Letters: A lesson from Croydon, NH: Using and abusing the tools of democracy – Foster’s Daily Democrat

A lesson from Croydon, NH: Using and abusing the tools of democracy

May 8 To the Editor:

One of the saddest developments in recent times is the expert use of the tools of democracy by those seeking to destroy the institutions democracy makes possible.

A recent example occurred in March in the tiny town of Croydon, New Hampshire. A combination of bad weather, indifference, and busy lives kept the vast majority of the towns 801 residents from attending the annual school district meeting. The key item? A vote on the local school budget.

Undeterred by bad weather and with a specific mission in mind, a member of a libertarian-leaning group whose mission includes eliminating public education across New Hampshire introduced a motion to cut the school budget in half. A majority of the 34 people present, who included other members of the Free State Project and their allies, voted to support the motion.

All of a sudden, a largely forgotten school board had the full attention of a previously sleepy community. The reaction at first was shock. Then shock turned to anger. How could something like this happen in a town so proud of its K-4 school and so committed to going the extra mile to educate its children?

The answer was obvious. It happened because people skeptical of and even hostile to public education showed up and voted. Meanwhile, the vast majority of residents who value public education and whose children depend on it stayed home.

Fortunately, Croydon residents had one more card to play the possibility of unwinding the vote if more than half the towns voters showed up for a special meeting. In the end, members of a chastened but wiser community voted 377-2 to restore the school budget to its original level.

While Croydons victory is worth celebrating, it also presents a cautionary tale of what can happen when civic engagement lags and distracted voters fail to understand that not all of their fellow residents or elected officials share their values or their commitment to community.

This year in New Hampshire weve seen elected officials use redistricting laws as an opportunity to tighten the grip of a single political party. Weve witnessed other laws passed to make absentee voting harder and to quash the ability of members of the public to fully participate remotely in public meetings. At the local level, weve seen vocal groups crowd into public meetings to make demands that often dont reflect the will of a majority of other members of the community and get the changes they demanded.

While we may not like the results, these outcomes all represent democracy in action. To win, you must show up and play. When you dont, you run the risk of ceding control over the issues that matter to you to a vocal minority adept at using the tools of democracy to unravel things you care deeply about.

Increasingly, many of us wonder if democracy is working or not working. But the truth is democracies dont take action or solve problems people do. For democracies to work, voters need to take interest, show up, make their voices heard, and most importantly vote.

Life rarely gives us the opportunity for a do-over. Our democracy offers multiple chances. But only if were willing to do our part.

Rep. David Meuse

Portsmouth

A recent letter to the editor headlined "Double standard on taxpayer liability"incorrectly characterized Gerald Duffy's campaign contributions in Portsmouth's 2021 city election. Correctly stated, Duffy donated money to Progress Portsmouth, which supported a slate of candidates.

May 9 To the Editor:

On Nov. 8this year, when I have a chance to vote for governor of New Hampshire, I plan to vote for Dr. Tom Sherman, and heres one reason: I know that as a physician, Tom Sherman understands that there are many valid physical and mental health reasons for a woman to not want to continue a pregnancy.

Too many reduce that decision to an innocent baby vs. a sinful woman who shouldnt have been having sex, when the issue is much more complex than that. We need a governor who can understand when a bill has a valid medical reason for limiting human rights, or when it is using medical procedures as a pretense to a conclusion based on religion, not science. We need a governor that understands the damage that happens to her body when a very young woman is forced to carry a pregnancy to term, and that giving up a baby after giving birth is not as simple as handing it over to someone else. I trust that Dr. Sherman will have our whole health interests at the fore when New Hampshire legislation comes before him.

Robin Schnell

Portsmouth

May 8 - To the Editor:

Imagine if conservative male politicians, judges and religious leaders had their lives impacted by their own decisions.

Consider the following scenario.

You have been complaining to your drinking buddies that you would like grandchildren someday. Lucky for you, one of your trusted friends knows an unethical fertility specialist with some extra embryos in their cryogenic freezer. After getting you passed out drunk, they inject some embryos into your prostate and each testicle to see if they can make your dream come true. You wake up with a hangover, but nothing else seems different.

Over the next six weeks, nothing seems to feel different, but what you may not realize is that you have three growths the size of a grain of rice that have found blood supplies and are continuing to grow. Afew weeks later, you notice a couple of small lumps in your testicles and think about going to the doctor if they get larger. They do get larger and now you are finding it even harder to urinate, most likely due to your enlarged prostate, you think. By the time you see your urologist, you are in some serious pain. Maybe it is similar to the pain experienced by a woman with an ectopic pregnancy but just in a different place.

Your urologist schedules an ultrasound, one of which is trans-rectal to examine your prostate. The results show that you are pregnant and will definitely make history as the first pregnant man carrying triplets. That is when you might start pleading with the doctor to remove the fetuses, but the doctor responds that they cant, as it is beyond six weeks, and they would be arrested if they did. They would also have to arrest your wife, who drove you to their office. Yes, you might die if you are not willing to tough it out, and you were raped by needle spiking, but the law is the law. Clearly two children can be delivered with a modified Cesarean section from your full term thirty or forty pound scrotum. The third child may have to be delivered rectally, if you survive having your prostate burst before then and not die from septic shock. But think of it, if you survive you can be the proud grandfather/father of three and go down in the record books. If you die, you died for your beliefs, a clear win-win.

One more thing, since all of your treatments and procedures normally apply to women, your insurance company considers them experimental and denies all of your claims.

Don Cavallaro

Rye

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Letters: A lesson from Croydon, NH: Using and abusing the tools of democracy - Foster's Daily Democrat