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News
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Courts
Divided on Shaheen Statewide The NH Attorney General immediately appealed the Galway decision to the NH Supreme Court. The fundamentally flaw in the State's position is that property assessments vary widely from one community to the next, and that defect can not be remedied either quickly or inexpensively. Judge Richard Galway then clarified his ruling of January 17 regarding the amount of illegally collected property taxes that the State of New Hampshire would be obligated to return to the municipalities. The NH Attorney General had argued that the court decision required the return of only $48 million collected from "donor towns". Galway shattered that little misconception, one of several lately entertained by the Attorney General's staff, and ordered the refund of $880 million collected under the tax scheme which Galway had declared unconstitutional. The judge also noted that just such a refund had been promised by the Attorney General's representatives during the trial. In response to Galway's clarification, House Speaker Gene Chandler and Senate President Arthur Klemm filed a motion with the NH Supreme Court claiming that the Attorney General had no authority to make any such promise. Attorney General Philip McLaughlin, an unelected Shaheen appointee, appealed Galway's decision to the NH Supreme Court. On May 3, 2001, three of the five justices (all of whom are recent Shaheen appointees) overturned Galway's decision. The two remaining justices, Brock and Broderick, both of whom have served many years on the court, issued a strongly worded dissent. A statewide map depicting so-called donor and receiver municipalities was prepared in mid-2001 by the Coalition Communities.
Tax
Revolt The petition asks the Selectmen and townspeople to invoke Article X of the New Hampshire Constitution. This article, entitled The Right of Revolution, was adopted in 1784. It reads as follows:
A number of the petitioners interpret Article X to be a constitutional right that would allow the Town of Newington to secede from the State of New Hampshire. The Selectmen held a public hearing on July 31, 2001 in order to solicit input from the townspeople. A crowd estimated at 300 was in attendance. By Newington standards, that was a very large crowd, as our community's total population is only 900. A number of attendees came in from nearby communities to express support for the petitioners. Portsmouth Mayor Evelyn Sirrell proclaimed that
The complete text of Mayor Sirrell's comments are available on-line. A summary of the comments of many of the speakers have been preserved in the minutes of the Public Hearing. In response to the numerous pleas from townspeople to take action, the Selectmen agreed to hold a special Town Meeting on this issue in the coming months. On August 2, 2001, the Manchester Union leader published a Front Page editorial stating that Newington's petitioners
Fosters Daily Democrat also published a strongly worded editorial in support of the Newington petitioners. As for secession, Fosters' editors had this to say:
Fosters went on to state the following:
On July 29, former NH gubinatorial nominee Arnie Arnesen had this to say in her Boston Globe column:
Associated Press accounts of the proposed secession have been published in various newspapers across the United States. The story was also broadcast worldwide by CNN. The international news coverage resulted in a flurry of emails and phone calls from places far and near, nearly all of which were in support of the petitioners. One caller, a gentleman from New Jersey, praised the petitioners for their rebellious spirit, however he went on to express concern that our brave little town would be "Waco-ed". He was referring, of course, to the unhappy fate of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. On August 8, 2001, the Union Leader published another editorial entitled Listen up legislators: NH won't be NH without Newington and Rye. The editorial reads in part:
The Union Leader subsequently published a lengthy and informative article on the tax revolt on Sunday August 12, 2001. In regards to the calls for secession, Governor Shaheen and legislative leaders have issued no public response or comment.
Selectmen
Going to Jail?
Simplex
vs. Newington A brief history: In 1996, Simplex Wire & Cable, now known as Tycom, had proposed commercial development along some of their 92 acres east of Woodbury Avenue, opposite the Fox Run Mall. The land was zoned for industrial uses.
In November 1997,the Newington Board of Adjustment rejected Simplex's request for fourteen variances. Simplex appealed that decision to Superior Court. Judge Richard Galway ruled that the Newington Board of Adjustment had acted correctly. The decision was a strongly worded decision in the Town's favor. Simplex then appealed to the NH Supreme Court, seeking to overturn the Galway decision. The Supreme Court noted that the Superior Court had "properly applied settled law". Translation: Both the Newington Board of Adjustment and the Superior Court had applied the law correctly. The Supreme Court rejected Simplex's request to permit commercial development on their land. Instead, the case was sent back to Superior Court where Simplex's proposed development would be subjected to the Supreme Court's new rules for the granting of variances. The new rules represent a significant departure from many years of Supreme Court decisions. The new rules permit a property owner to more easily obtain a variance. The new rules are also far more ambiguous than the old ones, and that has left zoning board members across New Hampshire scratching their heads in puzzlement. This ambiguity will no doubt lead to a flury of Son-of-Simplex lawsuits in jurisdictions throughout New Hampshire. The confusion will continue until such time as the Supreme Court clarifies their new rules. On March 14, 2001, the Rockingham Planning Commission held a public forum on the new rules. The commission organized the forum in response to a barage of queries from zoning boards across the county. The principal speaker was Peter Loughlin, Newington's counsel in the Simplex case, and New Hampshire's foremost expert in land use law. Video tapes of Attorney Loughlin's March 14 lecture are available. Ironically, in the early summer of 2001, prior to the commencement of the second Superior Court trial, Tycom dropped the lawsuit. The Town subsequently issued a press releasecommenting on the significance of Tycom's withdrawal.
ConEd
Plant Completed This 40,000 square foot, $350 million, gas-fired facility generates 525 megawatts of electricity, enough power to supply approximately 700,000 homes. The plant is the third largest power producer in New Hampshire.
The project web site formerly contained hundreds of photographs that vividly document the construction progress. A portion of one such photograph (taken on November 8, 2001) is reproduced below.
Integral
to the project is ConEd's construction of mile-long roadway
to run from River Road to Piscataqua Drive, formerly known as the Simplex
access drive. When completed in early 2003, this multi-million dollar
roadway was given to the Town of Newington at no cost to the taxpayers. The new road was designated Shattuck Way due its proximity to the World War I shipyard of that name.
The new roadway will improve the efficiency
of industrial traffic, help to increase the Town's tax base, and eliminate
most truck traffic from the Woodbury Avenue corridor that is heavily
utilized by shoppers.
September
11, 2001 "We held a memorial
service, last night at 6 PM, in remembrance of the victims and families
of September 11. The attached picture shows those in attendance approximately
an hour before it began. Two local fire departments, held aloft on their
ladder trucks, one of the largest American flags I have had the privilege
to stand near. Mother Nature contributed with a breathtaking sunset as
a backdrop to the event.
In the end, the local
police and fire chiefs estimated in excess of 5,000 people had joined us.
When it was over at 7:30 PM, many small groups stayed. They sat in circles,
candles lit, simply not ready to let go of the comfort of the gathering.
It was the strangest atmosphere as it felt, despite their great numbers,
that they stood together as they had all known each other. Speaking freely,
among themselves, of their support and sorrow.
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is unconstitutional. The
esidents
of receiver towns such as Bedford and Amherst? Or for that matter, why
should we be fixing that opera house in Claremont or filling potholes
in Manchester? And what does any of this have to do with education? Rye
Selectman Joe Mills, tethered to Cos here on the left, apparently agrees.
Some folks in the Governor's office have requested that "the rhetoric
be toned down". Yeah, right.
