Author: S.D. Plissken

By S.D. Plissken | February 23, 2020

The bad ideas prevalent elsewhere have begun to arrive on Milton’s doorstep. Cash on delivery.

In this warrant article, Article #3, the Milton School Board, the Milton Board of Selectmen, and the Milton Police favor hiring a School Resource Officer (SRO), i.e., a police officer, for the Milton school system. They propose to split the cost between them. That is to say, the taxpayers will foot the entire bill, but partly in their School taxes and partly in their Town taxes. This article concerns only the Town portion of the costs.

Article 3: School Resource Officer

To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of Eighty-nine Thousand Seven Hundred Sixty Dollars ($89,760) to be added to the Milton Police Department General Operating Budget to Fund a School Resource Officer. This sum will be for half a year for 2020 and will then become a full year position in 2021 and will become a new line in the Police Department General Operating Budget. This sum will be for salary, FICA, Retirement, Medicare, Workers’ Comp, and Insurance cost. (Majority Vote Required).

Estimated tax impact is $0.18 (Eighteen Cents).

Recommended by the Board of Selectmen (3,0,0).

Recommended by the Budget Committee (6,1,0).

The division between budgets, as well as errors made in calculating the correct amounts, make it difficult to state the actual bottom line for this innovation. Between salary, benefits, pensions, etc., it would seem to be well north of $100,000. That is to say, it will be at least double the average salary of a Milton taxpayer. The “million dollar” Police department price tag, of which so many have complained, will become the 1.1 million dollar Police department. Some might think that enough on its face to reject this article.

In recommending it, it was said that it would allow for a revival, potentially even an expansion, of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program. An audience member pointed out that there have been literally hundreds of academic studies of this program. Nearly all of them rated it as having been completely ineffective, and many claimed it was actually counter-productive, in that it actually induced greater drug involvement.

Our results confirm the findings of a previous meta-analysis indicating that Project D.A.R.E. is ineffective. This is not surprising, given the substantial information developed over the past decade to that effect. Critics of the present analysis might argue that, despite the magnitude of our findings, the direction of the effect of D.A.R.E. was generally positive. While this is the case, it should be emphasized that the effects we found did not differ significantly from the variation one would expect by chance. According to Cohen’s guidelines, the effect size we obtained would have needed to be 20 times larger to be considered even small. Given the tremendous expenditures in time and money involved with D.A.R.E., it would appear that continued efforts should focus on other techniques and programs that might produce more substantial effects (West, et al., 2004).

Another advantage put forward was the opportunity to foster a relationship of trust between students and police. That would seem to be a very poor lesson to learn at school, compared with what lawyers tell us. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled, long ago, that the police may lie to you (Frazier v. Cupp), and that they are under no obligation whatsoever to either help or protect you (Warren v. District of Columbia; DeShaney vs. Winnebago; Town of Castle Rock vs. Gonzales). That same audience member pointed out that any good attorney would advise you to never even speak to the police, let alone trust them.

The Milton Police Facebook site has for years featured a Thin Blue Line flag as its header, which might tell you something about their culture. It supposedly signifies that they are all that stands between society and chaos. However, in many places, Thin Blue Line displays are regarded instead as a kind of “gang” colors. For that reason, many departments prohibit their display on uniforms, vehicles, Facebook displays, etc. It does not project a relationship of trust, quite the contrary in fact. We stick together against you. (Desecrating a U.S. flag in this manner is not a crime, although the U.S. Congress has tried several times to make it so. (It would take a constitutional amendment to criminalize flag desecration)).

One is reminded of the shenanigans that took place a couple of summers ago. One or more Milton police officers disappeared off the payroll amidst a flurry of secret 91-A meetings. In the final meeting, the records were unsealed, but only for the police chief, so that he might include some of its information in his personnel records. The taxpayers are not to know what happened, we are not to be trusted with that information. The Thin Blue Line.

The audience member mentioned the many readily available videos of school resource officers assaulting students. This is true, it has happened many times. It is not necessary to belabor this point, but by way of proof here is a single one chosen at random: NBC Nightly News: North Carolina School Officer Fired After Video Shows Him Body-Slamming A Student.

The final argument in favor of a SRO was that that officer would be on hand to better document any incident. That is to say, they would be better prepared to move a student into the criminal justice system: the School-to-Prison Pipeline.

The Milton Board of Selectmen recommended this unanimously, as is their usual practice.

References:

Duane, James J. (2012, March 1). The Right to Remain Silent: A New Answer to an Old Question. Retrieved from papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1998119

Regent University School of Law. (n.d.). Don’t Talk to the Police. Retrieved from www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7o9xYp7eE

West, Steven L., et al. (2004, June). Project D.A.R.E. Outcome Effectiveness Revisited. Retrieved from www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1448384/

Wikipedia. (2018, November 23). DeShaney v. Winnebago County. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeShaney_v._Winnebago_County

Wikipedia. (2019, October 18). Frazier v. Cupp. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frazier_v._Cupp

Wikipedia. (2020, January 1). School-to-Prison Pipeline. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School-to-prison_pipeline

Wikipedia. (2020, February 23). Thin Blue Line. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin_blue_line

Wikipedia. (2019, August 28). Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Town_of_Castle_Rock_v._Gonzales

Wikipedia. (2020, January 6). Warren v. District of Columbia. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_v._District_of_Columbia

 

By S.D. Plissken | February 23, 2020

The Milton Town warrant has upon it several articles with competing ideas that cannot be reconciled. This one concerns forcing most taxpayers to subsidize the particular “hobby horse” of a few.

The world is not on fire, nor is it going to end in ten or eleven years. These are false notions that can be denied, both easily and truthfully.

Who can even say what the “correct” temperature is or should be? It has been within quite a wide range during humanity’s tenure. There is a strong natural bias towards the temperature prevailing “now” as being the ideal one, but that is all it is, just a bias. I believe they call it a normalcy bias: a bias in favor of that with which one is familiar.

The Roman empire encountered what might be called adverse climate change in the late fourth and early fifth centuries. In Roman Britain, the warmer trend prevailing up to that time had allowed for an expansion of farming to formerly marginal upland areas. They even had viniculture, which requires warmer temperatures. Its population boomed, as did that of the Roman empire in general.

Then the climate cooled. Yes, temperatures cooled towards what they are now. The Romans were not best pleased with the change. It became harder to sustain populations that had expanded under what the Romans had regarded as “optimal” conditions. The barbarians became restless and advanced across Roman frontiers. The Romans pulled out of Britain in 409 A.D. They left a nice note, advising the Britons to take care of themselves.

The same thing happened later with the Greenland Viking settlements. They established settlements there that lasted for hundreds of years. Then the prevailing temperatures cooled, again towards the ones experienced now. The Viking settlements struggled against this cooling trend, but their populations dwindled and finally they just “winked out.” Current temperatures were just too cold for them.

Article #23 seeks to socialize the expense of owning so-called “Green” technologies. It might be more accurate to say that it seeks to “further” socialize them, to the Town level, as the Federal government is already subsidizing them to the tune of 30% off. State governments are on the bandwagon too.

Article 23: Optional Tax Exemption: Solar, Wind-Powered, Wood Heating Systems (Submitted by Petition).

To see if the town will vote to adopt the provisions of RSA 72:61 through RSA 72:72 inclusively, which provide for an optional property tax exemption from the property’s assessed value, for property tax purposes, for persons owning real property, which is equipped with solar energy systems, wind-powered energy systems or wood heating systems intended for use at the immediate site. Such property tax exemption shall be in the amount of 100% of the assessed value of qualifying equipment under these statutes. (Majority vote required).

Estimated tax impact is $0.74 (Seventy-four Cents).

Not recommended by the Board of Selectmen (0,3,0). [Amended to 2,1,0, Chairman Thibeault and Selectman Rawson voting to recommend that Milton taxpayers subsidize these energy systems, while Vice-Chairwoman Hutchings declined to do so].

Not Recommended by the Budget Committee (0,4,3).

The “estimated tax impact” is a bit deceptive. (But no more than the amounts estimated by the Town in general). That would be the estimated tax impact at the current numbers of such systems. Were those numbers to increase, then the tax impact would increase correspondingly.

Town taxes are as high as they are due to excessive Town budgets. Do not be sidetracked by variations in rates and valuations. Those are factors only in covering ever-increasing Town budgets. Despite what some Selectmen have put forward, it is not an accomplishment to lower the rate slightly while increasing the valuation greatly. (Be sure to ask “The Question” (of last year) of any and all candidates).

The Town taxes anything not nailed down, literally. People have been heard asking about structures on wheels. Why would two Selectmen recommend that “Green” systems be exempted from valuation and, therefore, exempted from their taxation?

One might answer that 1) this does not affect them: their Town budgets can still increase despite this measure, and 2) they believe in Global Warming (or its necessary rebranding as Global Climate Change) or, at least, they would like to “signal” that they do.

This measure absolutely does not reduce taxes by the value of these energy systems, it merely “redistributes” those taxes onto the backs of those that do not have them. Those who do not believe that the earth is on fire will be forced to subsidize the “Green” energy beliefs of those who do.

If one does believe in Global Climate Change, one should put one’s own money where one’s mouth is, rather than forcibly appropriating the money of others for that purpose.

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“There are two fundamentally opposed means whereby man, requiring sustenance, is impelled to obtain the necessary means for satisfying his desires. These are work and robbery, one’s own labor and the forcible appropriation of the labor of others.” – Franz Oppenheimer

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References:

Fall of Civilizations. (2019, March 25). 4. Greenland Vikings – Land of the Midnight Sun. Retrieved from www.youtube.com/watch?v=dep69ARBNpE

 

 

By S.D. Plissken | January 16, 2020

A correspondent informs us that the AREA advisory petition was filed with the School District Clerk by Tuesday’s deadline and its signatures have been verified. This option will be on the School District ballot.

Canvassers obtained more than double the necessary signatures, well on their way to triple, which was excellent work for a later start. Only three signers were not as registered as they might think they are, but they have time still before the election to check their status.

A School Board member and a Board of Selectmen member looked in on the canvassing process. They did not sign, but agreed to the limited extent that they are reported to have felt it was in the best interests of Milton to explore all possibilities in educating the children of Milton.

Congratulations to Mrs. Laura Ott Turgeon and Mr. Les Elder for their effective effort. On to the election.

(For the text of the AREA advisory petition see AREA Petition Signing Times (The times, of course, are past)).

 

By S.D. Plissken | January 9, 2020

There is another petition afoot that seeks to begin to address Milton’s rather astonishing school expenses.

This Citizens’ Petition seeks to direct the Milton School Board to talk with neighboring school districts to determine the feasibility of creating an Authorized Regional Enrollment Area (AREA) (see RSA 195-A in References) for sending high and middle school students out of district.

Milton registered voters are to have several opportunities to sign:

• Friday evening, January 10, at Dunkin’ Donuts (565 White Mountain Highway), from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM; and
• Saturday morning, January 11, again at Dunkin’ Donuts (565 White Mountain Highway), from 10:00 AM to Noon.
• Sunday morning, January 12, again at Dunkin’ Donuts (565 White Mountain Highway), from 10:00 AM to Noon.

(The filing deadline is Tuesday, January 14 [Corrected]).

The text of the AREA petition is as follows:

To see if the voters of the Milton School District shall direct the Milton School Board to enter into talks with neighboring School Districts to determine the feasibility of an AREA Agreement according to RSA 195-A for the purpose of sending our high school and middle school students out of district.

One hesitates to say without more information, but the petition language might suggest that the Milton School Board has refused hitherto to consider or enter into such talks on its own. A public board, responsible to the taxpayers, would never choose to put its own notions before the interests of the taxpayers that are paying the costs. That just could never be, right?

One imagines instead that the Milton School Board will leap at the suggestion that they determine if such an agreement is even feasible. And if it reduces our burden, they could not help but be interested. So, this petition would seem to be another one that seeks rather moderate ends.

One of its proponents has argued that “This does not pin us down to one school or another,” while requiring transparency in that its findings would necessarily be public.

Readers may find several random examples of such agreements in the References below, including even an interstate agreement between Orford, NH, and several Vermont towns. Surrey’s AREA agreement with Keene provides for a 2.5% tuition discount in exchange for its 20-year commitment.

References:

Milton School Board. (2020, January 8). Milton School Board Meeting, January 8, 2020. Retrieved from www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zw2T7c12Yo

Rivendell Interstate School District. (2011, March 26). Articles of Agreement for Rivendell Interstate School District. Retrieved from www.rivendellschool.org/images/stories/districtinfo/Articles_of_Agreement_Amended_03-26-11_FinalCorrected.pdf

State of New Hampshire. (2016, June 21). RSA Chapter 195-A. Authorized Regional Enrollment Area (AREA) School. Retrieved from www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/xv/195-a/195-a-mrg.htm

SAU #19. (2014, January 9). Goffstown-New Boston AREA Agreement. Retrieved from www.goffstown.k12.nh.us/attachments/article/215/Goffstown-New_Boston_AREA_Agreement.pdf

SAU #75. (2015). Grantham-Lebanon-Plainfield AREA Agreement. Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0xxSV9o0oV9TzJsOU9sLUNiUjg/view

VPR. (2013, November 15). Blinkhorn: Kennedy and Dresden [Dresden School District]. Retrieved from www.vpr.org/post/blinkhorn-kennedy-and-dresden

 

By S.D. Plissken | January 8, 2020

A correspondent from the Milton Taxpayers Association (MTA) reports that the Tax Cap petition warrant article was filed yesterday with the Milton Town Clerk. The MTA obtained over triple the number of required signatures. This measure will be on the ballot.

The MTA invites those who signed to regard themselves – if they so choose – as valued members of the association. Note: some thirteen of you may not be as registered as you think you are. Fortunately, you have time still before the election to resolve that.

Refusals were exceedingly rare. Had the MTA set out earlier, it might have obtained even more multiples of the necessary signatures above what they did collect. I might point out what such numbers imply. In the unlikely event that they encounter any shenanigans between here and the ballot, say at the deliberative session, they should have no trouble in calling their own special town election, or even a succession of them, to put things right again.

I am told that volunteer canvassers had some interesting conversations along the way. They found that a long line of excessive tax increases has engendered scant “appreciation.” Many signers expressed even a bit of disappointment. Capping future tax increases at these proposed levels seemed to them a rather minimal starter option. They would have preferred something much more comprehensive.

They may rest assured that this option – minimal though it may be – will appear on the ballot each and every year until it passes. (Most NH cities have had it for years already, including Dover, Franklin, Manchester, Laconia, Nashua, Rochester, Portsmouth, etc.).

Milton’s various boards and committees, including its Board of Selectmen (BOS), will henceforth be working diligently for the MTA. Every time they raise taxes above the proposed tax cap, they will be encouraging yet more signatures and more votes, until the tax cap is passed.

But why suffer through all that? Get it done this time around.

By S.D. Plissken | January 3, 2020

Tomorrow (Saturday, January 4) will be the last opportunity to sign the Tax Cap petition at a designated time and place. You may find a Milton Taxpayers Association (MTA) representative either seated inside Dunkin Donuts, between the hours of 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM or, thereafter, in front of the Milton Mills post office, from approximately 10:15 AM until 11:15 AM (longer if not painfully cold). They hope to see you there.

There might be still some amount of door-to-door canvassing, but not for long after. The next stop is submitting the signatures to the Town Clerk.

I am told that MTA canvassers received the following cookie fortunes at their most recent meeting: “Any idea seriously entertained tends to bring about the realization of itself,” and “A person with a determined heart frightens problems away.”

Those sentiments would both seem to be very much in the spirit of this serious and determined effort to limit the unconscionable growth of local property taxation.

I hope that my contacts in the MTA will keep me – and thus you – abreast of their progress.

By S.D. Plisskin | December 27, 2019

Santa left no tax caps under the tree. If only it were that simple. He did leave signature sheets.

I am informed that your last chances to sign the Tax Cap petition will be Saturday, December 28, 2019, and Saturday, January 4, 2020.

On those days, you may sign at Dunkin’ Donuts, between the hours of 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM, and at the Milton Mills post office, from about 10:15 AM until 11:15 AM (and later if weather permits).

The more the merrier.

By S.D. Plissken | December 20, 2019

As a delegate to the Continental Congress, and its president, John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence in July 1776. His signature appears first and is the largest by far. It is likely apocryphal that he said he wrote it large so that King George could read it without his spectacles.

His name became a synonym for “signature,” although perhaps less so in recent years. But you may have been prompted at some time or another to put your “John Hancock” upon some document.

This is one of those times and one of those opportunities. The Milton Taxpayers Association (MTA) is sponsoring a petition warrant article (“Tax Cap”) that would limit future Town budget increases, and therefore, future Town tax increases, either to 2% or to the amount of the Consumer Price Increase (CPI), whichever amount is the lesser.

Now, a Tax Cap is no panacea. It will never change the mindset of those who think that more and more of your money, year after year, is never “enough.”  You need to identify them and cease gifting them your vote. A Tax Cap can not by itself restrict their other methods of increasing taxes, nor their excessive “fudge factor.” We can work on that. And the Tax Cap’s limitation begins at the current absurd baseline, rather than backing out past excesses.

One might think of the Tax Cap as a place to start. When you find yourself in a hole, it is time to stop digging. Past time really.

There is really no doubt that the Tax Cap will appear on the March ballot. But will your “John Hancock” appear on this declaration?

As mentioned previously, a representative of the MTA may be found at Milton’s Dunkin’ Donuts shop this Saturday (tomorrow) between 8:00 and 10:00 AM. (There is no reason to suppose that the Dunkin Donuts corporation has any part in this). I have been given to understand that they will proceed from there to the front of the Milton Mills post office, where you may sign from about 10:15 AM until 11:00 AM.

If you would like to further assist in this groundbreaking effort, petition sheets may be obtained from MTA representatives for you to use in canvassing your friends and neighbors. (Those friends and neighbors that are Milton registered voters, that is).

I have been given to understand that signage will become available also as the election approaches.

References:

Wikipedia. (2019, October 25). Law of Holes. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_holes

 

By S.D. Plissken | December 12, 2019

I am given to understand that representatives of the Milton Taxpayers’ Association (MTA) will be out collecting signatures in the next month so that a Tax Cap warrant article may appear on the March ballot.

You may share their concern that in recent years that Town officials seem to be either unable or unwilling to restrain themselves in creating Town budgets. They thereby create tax burdens that increase at rates much greater than inflation. This could be your opportunity to “assist” the Town in finding some upper limits.

Last year the Board of Selectmen (BOS) voted unanimously to use your fund balance – the money they took “in error” due to their preposterous 2016 valuation – to cover their rather incontinent budget. Their budget was rejected by the voters, but many of its features were funded anyway by an excessive “fudge factor” included in their process.

This year the BOS voted unanimously to “guide” their Town department heads in drafting budgets that included 2% raises and 1.7% COLA increases. Selectman Rawson said immediately, i.e., without any apparent consideration at all, that he was “just fine” with that; the other selectmen all agreed with him.

In a public BOS meeting this past year Town Planning Board member Laurence D. “Larry” Brown spoke rather unguardedly about his “vision” for Milton’s future. (He had requested a secret meeting, but went ahead anyway in a public session). You might find that you are not present in the future he plans.

Mr. Brown expressed publicly his utter contempt for manufactured homes. They do not serve as “attractions.” (Quote: “No one travels to see the double-wides of New Jersey”). Yes, that old saw again, as if creating “attractions” was ever a legitimate concern of government. He said forthrightly that there are “far too many” manufactured homes in town (13% of Milton’s households). That is to say, for those of you that live in them, there are far too many of you in town.

Mr. Brown expressed his glowing approval for “gentrification” – a process by which wealthier incomers displace those with less wherewithal. Can’t keep up with our increasing government and the increasing taxes needed to pay for it? You can be replaced by better, wealthier taxpayers.

Mr. Brown congratulated himself on having personally prevented the establishment of many businesses over the years, both as an officeholder and an individual. As if that were an accomplishment. (He bragged that he had even spent his own money on lawsuits to do so).

These are the people that are Planning our future, creating and approving the Town budgets, and setting the tax rates. One might almost embrace a slogan from the national scene, and claim that these persons are “Not My Planning Board” and “Not My Board of Selectmen.”

There might be some few among you who think that these trends and these people have not been a burden and a problem for Milton. You should sign the Tax Cap petition anyway, if only to support the principles of democracy. You would be ensuring that there are more ballot options from which voters might choose, rather than fewer options. And there would be no danger that a fully satisfied electorate would pass such a measure, right?

If an MTA volunteer finds their way to your house, you should smile upon their efforts. If you do not encounter one, you may find an MTA volunteer seated in the Dunkin’ Donuts, for the next few Saturday mornings, between 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM.