Plainfield’s school district and town business sessions (budgets and warrant articles) will be held on June 5 at the recreational fields behind the school. The school district meeting will convene at 9 a.m. and conclude midday. Town Meeting will convene at 2 p.m.
Yes, it will be a long day. Here’s how the meetings will proceed:
■ There will be two large tents with chairs and field bleachers; dress according to whatever June 5 brings, but know we plan to proceed even if raining. We will postpone the meetings (to June 12) only if there is extreme dangerous weather.
■ Check in as always with election officials and receive your voting/tear-off cards. Because the two meetings comprise separate governing entities, you will have to check in again for Town Meeting to receive a new voting card.
■ When the school district meeting ends, we ask that voters leave the meeting site and then return for Town Meeting. This will allow election officials time to prepare for checking in voters.
■ Parking will be in the school lot, but there will be parking closer to the tents for those who need easier access.
■ Cold water, sanitation centers and portable toilets will be available (the school will not be open).
■ Please wear face masks. We understand that many, but not all, will be vaccinated by June 5. This, coupled with being outside and some distancing will contribute to a lower COVID-19 risk. But because there will be a range of risk tolerance among those attending, wearing a mask will be a thoughtful way to make all comfortable. As we did last year, there will a separate area for those who choose not to wear masks.
■ There will be “traveling” microphones so you can speak from where you are seated.
■ Regular moderator rules (copies available) will govern the proceedings.
We know this is a different format, but with patience and flexibility it should work and we can be proud of getting it done as we did last year. Please call me with questions, 603-298-8519.
PAUL FRANKLIN
Plainfield
The writer is Plainfield’s town moderator.
In his January 1996 State of the Union address, President Bill Clinton told America that “the era of big government is over.” Later in the same speech he even suggested that Americans deserved a government that lived within its means.
By the end of the 1996 fiscal year, the national debt was $5.22 billion. At the end of fiscal 2000, the national debt was $5.67 billion.
In fiscal 1996, our federal government spent $1.6 trillion. In 2000, it spent $1.76 trillion. Spending went up 10% after Clinton declared that the era of big government was over. At least in 1996, the majority of American voters still believed that governments should live within their means. You know, like the rest of us.
Just 25 years later, Americans are apparently unconcerned about debt. This in spite of the fact that the national debt is over $28 trillion and President Joe Biden has proposed in excess of $6 trillion in new spending over and above routine spending. Got that? Biden and his party want new spending that would amount to more than triple the total annual expenditures of only two decades ago. Is that what millions of voters had in mind when they voted for him?
In more manageable numbers, today’s national debt amounts to $85,000 per person, and more than $225,000 per taxpayer. (see usdebtclock.org). If Biden, Sen. Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi get their way, it will get much worse very quickly.
Folks, debt is the crisis of our day. Debt will lead to our nation’s demise, if not in our lifetimes, then surely that of our grandchildren. It is immoral to bequeath that curse to our progeny.
DICK TRACY
Lebanon