The Covenant with Manchester Taxpayers

A Principled Vision for Reform

On Monday, the Republican candidates for the Manchester Board of Directors held a press conference to unveil the Covenant with Manchester Taxpayers, their principled vision for reform in Manchester Town Government.  Directors Lou Spadaccini, Matt Peak, and Cheri Pelletier, are joined with their fellow candidates Mark Tweedie, Rob Desilet, and Jeff Beckman in advocating for a return to sound principles of government - accountability, fiscal responsibility, and quality of life. 

The first principle of the Covenant is accountability because Town Government in Manchester has become dominated by heavily entrenched incumbents who have stopped listening to the people.  It is time that the Board of Directors were accountable to the people again.  In order to restore accountability, the Covenant pledges that a Republican majority on the Board of Directors will take the following actions:

• Allow for a referendum on any Town Budget that increases property taxes by more than 3%
• Allow citizens to speak at the beginning of every Board of Directors meeting
• Advocate for the direct election of the Mayor

The citizens of Manchester have seen their taxes go up year after year - and people are rightly asking, “What do I get out of this?”  With a Republican majority on the Board of Directors for the first time in more than a decade, the Board of Directors will change the law so that any time a budget which includes a property tax increase of more than 3% is proposed, the people of Manchester would be asked to vote on it at referendum.  This is the purest form of accountability to the voters of Manchester.  The people will have the final word on their tax rates.

People in Manchester have the right to speak at every meeting of the Board of Directors.  Unfortunately, at the second meeting of the month (the one where most of the big decisions are made), time for public comment is made available only after all the decisions are made.  When the Republicans attempted to change this silly rule, the Democrats blocked them.  With a Republican majority on the Board of Directors, the people will be put first, where they belong.  Expecting people to wait until 10 or 11pm at night to speak publicly about an issue after it has already been decided is madness.  Accountability means allowing people to speak before the decisions are made and listening to the people.  A Republican majority will.

 The third tenet of the Accountability principle is that the people of Manchester should be able to directly elect the Mayor.  It is a simple but much needed reform to allow Manchester citizens to decide who is the Mayor.  Republicans will wholeheartedly support a charter revision that allows for this change to take place.