Meredith politics-tuesday March 14 election

[fatlazyless]

Meredith is going from a total of three to five selectman in this election as was decided by the Meredith voters in the March 2005 election.

Miller Lovett www.svmcl.us vs. Chuck Lowth for one of the new selectman's seats. This seat is for a one year term in this election cycle and will be for a longer term in the next election in 2007. Each voter will cast one vote in this year's election for this seat.


In the election for the two other and seperate three-year selectman seats, it is Bob Flanders (incumbent) vs. Colette Worsman vs. Gerald Brooks vs. Peter Brothers. Each voter will cast two votes in this election with the two candidates who receive the most votes, winning a seat.

Any info and particularly a website link for any of the candidates would be appreciated here.

Is there any chance some 'puter savvy person could post a link to the official ballot that shows all the Town of Meredith election position-choices including the two important questions about building a new police station and a new fire station. All the info in the town website is in pdf(?) as opposed to html and is not accessable to my old web-tv box.

tanks-a-lot!

[fatlazyless]

With the election about two weeks away this article could be helpfull to voters in learning about the candidates. fll


The Laconia Daily Sun, Wednesday March 1, 2006

By Ed Engler

Mix of candidates for Meredith selectmen includes 4 seasoned vets and 2 fresh faces


MEREDITH - Four of the six people running for the three open seats on the Board of Selectman this year have long impressive records of community involvement. The other two are seeking to jump into the local
political scene for the first time with both feet.
All six had an opportunity last week to address the 75 or so voters who attended a town-sponsored candidates forum at the Chase House last week and all gave signifigant insight into what motivates them.
Consider the resumes of the four veterans:
- Peter Brothers served for nine years on the Inter-Lakes School Board and has been chairman of the town's Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Committee for the past six years. He is also a director of the Greater Laconia Area Community Land Trust, a well respected non-profit corporation in the business of renovating properties into affordable housing units. Brothers, a vice-president at Meredith Village Savings Bank, has lived in Meredith since 1978.
- Bob Flanders is an incumbent selectman, seeking his third three-year term. He has been a member of the Planning Board since 1990 and he at one time chaired both that board and the CIP Committee - when it was first formed. He is the Selectboard's representative on the Police Station Building Committee. Flanders has lived in Meredith since he got out of the service in 1972. The construction company he founded is now operated by his son but he remains active in the field by doing consulting work and by serving as the building code enforcements officer in Gilmanton, three days a week.
- Miller Lovett is currently a Trustee of the town's trust funds, a member of the CIP Committee and a member of the Police Station Building Committee. He was co-chairman of the town's Space Needs Study Committee and is also a director of the Greater Meredith Program. Lovett has lived in Meredith for 20 years, and in the Lakes Region for 40 years. He is a retired college professor (management) and minister (United Methodist Church and United Church of Christ).
- Chuck Lowth is co-chairman of the Police Station Building Committee and a director of the county-owned Gunstock Recreation Area. A Meredith native, he works as chief operating officer for Outside Unlimited, a local landscape company.
By contrast, neither Gerald Brooks nor Colette Worseman have held an elected or appointed public policy position in the Lakes Region:
- Brooks is a laborer who has run twice before for a position on the Selectboard. A native of South Dakota, he once worked as a custodian for the Inter-Lakes School District. He told voters at the forum he considers himself to be a "radical conservative" with a "positive attitude".
- Worseman has managed the finance end of things for her building contractor husband since the couple moved to Meredith 15 years ago. The Londonderry native has worked in banking and served on the Finance Committee in the Town of Weare. She also stressed her conservative credentials, telling the forum audience she realized the selectmen's races are non-partisan in nature but if they weren't she would be running as a "strong conservative Republican."
Brooks and Worsman are competing against one another, but they also have company.
The Selectboard is expanding from three to five seats this year because of a petitioned warrant article that voters approved last March. Brooks, Brothers, Flanders, and Worsman are all running for the two three-year terms available. Each voter will cast two votes in this race and the two leading vote-getters will be declared the winners.
The second "new" seat on the board will initially carry with it just a one-year term so that no more than two seats will ever again come up for election in the same year. Lovett and Lowth are running for this position.
Brooks perhaps revealed less about why he wants to serve on the Selectboard than the others, saying only the "the selectmen are raising the fees on everything" and he believes that communication (with the taxpayers) and information go a long way".
Brothers said he considers himself to be level-headed and he would do a good job because he has managment experience and is motivated by a "sincere desire to serve". "I have a strong sense of community." he said.
Flanders said that if re-elected he will again have "no special agenda" for the Selectboard and continue to "have the best interests of the town at heart". He said his motto will continue to be "honesty and integrity".
Lovett said he wants to "help expand democracy" by getting more people involved in the decision making process. "Meredith is a jewell," he said, adding that the town's future "must be molded by its' citizens." Lovett stressed that he is a "team player" who is authoring a series of position papers - to be found online at www.svmcl.us - to "get some issues on the table".
Lowth said he offers voters a "generic candidacy" with no "bells or whistles". "I'll work for you," he told voters, adding that he considered himself to be a fiscally responcible candidate who will take a "business approach to government".
Worsman said she will bring "lots of energy" to the Selectboard and that her goal would be to listen to the taxpayers and offer a "fresh perspective". Like Brooks, she indicated a belief that town officials have not done enough to make sure residents are fully informed about the issues of the day.
Replays of the candidate's forum are being shown by Lakes Region Public Access Television on MetroCast Cablevision channel 26. See the on air schedule for dates and times.

The Laconia Daily Sun, Wednesday March 1 2006, By Ed Engler