As a member of New London’s Budget and Building & Facilities Committees; Police and Whipple Hall Subcommittees; and 2018 Capital Improvement Committee, I’m running for the Board of Selectmen because I believe it’s important to make impactful decisions based on gathering and reviewing comprehensive information.
The Selectboard needs to respect the work of committees and commissions established by the town to fulfill resident-desired initiatives within the 2021 Master Plan. For example, the town’s Housing Commission is composed of residents with expertise on affordable housing, including workforce housing. Similarly, on the Budget Committee, I helped reinstate funds for a Main Street Corridor Study so the Planning Board can continue their transportation review, a Master Plan priority.
I responded to the Master Plan survey in support of conservation, recreation, affordable housing, sustainable energy and maintaining the town’s charm. These initiatives are not mutually exclusive. I want to help the town deliver our Master Plan vision with data-centric implementation plans to help inform how we further prioritize each strategy. The Selectboard has an obligation to facilitate this with involvement from both residents and committees. I want to make decisions with the town, not for the town.
Additionally, the Selectboard should present residents with the cost impact (both budget and tax) of these initiatives. A bottom-up, informed decision process is appropriate to implement our Master Plan. A top-down process without a plan can burden the town with investments or decisions that harm its character and/or financial profile.
New London’s spirit is contagious and its residents friendly. It’s important to embrace diversity and opportunities for the town to grow as a welcoming community.
Finally, and unfortunately, after filing to run for New London’s Board of Selectmen, there have been some disingenuous comments and rumors going around town about me. My desire to serve the town on the Selectboard has nothing to do with partisan politics; I have supporters who range from conservative to liberal, and I am an undeclared registered voter. My only agenda in running is to help the town make thoughtful and data-driven decisions with resident interest and participation.
Thank you for your consideration!
Colin Beasley
New London
Every place has its urban legends, but until recently I didn’t know any about the Upper Valley.
A religious camp between the villages of White River and Wilder is apparently fodder for fearmongering among local adolescents. Amazingly, the Advent Camp Meeting Grounds has been in operation since 1887 and, at the request of the Hartford Preservation Board, was entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.
Joseph Trottier, the resident caretaker since 1994 and “ad hoc historian,” started attending the camp in 1954. He grew up believing strongly in service to country and community and put these principles into action by joining the Air Force as a young man and volunteering on various boards and committees in the town of Hartford ever since.
But local lore has it that the camp is home to a cult. There are, of course, large wooden crosses, and the miniature Victorian cabins’ elongated profiles could make them seem eerie given the right light or tilt of the head. Sadly, over the years there have been multiple reports of vandalism to this historic site, but what concerns me most is its infamous nickname.
According to Mr. Trottier, the Advent Camp has always been integrated and was even home to a family of color. Census records from the 1920s and 1930s confirm that the wife of the caretaker at that time was a person of color. Unfortunately, just as the town of Dayton, Tenn., was linked with a racist nickname during the 1925 Scopes Trial, the Advent Camp was given this same demarcation in reference to its caretaking family.
In discussing a solution to such an ugly nickname, Mr. Trottier asked that instead we “call it what it is, the Advent Campground.” I couldn’t agree more; we know better today about the importance of language and owe people of color more than to maintain racist nicknames. My hope is that we use the example of stories like this to explore our own histories and challenge the assumptions we all have.
Dana Jacobson-Goodhue
Hartland
Residents of Hanover and Norwich come together on March 1 to vote on our Dresden School District budget and related warrant articles. The Hanover Finance Committee voted unanimously to support the Dresden budget proposal, which increases baseline spending by 4%. Further, HFC unanimously supports new union contracts with both district teachers and support staff (Articles 4 and 5). The two-year teachers’ contract includes a 2% base increase; the board estimates total compensation costs will grow an average of 2.4% per year.
The Dresden district does not tax directly; rather, its assessments are folded into the Hanover and Norwich school district tax rates. Comparisons to prior years and ultimate tax rate impacts are complicated by the pending absorption of Hanover sixth-graders into the Dresden district and one-time tax relief in Hanover. The net Dresden assessment to Hanover will increase by 18%, or $2.6 million, largely reflecting the absorption of sixth-graders into the district and for which there is a partial offset of $1.9 million to the Hanover district from foregone tuition expense. Norwich’s net assessment increases 12%, or $892k, reflecting an increase in pro rata students in grades 7-12. The tax rate increase in Hanover is projected to be significantly buffered by state-level, and likely one-time only, property tax relief.
Lastly, the HFC unanimously supports the athletic field renovation bond (Article 2) and empowering the school board to retain unspent funds (Article 7) up to 5% of the net assessment amount.
Please vote: 1) Via absentee ballot for the COVID-concerned; or 2) March 1 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the high school (for Hanover voters) and at Tracy Hall (for Norwich voters). Details of the warrant articles and budget can be found at www.sau70.org, as can links to the presentation and discussion of the Dresden warrant articles and budget, which were held at Hanover High School on Thursday.
Carey Callaghan
Hanover
Carey Callaghan is vice chair of the Hanover Finance Committee.