March 9, Meredith elections

[fatlazyless]

Here's a couple serious letters-to-the-editor from the newpaper that I thought I'd post as a new thread because they are both serious and thought provoking for local voters to consider in the upcoming Tuesday, March 9, Meredith elections.
......

Mr Mega is married to a teacher & that would handicap I-L board

To the Editor: I have learned that Mr. Christopher Mega of Meredith has filed to run for the Inter-Lakes School Board. I have every confidence that Mr. Mega possesses the personal qualities that would make him effective. However, there is one circumstance in his life that bears on this issue. He is the spouse of an Inter-Lakes teacher.

Policy number 8345 within the section of those policies dealing with "Internal Board Operations" addresses conflicts of interest. This policy prohibits a Board Member from "debating, discussing, or voting on a nomination or other issue" when a conflict of interest exists. This means, should Mr. Mega be elected, he would have to recuse himself from many discussions and votes having to do with the professional teaching staff, which includes the ILEA, the Inter-Lakes Education Association. Neither could he serve as a member of a Board negotiations team dealing with the professional teaching staff.

The first of these two issues carries the potential to leave the Board repeatedly without an odd number of members to vote on teacher related issues, while the second shifts the burden of professional negotiations to other Board members.

This is an important issue as negotiations with the professional staff have been very time consuming and often protracted. They could become even more so should the economic climate result in shorter-term settlements. For example, a series of one-year settlements would mean negotiating every year.

We are coming to the end of a three-year agreement with the ILEA. We have just concluded negotiations with the support staff resulting in a two-year agreement. Agreements of three years in duration have been the historic norm.

As of now, the Board will be negotiating with the ILEA during the fall of 2010. The following year, 2011, the Board will again be negotiating with the ILSSA, the support-staff.

Voters need to be aware of the complexities involved in being a member of a school board.

Howard Cunningham
School Board Member
Sandwich

Laconia Daily Sun, Feb 24, page 4

.........


Special interests will pack I-L meeting and restore all the cuts

To the Editor, Laconia Daily Sun,

With regard to the Inter-Lakes School District (A/K/A Inter-Lakes Country Club): I don't have to be a psychic to predict what is going to happen at the school district meeting. The special interest, two hundred plus, family, and a call list for others, will vote to restore any cuts the school board has worked so hard to make. They don't live in the real world - they get pay raises for just showing up for work, summer off, snow days, a benefits and retirement package the private sector could just dream of.

Taxpayers are losing their jobs and their homes with no end in sight. The system is flawed. We need SB-2 for both town and school meetings. Good luck on lowering your taxes.

George Horne
Meredith

Laconia Daily Sun, Feb 23, 2010, page 6
........

[Argie's Wife]

On the simplest level I see two separate issues here:
1) Concern about a conflict of interest
2) Concerns about the school district annual meeting, with the potential of 'the school people' loading the meeting to sway the vote


My response:
1) If the policy is followed there should be no problem. In Alton, we have a Board member who's mother is an employee of the school district and he recuses himself from discussion/voting when appropriate - and it's only been a handful of times. No problem, really.
2) Again, that logic can work both ways - the 'non-school people' can also attend and vote. It's called democracy. Encourage people to attend and vote. Whether they are for or against the school's budget, at least they CARE and are active in the local decision making.

I would like to see the author of issue #2 teach at a local high school for a day and see how he fares with that "they just show up" attitude. He wouldn't last long. :coolsm:

[fatlazyless]

On the simplest level I see two separate issues here:
1) Concern about a conflict of interest
2) Concerns about the school district annual meeting, with the potential of 'the school people' loading the meeting to sway the vote


My response:
1) If the policy is followed there should be no problem. In Alton, we have a Board member who's mother is an employee of the school district and he recuses himself from discussion/voting when appropriate - and it's only been a handful of times. No problem, really.
2) Again, that logic can work both ways - the 'non-school people' can also attend and vote. It's called democracy. Encourage people to attend and vote. Whether they are for or against the school's budget, at least they CARE and are active in the local decision making.

I would like to see the author of issue #2 teach at a local high school for a day and see how he fares with that "they just show up" attitude. He wouldn't last long. :coolsm:


Hello Argie's Wife, as someone who has had a number of posts related to the Alton schools over the past year or two, you no doubt have a deep understanding on how a local town and a school administrative unit work together.

As I understand from what I've read in your other posts, you are right now running for the Alton school board, and your husband is a math teacher in the local school system that includes Alton, so your situation is remarkably similar to Chris Mega in Meredith. Both you and Chris are running for a school board seat, you in Alton, he in Meredith, and both of you have spouses who are math teachers in the same system for which you are now school board candidates.

Correct me if I am incorrect as I am not very knowlegable about the working of the school board, but based on the letter from Howard Cunningham, School Board Member from Sandwich, it would seem that as a spouse of a teacher, wouldn't it be likely that you would probably be asked to recuse yourself when dealing with school board issues that deal with teachers since your spouse is a teacher, there? That has got to cover and include a very large volume of school board issues because the teacher is a signifigant factor in the education of the student.

For a voter in either Meredith or Alton, it certainly seems to me that this is an important question for the voters to consider. After all, no matter how caring, concerned, understanding, knowlegable, and hard-working somebody may be; does it really make them a good choice for the board if they will frequently need to be recused when making a vote on any one issue that includes teachers?

Is this a school board member who will be able to work effectively for Meredith or Alton parents?

.....

Meredith ballot elections, Tuesday, March 9, 7am-7pm, Meredith Community Center

School Board member position, Meredith: incumbent Jack Carty vs challenger Chris Mega

For a terrific snapshot article on these two school board candidates done by Bea Lewis, suggest you read the February 18 (click on news) www.citizen.com, or go to google.
....

[fatlazyless]

Meredith Selectman's race: Tuesday, March 9, 7am-7pm, Meredith Community Center

Incumbent Bob Flanders, incumbent Miller Lovett, newcomer Holly Tetreault, and newcomer Nathan Torr are all running at large for two open, three-year positions on the Meredith Select Board. The two with the most votes win :)!

Suggest you read the terrific snapshot article done by Bea Lewis in the February 22, (click on news) www.citizen.com or go to google.

And most importantly, don't forget to vote! All of the three winning candidates; one school member, and two selectmen, will have won their very important and responsible position for the next three long years ahead so it really does make a big deal who wins :rolleye1:!

[Meredith Resident]

Meredith Selectman's race: Tuesday, March 9, 7am-7pm, Meredith Community Center

Incumbent Bob Flanders, incumbent Miller Lovett, newcomer Holly Tetreault, and newcomer Nathan Torr are all running at large for two open, three-year positions on the Meredith Select Board. The two with the most votes win :)!

Suggest you read the terrific snapshot article done by Bea Lewis in the February 22, (click on news) www.citizen.com or go to google.

And most importantly, don't forget to vote! All of the three winning candidates; one school member, and two selectmen, will have won their very important and responsible position for the next three long years ahead so it really does make a big deal who wins :rolleye1:!

Thanks for sharing this article. I know who I am voting for! Here is a direct link, to save some time. http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100222/GJNEWS02/702229896/-1/citnews1402

[Argie's Wife]

As I understand from what I've read in your other posts, you are right now running for the Alton school board, and your husband is a math teacher in the local school system that includes Alton, so your situation is remarkably similar to Chris Mega in Meredith. Both you and Chris are running for a school board seat, you in Alton, he in Meredith, and both of you have spouses who are math teachers in the same system for which you are now school board candidates.

Correct me if I am incorrect as I am not very knowlegable about the working of the school board, but based on the letter from Howard Cunningham, School Board Member from Sandwich, it would seem that as a spouse of a teacher, wouldn't it be likely that you would probably be asked to recuse yourself when dealing with school board issues that deal with teachers since your spouse is a teacher, there? That has got to cover and include a very large volume of school board issues because the teacher is a signifigant factor in the education of the student.

For a voter in either Meredith or Alton, it certainly seems to me that this is an important question for the voters to consider. After all, no matter how caring, concerned, understanding, knowlegable, and hard-working somebody may be; does it really make them a good choice for the board if they will frequently need to be recused when making a vote on any one issue that includes teachers?

Is this a school board member who will be able to work effectively for Meredith or Alton parents?



For the record: My husband does NOT teach in the Alton school district. He teaches for the Newfound School District in Bristol, NH. I have two children in the Alton District and that's hardly a conflict of interest.

I gave you the example I did in my first post on this thread to show (a) it's not really a problem here - I've watched this in action for over three years and the number of times that board member with a parent working for the district has had to recuse himself from a discussion or vote were few and far between; and (b) if policies are adhered to there's no issue, either.

School board policies vary from district to district but I would think that a spouse on a Board would only need to recuse himself/herself when there was a DIRECT decision concerning that board member's husband/wife/SO or their department w/in the school.

If someone wanted true stats on that, they should go back through two or three years' worth of meeting minutes and see when Mrs. Mega's name comes up or her department. That might give someone an idea of how often Mr. Mega would need to recuse himself.... I would imagine it's not that often, if at all.

In answer to your question: If elected, Mr. Mega would have a good perspective to bring to the Board table on the day-in/day-out life of a teacher and, along with the other members of the Board, would be a part of the decision making process - remember: one person does not speak for the Board - the Board works as a collective or majority.

[fatlazyless]

...whoopsie doopsie....Argies Wife....sorry about that...you are 100% correct that your husband's teaching in a different district would not be a conflict of interest....Newfound-Bristol....Alton-Alton.....different lakes and different towns and different schools totally....so please accept my apology....and buoy....is my face red...:rolleye1:!

[Argie's Wife]

...whoopsie doopsie....Argies Wife....sorry about that...you are 100% correct that your husband's teaching in a different district would not be a conflict of interest....Newfound-Bristol....Alton-Alton.....different lakes and different towns and different schools totally....so please accept my apology....and buoy....is my face red...:rolleye1:!

No worries - I didn't expect you to remember exactly where my other half works and I'm not even sure if I mentioned the district before... maybe... Anyhow, if he was to change jobs to be closer to home we would deal with it when the time comes but he's been in Bristol now for twelve years and loves his work. :)

[BroadHopper]

I remember him from Belknap College. He was an opinionated professor.

[fatlazyless]

Say,they don't call Miller the 'champaign of bottled beer' for nothing, plus it has a good low price for such a high quality brew....about $2.09/qt cold at Heaths in Center Harbor. This Miller is for you! .....www.svmcl.us

[cmega]

I gave you the example I did in my first post on this thread to show (a) it's not really a problem here - I've watched this in action for over three years and the number of times that board member with a parent working for the district has had to recuse himself from a discussion or vote were few and far between; and (b) if policies are adhered to there's no issue, either.

School board policies vary from district to district but I would think that a spouse on a Board would only need to recuse himself/herself when there was a DIRECT decision concerning that board member's husband/wife/SO or their department w/in the school.

If someone wanted true stats on that, they should go back through two or three years' worth of meeting minutes and see when Mrs. Mega's name comes up or her department. That might give someone an idea of how often Mr. Mega would need to recuse himself.... I would imagine it's not that often, if at all.

In answer to your question: If elected, Mr. Mega would have a good perspective to bring to the Board table on the day-in/day-out life of a teacher and, along with the other members of the Board, would be a part of the decision making process - remember: one person does not speak for the Board - the Board works as a collective or majority.

Hi Everybody -

This is Chris Mega - I am the school board candidate. "Argie's Wife" stated the case perfectly. In fact we've checked with the State's attorney just to be sure. There is no conflict whatsoever, unless a vote directly involving my wife comes up -- something like a request for leave of absence. Otherwise voting on issues that affect teachers en masse is completely legal.

The number of times recusal comes into play is extremely small, and your comment about the board working as a collective or majority is right on. There are currently two members of the board whose wives were employed by the district - one currently, one recently retired this past summer - and recusal has never been an issue.

The thing that surprised me about Howard Cunningham's letter is he already knows, or should have known, there is no conflict of interest. He makes it sound like recusals happen all the time - they simply don't. I wrote a response to his letter which appeared in the Laconia Daily Sun yesterday (http://www.laconiadailysun.com/LaconiaPDF/2010/2/25L.pdf), and I hope will appear in the Citizen shortly.

I am glad these issues come out so they can be handled properly - otherwise an article like Mr. Cunningham's spreads a false impression. Thank you to the original poster for bringing this up so we can clear up the misconception.

I am running for the board to make things better and increase transparency -- not to play games or manipulate the rules. Letters like Mr. Cunningham's muddy the waters, not clear them up.

Thanks for listening, and you can visit my site at www.ChrisMega.com for a little more information on my background and the issues, and contact me directly.

There is a meet-the-candidates meeting at 3pm this Sunday 2/28 at the Methodist Church in Sandwich if you're interested in coming out and meeting me and the other candidates.

And lastly - one thing to remind folks -- all registered voters from Sandwich, Center Harbor, and Meredith can vote on the Meredith school board position since we all belong to the same district. It's only the town-specific positions such as library trustee, or selectman, where you can only vote within your town.

- Chris

UPDATE - 5:12pm Friday 2/26. I just exchanged Emails with the editor of the Citizen, and he said my rebuttal was posted ONLINE in yesterday's edition (http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100225/GJOPINION02/702259935/-1/CITOPINION)
but had not been put in the print edition. It may run Monday.

- Chris

[fatlazyless]

Welcome to the forum Chris and for posting your post #1 here as a real live, non-anonymous person with a real name.

I'm still more or less undecided on who to vote for the school board seat and for the two selectmen's seats, and figure that between now and election day, Tuesday March 9, there will most likely be more info in the local papers.

Driving past the Inter-Lakes School today, the signboard out front announced that the school annual meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 3, starting at 7-pm. Is that when the school's annual budget comes up for approval by a show of hands vote? If yes, then that certainly is a very important vote.

I assume that the voting for the Meredith school board seat takes place on Tuesday, March 9, 7am-7pm at the Meredith Community Center along with the voting for the two selectman's seats.

best, fll

[cmega]

Hi fll --

Thanks for the "welcome"!

Who knows what will be in the papers the next week and a half. Hopefully nothing too contentious about the school board anyway.

You are correct - the March 3 vote is the show of hands (or secret ballot, most likely) for the school board budget article along with 6 other articles. Motions can be made from the floor by the public to amend any of the articles as presented. So that's where the public will argue their cases for amending the budget to put back or remove items. It is an important vote not only for the dollars in the budget, but also for its political ramifications.

You are correct about the March 9 vote as well.

What do you mean you don't know who to vote for re: school board? I'm the only logical candidate :) But seriously - if you have any questions about me, my positions on the issues, or anything else by all means ask - publicly here, or via Email from www.ChrisMega.com. Or stop by Sandwich on Sunday for meet-the-candidates.

- Chris

[fatlazyless]

Hello again Chris and thanks for your reply.

It's good to have some back & forth in an open forum like this and good communication always helps to keep the inquiring minds of local folks informed on what's happening in the school and town. Probably, some people running for local office tend to shy away from open internet forums for various reasons but I say the more the better and sure welcome any of the other candidates out there to please chime in.

With six different candidates running for three, three-year postions, I think it is safe to say that all positions are open and available and there really is no shoo-in favorites.....it's a wide open election...so local voters need to listen with both ears and make their best choices.

I just went back and reread the Bea Lewis article in the February 18 www.citizen.com titled " Two way race for Inter-Lakes School Board spot" and learned:

Inter-Lakes School: SAU-3, grades K-12 has a total budget over 19-million dollars

200 people work there as teachers & support staff

1000 local students go there to learn
......

March 3, Wednesday 7-pm: annual school town meeting and school voting at the High School, show of hands vote

March 9, Tuesday 7am to 7pm: annual town elections for Meredith school board and two Meredith selectmen, all 3-year positions, private paper ballot vote at the Community Center

March 10, Wednesday 7-pm: annual town meeting, 10 warrant article votes, show of hands vote, at the High School gym
.....

I'm trying to think of something intelligent to say here and just want to suggest that people tend to make their voting choices and then pretty much forget about it until they receive the next property tax bill and then it really hits home as to how much the local school and town government costs to run.

best, fll