighborhood News has practically unlimited access to the voters at home, at work, where they shop, and elsewhere. All other citizens, corporations, TV networks, candidates, gadflies and other participants in the process of public life have that same right. The voters have every right to pick up your paper, or the Union Leader or the Weare Free Press or the dozens of individual mail pieces sent to them before they come to vote.

On the other hand, the press does not deserve or have a right to flood the final refuge of the polling place with piles of advertising fliers or non-advertising fliers.

Let’s look at the candidate profile pages you printed March 2. By simply lifting out pages A-5 to A-8, we find that your candidate profile pages contained not only candidate profiles, but several paid political advertisements, as well as several letters to the editor with large, bold headlines supporting or disagreeing with candidates and issues. An editorial cartoon appeared which could easily be taken as a comment on management of town political and business affairs. You did not separate the profiles from the ads — they are printed back to back. You wrote all the headlines — each of which showed your biases in attempting to summarize the letter writer’s bias.

In the profiles themselves, you asked relatively innocuous questions of the candidates. Doesn’t that show bias? Why did you avoid the tough questions that candidates need to answer?

What criteria should polling place judges apply to determine that your fliers are free and unbiased, without doing the same for the next 50 flier publishers in line behind you?

And finally, would you agree to submit fliers only if advertising was prohibited, or would that be a violation of your free speech rights?

My response to your editorial – No. No advertising, no pushing of opinions, no “last chance” for candidates to be heard, no special conditions for your advertisers or supporters at the expense of other candidates or supporters. And finally, NO to the Neighborhood News special distributions at polling places.

The law says you must stay so many feet away from the polls on election day. Please do so.

Paul Marsh
Weare