Search for new superintendent will cost Timberlane $30,000

From the eagle Tribune;

Search for new superintendent will cost Timberlane $30,000

PLAISTOW - The Timberlane Regional School District will be starting a national search today for a new superintendent, hoping to find the right candidate by July 1.

At a meeting last night of the SAU 55 Board, 15 Timberlane and Hampstead school board members voted to pay the New England School Development Council $30,000 to search the country for the right person to replace superintendent Richard La Salle, who announced two weeks ago that he will be leaving this summer for a new job at an educational nonprofit center. La Salle makes $138,679 a year.

Chairman Gregory Hoppa explained the board had four options to search for a new superintendent and they debated each one.

"We can perform a national search for around $30,000," he said. "Next is a regional search by the New Hampshire School Board Association that would cost $10,000 and take 12 to 16 weeks. The next process is an in-house search, which would cost about $2,000. I don't consider anything a coronation, but we do have the option to select an internal candidate if we have someone of merit."

Business director George Stokinger said the district budget could absorb the cost of any of the four search options without a problem. But Hoppa said the real issue for the district is time, since they need a new superintendent to start well before the next school year.

"Other districts have had five or six months to do this," he said. "We have a start date of July 1 and this affects the talent pool. But I'm opposed to putting in someone as an interim superintendent. You gain more time, but that person does not have the authority to do what needs to be done."

Board member Peter Bealo said the board shouldn't shy away from paying more for a thorough search.

"It will cost us more in the long term if we don't make a good decision," he said. "I have great difficulty with this committee doing all the work to hire a candidate. No one on the Timberlane board are seasoned HR pros that can hire executives. I don't believe we can do all of this ourselves."

And Jaye Dimando said it might be possible to get the done more quickly than they might expect.

"Derry started their search for a superintendent in January and had a new superintendent in March," she said. "We could give a deadline."

But some board members did not believe the search process was necessary at all.

"I'm a proponent of hiring from within," Judy Graham said. "Existing employees generally require less training. They're familiar with the staff, the facilities and the culture. They know the people on the board and they can hit the ground running. It will save money. I would not feel bad about making a decision tonight."

She did not name assistant superintendent Winfried Feneberg as her preferred candidate, but did imply that he should have the job,

But other board members urged caution, including Nancy Steenson.

"I don't think anyone here would buy a car without doing research first," she said. "This is so much more important. It would be irresponsible to make a decision without doing research and getting resumes. If we get resumes from in-house candidates we can give them an edge for those reasons. But we need to at least open this up regionally."

Though La Salle is leaving, he also gave his advice to the board.

"As you go through this process, there's a lot of optimism in the beginning but you're going to run into some realities," he said. "The state of New Hampshire pays about 40 percent less than Massachusetts and less than many other states in the country. There is a critical shortage of district administrators. If you look at searches done by local districts, the number of candidates is relatively modest. It's the same short list of candidates applying to the same jobs."

PARTIAL ARTICLE

$80,000/yr. for a 6th full time cop?

The vote are in, and at least 1,000 people believed the chief when he said he NEEDS a 6th full time officer, and a 12th car for the department that routinely has ON OFFICER ON PATROL ANY GIVEN SHIFT!

Our sleepy little town will now have 6 full time officers, and 10 part time officers. to fight crime in a town THAT ONLY HAD 8 DISPATCHED IN THE ENTIRE MONTH OF FEBRUARY!

For years Chief has tried to get his 6th officer. He likes to cite a 1993 FBI report suggesting guidelines of having 1 Ft officer for each 1,000-1,400 people. he ALWAYS neglects to mention that the FBI ALSO considers 2 PT officers to be the equivalent of 1 FT officer. So by the report he cites Atkinson which has 6,646 people, now has 11 FTE (full time equivalent)officers. This is 1.6 officers per thousand. He also neglects to mention that their report speaks of towns with business districts. It does not deal with bedroom communities like Atkinson.

But, hey, the voters are happy to throw money at this empire building megalomaniac. One officer on patrol per shift, but 12 cars to service this.

As former budget committee chair Mark Acciard pointed out at town meeting a few years ago, The PD in 2008 budgeted 20,000 man-hours. There are 8,360 hours in a year. They had enough money in their budget to schedule 2 officers every shift if they wish. And STILL have TWO full time officers left over. But they continued from that time until now to still maintain one officer per shift on patrol. SO although our bill has grown dramatically we are not getting any more protection than we were in 1998 when we had one officer on patrol every shift.

The problem here is one of management. We have an uneducated, untrained, unappointed police chief, who continually demand more while providing less.

And the voters keep buying it.

Another year, More electioneering by the POLICE CHIEF

Atkinson's chief law enforcement officer, is in full election mode once again. never above using his office, and taxpayer funded resources to tell people how to vote, this year is not different.

Phil has used the Town Report, His title as Elderly Affairs Director, the resources of the Elderly Affairs dept., to advance his cause. Of course ALL of this is a violation of law, but, really, When has that EVER stopped Phil? Laws are evidently for others.

Here is the Statute in Question;

659:44-a Electioneering by Public Employees. – No public employee, as defined in RSA 273-A:1, IX, shall electioneer while in the performance of his or her official duties or use government property, including, but not limited to, telephones, facsimile machines, vehicles, and computers, for electioneering. For the purposes of this section, "electioneer'' means to act in any way specifically designed to influence the vote of a voter on any question or office. Any person who violates this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

Now, surely Having his petitions for warrant article signed in the elderly affairs cars during rides violates this.

Surely having elderly people come to the police station to sign petitions as Phil, himself, admitted doing in the Eagle Tribune violates this.

Surely Placing articles in the Carriage Towne News from "the director of Elderly Affairs" and "the police chief" violates this.

Surely his blatant pitches in selectmen meetings for his articles violates this.

Surely his latest postcard, "from Atkinson's Elderly Affairs DEPARTMENT" Violates this.

And of Course his Town Report comments about the warrant articles is much more of a violation the the petty, hope to continue to serve you was, that he demonized Brian Boyle over a few years ago was.

But, as usual with Phil, the recurring issue is that THE POLICE CHIEF IS VIOLATING THE LAW!

I know this is nothing new. Mr. Acciard, six years ago spent his own time and money to get the Court to Order Phil to follow the law, by recusing himself from voting on police matters as a selectman. Acciard stood to gain nothing form this action, and in fact lost alot, But, nevertheless, he won, and Phil was Ordered to follow the law.

Imagine that, A police chief having to be ORDERED by the Court to follow the law. Only in Atkinson. And when Phil ignored the Court's Order, they found him in Contempt of Court!, Again only in Atkinson. Did Phil begin obeying the law then, NO,, in stead he used YOUR money to appeal to the New Hampshire Supreme Court. They told him to go away.

Over the years there have been numerous complaints of electioneering by Phil, evidently he does not think the law applies to him. Isn't it time the selectmen did their job, and put a stop to this?

Residents upset at Chief's slander of Hemlock Heights

Anonymous said...
To the Editor

Tired of Neighborhood Put Down

This letter is in reference to a statement made by the Chief of Police during the Town Of Atkinson’s Deliberative Session held on February 4th. During the public discussion of Warrant Article 2012-24 for a sixth Full-Time Officer, a statement was made by the Chief that one of the rationales for the necessity of a sixth police officer was due to ”other occasions in the summer time where we have an awful lot of activity up in the heights, up on Hemlock Heights. Then, instead of just one officer on (duty), we could have two or three officers.”

As a long time resident of Hemlock heights, I know this statement to be erroneous. After reviewing the police log for the past two years, the number of logged incidents represents less than two percent (1.7%) of the overall log entries for the Town of Atkinson. ( 50 Calls out of 3039 and some of these calls involve medical response support.) The police logs are available to the public on the Atkinson Town web site.

For further clarification, Hemlock Heights consists of Hemlock Heights Road, Hemlock Shore Drive, Ledge Road, Palmer Road, and Boylan Terrace. It does not include Chase Island Road, Valcat Lane, and Rocky Point Lane.

Hemlock Heights is a very strong community and very supportive of its neighbors. I must respond to the incorrect and derogatory statement made. It devalues our neighborhood and possibly our homes.

This is not the first time the Chief of Police has slandered the Hemlock Heights community. While I may not be opposed to hiring additional police staff for the overall safety of Atkinson, Hemlock Heights should not be singled out as a factor for that decision.

Noreen Mercier
Atkinson.

March 8, 2012 5:37 PM

Secret Candidates night held tonight.

Well, ok, maybe PRIVATE is a better term. The Bryant Woods Condo Assoc. held a private candidates night tonight at 7:00pm at the Bryant Woods Clubhouse. The Condo Association invited the selectmen candidates ONLY. And the meeting was CLOSED to all but Bryant Woods residents.

It has been reported that other candidates expressed interest in attending, and were told they were not invited. A letter was sent out indicating that the meeting was open ONLY to Bryant Woods Residents.

While this would not normally be unusual, what IS unusual is that Chief Consentino was there. arriving almost together with selectman's clerk Barbara Snicer. If this meeting was closed to anyone not a resident of Bryant Woods, then why were Consentino and Snicer there? Notably Jodi, the Chief's wife, was not there. This is troubling. With the Chiefs admitted and documented history of electioneering, are we to believe that he was not schmoozing the elderly at this meeting? After all, his cousin, selectman candidate Barbera, and his former second in command Billy Baldwin were both in attendance. As Phil has pledged support for both of them(at least to them, he has) this is a concern. Although rumor has it that Phil has also told interim selectman, and erstwhile candidates Shuster the same thing, according to Mr. Shuster, anyway.

So what was discussed? What was so important that the meeting had to be closed to the public? And why, if closed to all but Bryant Woods Residents, did they open the meeting to the prevaricator- in- Chief, and Mrs. Snicer?

Many questions, perhaps some Bryant Woods Residents can post and tell us all what really happened in there.

In Honor of Jane Cole

It is great sorrow, that the Atkinson Reporter observes the passing of one of Atkinson's greatest citizens.

Jane Cole, passed away this weekend, and services were held this morning at the Atkinson Congregational Church. Pastor Paul turned in his usual stellar performance officiating. I think Jane would have looked with amusement upon the gathering of friends and family paying their respects to an extraordinary woman who touched all of our lives.

For those who were unaware, Jane was a columnist for the Eagle Tribune, back in the seventies. She had an incredible knack for finding the humor in everything. For a woman who had seven kids, and more grandchildren than I can count, Humor was probably a refuge.

For those who have known her over the years, she would also joke about becoming a "Maine iac" every summer, a phrase coined for her by former fellow budget committeeman, Mark Acciard. Jane was also a political junkie, and totally dedicated to Atkinson. Unlike some town officials, employees, Jane never put her own desires ahead of what she thought best for the town. Residents can still to this day find her book; "Atkinson, Then and Now" on display at both the library, and in the town clerks office.

Jane made incredible contributions to the betterment of Atkinson, from her service with the town Historical Society, to her chairwomanship of the budget committee, to her long presence in both the selectman's office, and the town clerk's office, her presence, and piece of mind were always known. Jane was also the first person, to catalogue, and gather together all the town's selectmen meeting minutes, and all of it's capital expenditures, since the 1700's.

Jane those of us who have known you, will miss you dearly. Your wisdom, knowledge, love of politics, history, genealogy, and MOST OF ALL YOUR INCOMPARABLE WIT!

Rest Easy, Jane.

Moderator Garrity pulls a Polito!

What a Town Meeting we had.

First there was the discussion about the budget. The selectmen were trying to get a new slush fund of $138,000 in a "legal line" for "forthcoming lawsuits", according to Fred Childs. The budget committee arbitrarily cuts this to $80,000 "feeling" that the original request was too much, but not really knowing as all their requests for information went unanswered, as usual. The budget committee, decided they really didn't NEED to know what the money was for anyways, and approved it without ANY DOCUMENTATION to support the request. THANK GOD they are safeguarding our tax investment in the town! I feel safer already!

Then there was the citizen petition warrant articles, which since the passage of HB77 should be going to the ballot WITHOUT ANY CHANGES to the intent or subject matter of the warrant articles. This was mentioned to Moderator Garrity a number of times(he himself being a member of the very legislature that passed this law) he was in a unique position to KNOW the law's provisions. It reads as follows;

"(c) No warrant article shall be amended to eliminate the subject matter of the article. An amendment that changes the dollar amount of an appropriation in a warrant article shall not be deemed to violate this subparagraph." This became effective February 4, 2011.

Immediately after its passage it was the subject of a lawsuit; Bailey v. Town of Exeter. Rockingham Superior Court issued it's decision on May 27,2011. It stated;

"The Court finds that the only way the phrase no warrant article shall be amended to eliminate the subject matter of the warrant article can be logically read is to conclude that any amendment that made the subject matter of the warrant article a nullity was forbidden. Merely because a majority of voters at deliberative session were more clever in how the amendment was worded to create the nullity does not mean that their action was not violative of the new statute."

This came about because Exeter had two warrant articles on their ballot, that, in true Sapia fashion the deliberative session voters changed the intent by inserting the words "to not". Exeter in losing the case also had to pay legal fees. This was also warned to the Moderator, around the same time Mr. Sapia was making a donkey out of himself by doing THAT VERY THING which Exeter lost in Court on. no longer a selectmen but still capable of causing expensive lawsuits! Some things never change.

We also had a number of warrant article submitted by the selectmen to separate elderly affairs from the PD, and move it to the community center. Along with a competing citizen petition warrant article from Phil Consentino demanding that it stay within the PD. But, Phil, I thought we paid you $5,000 to "separate the two depts." after the AG demanded the same? NOW you claim they are still together? WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR MONEY?

But it gets better. In an article for the Eagle Tribune, in which, Phil Stated;

"We got together 110 signatures," he said. "The petition was explained to people, and they came down to the station wanting to sign it. There wasn't any problem getting the signatures."

Thank you, Phil for ADMITTING breaking the law by "ELCETIONEERING". RSA659:44-a states;

"659:44-a Electioneering by Public Employees. – No public employee, as defined in RSA 273-A:1, IX, shall electioneer while in the performance of his or her official duties or use government property, including, but not limited to, telephones, facsimile machines, vehicles, and computers, for electioneering. For the purposes of this section, "electioneer'' means to act in any way specifically designed to influence the vote of a voter on any question or office. Any person who violates this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor." A misdemeanor, Phil. That is an inauspicious way to end your controversial career.

But it gets WORSE! NOW their are rumors that Phil had his elderly affairs drivers getting people to sign the petitions during their rides provided at taxpayer expense. This would be FAR worse. But, at least Phil has matured in his personal conduct at town meetings, having grown from the spitballs he blew into Carol grant's hair at town meeting a few years ago, to threatening, and harassing Mr. Artus while he waited in line for the mic. Phil was overheard to have said quietly, while standing immediately behind Mr. Artus in line;

"get in your car and go home", "You've lost".

THANK GOD there is no credence to those lawsuits alleging Phil bullied people. And the hits just keep on coming.