From the Eagle Tribune;
CART would be hurt if Salem cut funding
By Eric Parry
eparry@eagletribune.com
.....CART already suffered the loss of two communities over the last year.
Voters in Sandown didn't approve funding CART at the March Town Meeting and Plaistow officials cut funding for the agency last October. In addition to Salem, CART serves Derry, Londonderry, Windham, Danville, Chester and Hampstead.
Salem's proposal also comes as CART is increasing its fares. Since its inception in 2006, CART cost $2, but recently they announced prices would jump to $6 for some trips. A ride within the same town will cost $3, a ride across town lines cost $4 and a ride outside the seven-town region costs $6.
That's it?
Atkinson's Elderly Affairs dept. has a budget of $37,000 plus $10-15,000 in contributions from donation accounts, plus $5,000 or so "bleed over" from police dept. It gave out 1994 rides last year according to Phil. That it $20-25.00/ride for Atkinson.
Thank God we have a Rich, Socially conscious town, and are not beholden to these pesky value for taxpayer dollar questions.
By the way, there is no possible way that Elderly Affairs gave out 1,994 rides last year on their budget, when last year's budget was only $20,000. No way the math works out. Somebody is probably....fibbing.
Atkinson Town Hall
The Norman Rockwellian picture of Atkinson
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
18 comments:
I see our moron moderator figured out he really was breaking the law by the wholesale lifting of ET stories. Hey moron, you're supposed to provide a link back to the original story. Now wipe the drool off your chin and try again. Good moron... LOL
CART supplies rides, Elderly Affairs is a "VOTE GETTING" scam. Everybody knows that Scams cost more than regular car rides to appointments. Phil will spend Millions if he has to to keep control. Nothing wrong with that, right?
Just my opinion
We shouldn't have to pay for anyone to get a free ride to the Mall and get blue hair.
Actually Elderly Affairs is a taxpayer funded program. The voters have voted for it, and it's budget year after year. To Me, once the voters have spoken that ends discussion as to whether or not the Town should have the program.
That having been said, a little transparency would be nice. It took us five years of hounding just to get the chief to verbally tell us how many residents used the program, and how many rides it gave. No verification mind you, just off the cuff numbers.
As with any other expenditure of taxpayer dollars, I believe the taxpayers are entitled to know accurately how their money is being spent.
I believe this is a great program for the seniors of Atkinson, but it could be so much better.
Is it a taxpayer funded program? I forget when I keep seeing these letters in the newspaper. Consentino claims credit for rides and for the flu clinic and tells people to call the PD in his donation letters.
form the Eagle Tribune on August 21, 2009
http://www.eagletribune.com/archivesearch/local_story_233031121.html
Letter: Thanks for supporting police charitable fund
To the editor:
I would like to personally thank all of the residents of Atkinson who were so kind as to make a donation to the Atkinson Police Charitable Fund. This year's donation drive was a great success.
We do not employ the services of an out-of-town company to raise funds for us, so each and every dollar donated to our fund stays right here in town.
We will now be able to continue to provide all of the services that the seniors in town have received in the past. We will have funds available to help with winter heating fuel, prescriptions and other utilities that they may need short-term assistance with. This fund also allows us to provide funds for programs at the Academy School and to also purchase special police related items or equipment for our department.
Our main goal is be able to help our seniors in any way we can. We provide many more services over and above transportation to the doctors or to spend an afternoon shopping at the mall. We have medical appliances such as wheelchairs, shower chairs and walkers available right at the police station.
We have scheduled our Senior Citizen Flu Shot Clinic for Thursday, Oct. 29 at the Community Center from 9 a.m. until about 2 p.m. Please call the police station at 603-362-4001 to schedule a ride.
Again, to the residents of Atkinson, thank you for your continued support through your donations to our fund and to the support you have shown us over the years.
Philip V. Consentino
President
Atkinson Police Charitable Trust Fund
Atkinson, N.H.
I don't think the taxpayers should be paying for pleasure rides for anyone and I don't think it's a good program because of this. It's needless fluff.
The same wackos that are yelling and whining at healthcare town meetings are OK with Atkinson wasting money needlessly on an overpriced car service for elderly voters.
By the way, I wish the blog was headlining the closure of Main St just so Hampstead Water/Harold Morse can create a water monopoly to drain our wallets.
How does Morse get away with closing one side of our Main St just as school begins? Might the people of Atkinson finally wake up to the fact that special interests are running and ruining our town?
Our planning board us a nearly wholly owned subidiary of local construction and developers instead of a group of people dedicated to preserving the property values and rural character of our town.
Our zoning board allows businesses like Lewis Construction/Harold Morse to violate the usage agreements of their business sites out of fear and a bias towards business.
Citizens of Atkinson; wake up and claim your town back from these interests!
To Anon @ 4:07pm;
There is a big difference between Atkinson's Elderly Affairs Dept. and the "Atkinson Police Charitable Fund".
The Elderly Affairs dept. is a town owned dept. providing services to Atkinson's Elderly population. It's budget is voted on every year, and it SHOULD be accountable to the voters.
The "Atkinson Police Charitable Fund" is a PRIVATE NON-PROFIT CORPORATION in the State of New Hampshire. It's President is one Philip V. Consentino.
The "charitable fund" is a private business. It is not accountable to the town, or it's donors.
When the Attorney General's office demanded that the old police donation account be made legal, it offered two courses of action to make it so.
1.) It could place it's account under the management of the Trustees of the Trust Funds, as all other town trust accounts are managed. This would make it legal, open, and transparently accountable to all who wished to see it.
2.) Chief could form a private charitable fund, registered with the state. this would be legal, private, and accountable to no one, with no oversight over it's expenditures.
Chief chose the second course of action.
So please do not confuse the Towns Elderly dept. with the chiefs private business.
I feel bad for The Atkinson Reporter moderator. There are a couple of articles in today's Eagle Tribune and I would imagine the carpal tunnel risk will be HIGH with all of the cutting, pasting, and inaccurate "reporting" he/she will have to do today.
Someone notify Parkland Med Ctr's ER! INCOMING!!!!
Breaking news! Moderator unveiled!!!
http://www.shanoogie.com/l/thread-pics/windowlicker.jpg
Really? I thought THIS GUY was our moderator:
http://www.jessicadunton.com/blog/TinfoilHat.jpg
That's his brother.
I wonder if his is a team member like MARK ACCIARD!!!!
The Tribune reports that Lt Baldwin will be deployed for one year.
Detective Farrar will become second in command.
OMG
Lt Baldwin and the full time officers are the only ones who do any real police work.
We really need to look at regionalization of the police force. Pay Plaistow to hire our full timers and eliminate all this wasteful, unnecessary cost to the taxpayers. The extra building and its maintenance and utilities, all the extra vehicles and the all the extra costs we are all aware of.
Other towns in NH have done it and saved a fortune. Think of all the problems it will solve.
And CART uses volunteer drivers. That means taxpayers don't have to pay hourly wages to drivers.
With Lt Baldwin being deployed, I think we need to make the chief full time!
Are we talking about a go cart or a garden cart? I don't know what all the fuss is about these carts. Don't you have some chief bitching to get back to???
To Anon September 4, 2009 9:50 AM
It's just my opinion, but you must be blind. I don't know who the Moderator of this blog is, but
the person you point to at
http://www.shanoogie.com/l/thread-pics/windowlicker.jpg
looks like Jack something or other, trying to get to the Chief's naked butt.
You know, oh you must know whom I'm talking about; he was a past selectman? Help me out here, will you?
Post a Comment