Rep. Rick Watrous has submitted the following letter to the Concord Monitor and also passed it along to OurConcord.com:
I thank the Concord Monitor for drawing attention (“Let the fireworks begin!” Sept. 6) to the commission to study the Concord Union school district charter. Although it is my sincere hope that we will not earn the Monitor’s nickname of the “throw the strongest opinions in a room and let the yelling begin” commission.
Our duties, as stated in the law (HB 319) that created the commission, read: The commission shall study the historical relationship between the general court and the Concord Union school district and evaluate whether and in what manner the present legislative school district charter should be preserved, amended, or terminated in favor of a new school district charter.
The key phrase here is “legislative school district charter.” Concord’s school charter is unique in that it exists in legislative chapter law and can only be changed by action and approval of the state senate, house of representatives, and the governor. Currently neither the school board nor the voters of Concord can change their school district charter without the state house passing a law.
The commission is studying the basic issue of how well the current legislative school district charter serves the public, and whether and how it should be changed. (The present 1983 charter can be found on the Concord school district website.) A report is due from the commission by Dec. 1.
As the first named state representative to the commission, it was my duty to call the first meeting of the commission. I selected the time and location—Wednesday, Sept. 9, 7 PM, at the Concord City Council Chambers—with the Concord public in mind. It is my hope that citizens attend this organizational meeting and that they offer testimony when public hearings are scheduled.
Rep. Rick Watrous
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2 comments:
Seems really bogus to me. And a bit strange. You bring up an issue, for a bill and then you have a committee formed with the most biased people in the issue. How about just a random bunch of people, or they wouldn't get the bill passed.
Oh I get it now, if you yell loud enough and you have no evidence you get your way.
Stick to the purple bags.
Anon11:21: Interesting point.
As you may have read, I spoke out against the creation of the commission, stating that it wasn't needed. The residents of Concord should have the same rights as virtually everyone else in the Granite State. We need to study that? The state Senate, at the behest of Senate President Sylvia Larsen, our "representative" in the Senate, held up giving us that provision and forced this commission to be created.
Do note that any time you hear Larsen talk about "democracy," remember that it is only democracy she approves of ... not every kind of democracy.
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