What is this group up to now?

        It is becoming clear that there is a small, but determined, group who desire to control everything that happens in Exeter. They have their very own narrow view of what is right for Exeter and are attempting to force it on everyone else.

   Members of this group sitting on the Board of Selectmen have ignored the voice of the people when voters overwhelmingly approved an article to restore the Town Office Building receptionist. 
      Failing to shape the town in their image by the direct approach, they then tried subterfuge by trying to get the downtown “TIF” passed.  Fortunately, voters recognized this as a thinly disguised attempt to take taxpayer money for those same beautification projects that failed twice before.
      This group is trying to get money for their downtown beautification projects by hiding it in with the money needed to replace the deteriorating Water Street sidewalks.  While the sidewalk replacement project would cost about $580,000, Selectman Dan Chartrand and this group are determined to ask for $1.2 million for this project and "other future sidewalk projects."

      Another recent initiative by this group is to change 150 years of Exeter tradition by trying to change the way the Budget Recommendations Committee is selected.  For more than one and a half centuries, the voters have elected this Committee. Long ago, voters recognized that we needed a broad-based group representing the taxpayers to review the annual budget proposals and make recommendations to the Board of Selectmen.  It seems that the Town Manager and some Board members want to turn this independent committee into a handpicked body that will rubber stamp whatever the Town Manager wants.

      We have also heard Selectman Chartrand voice his distrust of Exeter voters, saying that we no longer need Exeter residents to vote on the budget or zoning amendments or major spending articles.  He believes those decisions should be left in the hands of the Town Manager and a select group of people, called a Town Council.

     Exeter taxpayers need to be alert to this small group's motives and actions that will remove taxpayers from the Town processes.

     Will voters spend the time to attend the Deliberative Session on Saturday, January 31, to push back on these attempts to control our town? Do we need to approve $1.2 million when all that is really needed is less than half that amount? Shouldn’t Selectman Chartrand recuse himself from discussions and voting on downtown projects that directly affect his business?

    It is all in the hands of the voters. Do you really care enough to make your opinion known at the Deliberative Session and the ballot box?