Mont Vernon residents get to reconsider SB-2

Thursday, February 2, 2012

MONT VERNON – Well, that didn’t take long.

Less than two years after voters adopted, by an almost 2-1 margin, Senate Bill 2 ballot voting for the Mont Vernon School District, they’ll be asked at the March election if they wish to rescind that decision and return to the traditional district meeting format.

The issue’s swift return to the spotlight was largely driven, School Board Chairman Kim Roberge said, by concerns that many voters may not have fully understood the difference between the two formats when they cast votes in 2010.

“We put it back on (the warrant) because we felt a lot of people didn’t know what it was about,” Roberge said at the recent public hearing on the district’s proposed 2012-13 budget and other warrant articles.

The 2010 measure passed 262-144, roughly 20 votes more than the three-fifths majority it needed to pass.

Though the proposal, which will appear as Article 5 on the warrant, will be up for discussion with the rest of the warrant at the Feb. 8 deliberative session, the School Board has also set an additional public hearing – on the SB2 issue alone – for Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 6 p.m.

Known officially as Senate Bill 2, SB2 does away with traditional town or school district meeting and replaces it with two public sessions followed by a secret ballot vote.

Most Souhegan Valley towns and school districts have adopted SB2 since its passage in 1995. Among them are Mont Vernon’s SAU 39 siblings, the Souhegan Cooperative and Amherst school districts.

Mont Vernon’s town government remains under the traditional town meeting format. Amherst’s town government adopted SB2 some years ago.

Not surprisingly, the main catalysts behind the 2010 passage of SB2 – longtime residents Tom and Norma McKinney – aren’t pleased the issue is resurfacing so soon.

“Well, frankly, I wasn’t surprised … I pretty much expected it,” Tom McKinney said this week. “There are people in town who didn’t like going to SB2 in the first place. A lot of people believe (budgets and other articles) should be discussed very thoroughly at a town or school district meeting.”

The McKinneys are also frequent critics of school district spending, panning in a recent letter to the editor the proposed fiscal 2012-13 school operating budget. The proposed budget stands at just under $4.9 million, roughly 4.5 percent higher than the current budget. While board members unanimously support the budget, the Advisory Budget Committee unanimously opposes it.

“Just as SB2 is beginning to help taxpayers, the School Board has introduced article 5 to rescind SB2,” they wrote in the letter. They also charged that “some school board members and selectmen … of Mont Vernon want to take more tax money from us, and now, even cut back our voting privileges.”

“Many have taken a hit on savings and incomes and had to tighten their belts. The school system should be no exception. The suffering taxpayer is the one in need now.”

In presenting their case for SB2 leading up to the 2010 election, the McKinneys described the system as much fairer than its historic counterpart, pointing to reports that claim SB2 is gaining popularity based largely on the belief that more residents, therefore a fairer representation of the town, are more likely to cast a ballot at the polls than take part in a voice vote at town or school district meeting.

Perhaps the main reason the McKinneys, and other SB2 advocates, support the system, he said, is their belief it gives voters of all demographics – working people, the elderly or disabled, those with tight schedules or family commitments or who travel often – a wider window of opportunity to weigh in on the issues.

“Too many people aren’t able to get to a town or district meeting, but can get to the polls during the day,” he said. “We know a lot of seniors who have difficulty getting out. It’s far easier to have 12 hours to go vote during the day than go out at night until late.”

School Board member John Quinlan disagreed.

“SB2 was created for larger towns. It was never meant for small towns like Mont Vernon,” he said at the public hearing.

“In my personal opinion, SB2 encourages democratic laziness. It’s not a good system; there are too many uninformed people,” Quinlan added.

While the board agreed unanimously to put the article on the warrant, member Trevor Girard said it doesn’t mean all members are in favor of repealing SB2.

“We all voted to put it on there, but that doesn’t mean we all agree one way or the other,” he said.

Dean Shalhoup can be reached at 673-3100, ext. 303, or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.