Conway Daily Sun
2005-02-25

Column:
The Silent Majority

Susan Bruce

— The N.H. Legislature visited the town of Tamworth last week. It’s not often that a legislative hearing is held outside of Concord, but last week, members of the House Municipal and County Government had a hearing on HB 90 at the Brett School in Tamworth. This was a great opportunity for folks who don’t spend time at the state house to witness our state government in action. That hearing was continued in Concord this past Tuesday. At least 200 people attended the Tamworth hearing, and about half that many came to Concord. So many folks came to Concord that the hearing had to be moved from the committee room at the Legislative Office Building to Representatives Hall in the State House.

Last year’s SB 458, which has become RSA 287-G, has sparked a lot of controversy. This was the legislation that magically turned a race track into a private driving instruction and exhibition facility. This legislation moved so quietly through the Legislature that no one was aware of it. No one attended the hearings. Given the numbers of folks who attended the repeal hearings, it is clear that folks would have been there if the bill hadn’t been kept so quiet.

Of the six senators that sponsored SB 458, only one was there to oppose the repeal bill. Sen. Robert Boyce spoke in Concord, in opposition to the repeal bill. He said that the facility in Tamworth isn’t a race track—he knows what a race track is. He also knows what a campaign contribution is—and he received two of them from CMI. The first was for $200 and the second was for $250. All of the sponsors of SB 458 received a contribution from CMI, in varying amounts. Senator Boyce was a recipient of one of the largest amounts.

Two members of the transportation committee that heard SB 458 last year were in Concord to testify. Rep. Kim Casey testified in support of the repeal bill (HB 90). She stated that the bill was not presented clearly, that the committee was assured that the town was in favor of the race track, and not enough time was taken to really evaluate the bill. Rep. Michael Scanlon did not take a position on the repeal bill, but testified that the committee was told zoning would take care of the town. He said that SB 458 comes close to being “spot” legislation, which he does not support.

At the Tamworth hearing, only three people spoke in opposition to the repeal bill. One was CMI’s lawyer, Susan Duprey, who, in no uncertain terms, threatened to sue the town. CMI’s PR flack, Scott Tranchemontagne, was left trying to clean that up, sounding rather like the Iraqi Minister of Information as he denied the military was bearing down on Baghdad. In Concord, two of the 11 who spoke in opposition were CMI employees, one was a CMI member, one a motorsports enthusiast, four Tamworth residents, and two Tamworth selectmen.

New CMI president Lloyd Dahmen presented a largely incoherent and off-topic rant. He started off attempting to grandstand to the audience—turning around to see who was watching him—but was reeled in by Committee Chair Betsy Patten. His opening remarks were about how “we aren’t communicating with one another” in Tamworth, but degenerated quickly into slurs against FOCUS Tamworth, the group trying to maintain some town control over the track. CMI’s last president, Stephan Condodemetrakey, was disappeared shortly after he spoke at the Army Corps of Engineers hearing in Tamworth, where he boasted that CMI had enough money to build ten racetracks. Those testifying were asked to stick to three minutes; I gave up timing when Dahmen reached the seven-minute mark. His remarks couldn’t rightly be called testimony, since he never really spoke to the issue at hand, HB 90.

CMI and its supporters maintain that they are the silent majority in Tamworth. It’s positively Nixonian. Tamworth resident Jim Boothby testified in Concord that the majority of Tamworth residents support CMI, but they are hardworking folk who can’t come to hearings. Committee member Rep. Peter Schmidt asked where they were when the Tamworth hearing was held. The hearing in Tamworth was from 5 to 7 p.m., an hour at which even the earliest risers wouldn’t turn into pumpkins. Newly (and interestingly) appointed selectman Dave Haskell tried to suggest that the race track ordinance passed by 84 percent of the voters at town meeting last year wasn’t representative of the town, either. One begins to wonder, where are these people who claim to be so outraged? By my count, a total of two Tamworth residents spoke against HB 90 at the Tamworth hearing. In Concord, it was a total of six. There was a combined total of nearly 90 speakers at the hearings, and we are expected to believe that the majority could come up with only eight people?

Those who support RSA 287-G are trying to suggest that HB 90 is special interest legislation. If they weren’t so deadly serious, it would be hilarious. CMI found a bunch of senators from out of the area who would submit the legislation they wrote. They passed the bill under the cover of silence, and rewarded the sponsors with campaign contributions—and now they’re trying to point a special interest finger? These people have no shame and no scruples.

Thanks go out to Reps. David Babson and Harry Merrow, who have worked so hard to repeal the real special interest bill. Thanks also go out to all of the local legislators who attended the hearings. Reps. Tom Buco, Howard Dickinson and Don Philbrick spoke in support of HB 90 at the Tamworth hearing. Rep. Carolyn Brown was there despite the discomfort of a badly broken arm. Rep. Mark McConkey was also present at the Tamworth hearing. Thanks to the Municipal and County Government Committee for having two hearings—and traveling all the way to Tamworth for one of them. I urge all everyone to contact their representatives and senators to let them know how you feel about this issue. If RSA 287-G is allowed to stand, it sends a clear message that legislation that bypasses the towns and voters can be purchased easily by big business.

“We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those because we have acted rightly.” —Aristotle

Susan Bruce is a writer and activist who lives in Jackson. She can be reached at madameovary@msn.com