Jay NashDec 16, 2022

1500 Bedford voters successfully petitioned the question of putting the Bedford Town Budget on an official Ballot on Wed.

This requires a contradictory and bureaucratic morass to navigate, simply to change the method of budget approval in a town of 20k.

72 residents attended an antiquated Bedford town-budget meeting last year, while 5000 voters voted at modern polls.

#NewHampshire
#NHPolitics
#BedfordNH
#NH
#Politics
#Democracy


https://drive.google.com/file/d/18qS100KuRFQ2VcEJ-1TQSD7sRjuCLpGl/view

Show threadWinter TrabexDec 16, 2022
@jaynash I've sometimes attended public meetings in Manchester at city hall. They are long, and you don't really get to say much. You just sit there and listen.
Show threadJay Nash
@trabex
Yes.
The vast majority of our public meetings in NH are doing the business of the board/council in view the public.
It takes willing officials to seek engagement at these meetings, and few do.
A "budgetary town meeting" in NH is something extra-special.
In Bedford's case, every other issue is placed on the ballot, including the $80M school budget.
Only the $40M town budget is done by raising hands, at night, the day after 5000 people vote at the polls.
Dec 16, 2022 at 10:37pmWeb
Show threadWinter TrabexDec 16, 2022
@jaynash As a Manchester resident, the perception here of Bedford is "that stuck up high class place full of parochial nincompoops." That might not be a fair assessment of you personally, or the residents. But that's how the town itself is viewed.