Story Archives of 'Town Meeting'

Town Meetings in Tough Times

By Laura Knoy on Sunday, March 15, 2009.

Last week, most New Hampshire communities wrapped up their annual sessions, and the poor economy was a major player. Many budgets were voted down, union contracts rejected, and voters said no to items they deemed unnecessary. We’ll recap the meeting season and look at how federal stimulus money might change the discussions.

Guest

Jon Greenberg, NHPR Executive Editor and curator for NHPR’s Town Meeting Map

We'll also hear from

Shir Haberman, editor of the Hampton Union
Meg Heckman, reporter for the Concord Monitor and coordinator for the paper’s town meeting coverage
Paul Inderbitzen, town moderator for Hudson
Cotton Cleveland, town moderator for New London

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Some Towns March to a Different Drummer

By Jon Greenberg on Wednesday, March 11, 2009.

March might be town meeting season in most communities, but across the state 11 towns have gone rogue.

I’m Jon Greenberg with this town meeting minute.

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Thrift Dominates Town Meetings

By Jon Greenberg on Wednesday, March 11, 2009.

Voters in towns across the state were handing down their final decisions on school and town spending yesterday. Overall they were in a thrifty mood and turned back collective bargaining contracts and new items like snow plows and police cars.

NHPR’s Jon Greenberg has been leading our coverage of town and school meetings, both on the air and online.

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Voters Cautious About Stimulus Dollars

By Jon Greenberg on Tuesday, March 10, 2009.

There might be millions of federal stimulus dollars running around but residents in one town weren’t ready to count those chickens before they hatch.

I’m Jon Greenberg with this town meeting minute.

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Town Meetings in Tough Times

By Shannon Mullen on Monday, March 9, 2009.

It's town meeting time again. In the midst of a global economic crisis, Granite State taxpayers are coming together over the next couple of days to approve their municipal budgets.

Besides all the bad news from Washington and Wall Street, New Hampshire cities and towns are facing their own budget worries. And as New Hampshire Public Radio correspondent Shannon Mullen reports, voters in some towns have some expensive decisions to make.

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Making Housing More Affordable

By Jon Greenberg on Monday, March 9, 2009.

As the economy tumbles, a couple of dozen towns want to make it easier to find an affordable place to live. With a little push from a new state law.

I’m Jon Greenberg with this town meeting minute.

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Rethinking Town Independence

By Jon Greenberg on Friday, March 6, 2009.

The idea that each town is an island and can take of itself might not survive this recession.

I’m Jon Greenberg with this town meeting minute.

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Wind Power Touches Town Meetings

By Jon Greenberg on Thursday, March 5, 2009.

The work of a college senior will affect a number of town meetings this year.

I’m Jon Greenberg with this town meeting minute.

A couple of years ago, Laura Carpenter was taking a class in Environmental Politics at the University of New Hampshire. When her group needed to come up with a topic, she suggested small wind power generators. The state had no guidelines to say when these backyard systems should be allowed. Carpenter’s team wrote a sample bill and it became state law last year.

Now, about a dozen towns are asking voters to approve local versions of that law. Carpenter says, that’s exactly what she hoped would happen.

CARPENTER: I felt that towns on an individual level either had conflicting regulations or were discouraging wind energy systems. :08

By making things consistent, Carpenter thinks it will be easier for motivated people to go green. Town planners say it makes sense to be ready to field proposals for these windmills as support for alternative energy sources grows.

With this town meeting minute, I’m Jon Greenberg.