Above, voters chat and eat lunch at the Atkinson deliberative session Saturday. KATHARINE WEBSTER photo
By KATHARINE WEBSTER, InDepthNH.org
Atkinson, N.H., a town of some 7,000 souls on the Massachusetts border that turns 250 years old this year, held its annual town meeting Saturday in the cafeteria at Atkinson Academy, one of the oldest co-ed elementary schools in the country. About 200 people attended.
Technically, it’s not a town meeting; it’s a deliberative session. Atkinson is an SB2 town, which means residents meet in person in January to discuss and vote on proposed amendments to the budget approved by the Budget Committee and warrant articles offered by the Select Board, the Planning Board and citizens. In March, residents go to the polls to vote on the warrant articles and elect local officials.
There’s nearly always some drama, and it’s almost always over property taxes, because many people here also pay state income taxes to Massachusetts, where they work. This year, the tax drama focused on plans for a new police station and the library budget.
Every year, it’s the best show in town, whether you go in person or watch on public access cable.
Check-in, Coffee and Politicking
The Supervisors of the Checklist scan each resident’s driver’s license as they enter, before handing over a green voting card. Neighbors greet neighbors, save seats by throwing their winter coats over a chair, and then caucus informally over free coffee provided by the Atkinson Women’s Civic Club.
Almost everyone in the crowd is middle-aged to elderly, yours truly included, and most of the faces are familiar: people who have served in one or more elected positions in town or volunteered on boards and committees. Atkinson’s two state representatives, both Republicans, also attend.
One person passes along a rumor that there might be amendments to the library budget. Another tells me that “the powers that be” have begged the library staff and trustees not to speak against cuts to the selectmen’s proposed budget for books and digital materials, because otherwise the Budget Committee might vote down the entire town budget, resulting in another default budget.
Around 10 a.m., the moderator starts banging his gavel and asking people to be seated. At 10:05, the meeting begins.
The Moderator
Jim Garrity, longtime pastor of Atkinson Bible Church, has been the moderator for nearly two decades.
First, he calls the deliberative session to order and announces that the chaplain for the town’s police and firefighters – also Jim Garrity – will deliver the opening prayer, which he does. That’s followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Then, the moderator goes over the rules, first the procedural ones and then ones he has added over the years.
“Nobody likes a jerk!” he says. “So when you get up to speak, don’t be a jerk, because no one will vote with you.”
He insists that people address each other as “My good neighbor,” and warns that anyone engaging in personal attacks will be ruled out of order – and, if necessary, removed by the “constable,” a police officer.
“I have zero tolerance for uncivil behavior,” Garrity says. “Save your rants and insults for baseball.”
Above, the Atkinson Budget Committee, left, and Select Board, right, at the annual deliberative session. KATHARINE WEBSTER photo
The Easy Part: Fence Viewers and Timber Surveyors
The first, and easiest, item on the agenda is the appointment of “fence viewers,” who can mediate fence, tree and boundary disputes, and “surveyors of wood and lumber.” Both positions might be as old as the town. Three volunteers for each body are approved unanimously.
Likewise, a warrant article to allow ADUs – accessory dwelling units – that was recommended by the Planning Board cannot be amended and will go directly to voters in March.
Then, things get interesting – and tempers fray.
The Big-Ticket Item
Article 3, recommended unanimously by the selectmen and not recommended by the Budget Committee, 4-3, is a $2.5 million bond to tear down the old public works garage and salt shed in the town center, build new ones on town-owned land zoned for business use, and draw up architectural plans for a new police building on the site in the town center.
For decades, the police have operated out of a cramped brick building erected 184 years ago as a church. The Police Station Location Committee is the third to consider the project in eight years, after voters in 2024 rejected the previous committee’s proposed location and a total budget of $9.3 million.
Brian Boyle, a longtime builder who has held several town and school district positions, presents Committee No. 3’s findings and says that if this “phase one” bond passes, they will bring forward a larger, “phase two” bond measure next year for construction of the new police station. He says he is confident the entire project will still come in at or under $9.3 million.
Boyle starts sputtering with indignation when Bill Steele asks about the qualifications of the people on Committee No. 3, especially whether anyone had expertise in the site needs of police departments. Garrity reminds Boyle repeatedly to just state the committee members’ qualifications.
Next, the Budget Committee vice-chair, Bob Malo, tenders an amendment that would cut the bond amount by 90 percent to $250,000. Although he clearly wants to see what the new police station will cost before tearing down and moving the highway garage and salt barn, Garrity tells him that the only thing he is allowed to alter in a bond article is the dollar amount.
The amendment fails, and voters breathe a sigh of relief when Garrity calls a 20-minute lunch break. People line up to buy chili, hot dogs and snacks from the Atkinson Women’s Civic Club.
Above, Atkinson Planning and Zoning administrator Sue Coppeta, who warned that if residents voted to increase the library budget by $4,500, the whole town could end up with a default budget – again. KATHARINE WEBSTER photo
Battle of the Budget
After lunch, voters turn to the operating budget. A brave library lover, Tom Kelley, offers an amendment to increase the library’s book purchase line by $4,500 to help make up for costs that have been rising faster than the budget for many years. Others come forward to support it, but the library staff and trustees remain silent.
Budget Committee members point out that they are trying to keep the increase in the library’s annual budget just under 10 percent, the legal limit.
Then Sue Coppeta, the town’s planning and zoning administrator, takes the mic and asks to poll the Budget Committee members. Her question: If this amendment passes, will you vote down the entire town budget? Because if they reject it, she warns residents, the town goes to a default budget again.
The Budget Committee has only recommended its own budget 5-2, and now the members say, one by one, that they will reject the entire town budget if the library gets an extra $4,500.
Several speakers accuse the Budget Committee of ignoring the will of the people in the room. “What’s the point of coming here and voting?” one woman asks.
When Garrity calls for a vote on the amendment, every Budget Committee member except Chairman Bill Smith votes to increase the library budget – so they can hold the line, or “hold the town hostage,” depending on your point of view.
Kelley hastily calls a point of order and withdraws his amendment, amid loud mutterings of, “This is why we don’t need a Budget Committee.”
Which brings us to the final warrant article.
Abolish the Budget Committee?
Michael Boucher, co-chair of the Atkinson Democrats, presents a warrant article by citizen petition that would get rid of the Budget Committee and replace it with an Advisory Budget Committee that would work cooperatively with the Select Board, not in opposition to it.
“Many residents have lost confidence in this budget committee,” he says, accusing the committee of failing to follow the state’s Right-to-Know Law in posting adequate notice of its hearings and agendas.
Another speaker, Karen Steele, agrees, saying the committee reduced lines in the budget that represent contractual obligations.
“They don’t listen to the residents of Atkinson,” she said. “They can hold us hostage, as we saw today.”
Others argue that having a Budget Committee provides for “checks and balances” on the Select Board’s spending and keeps property taxes under control. But an amendment that would make the warrant article “advisory only” fails. The sentiment in the room appears to favor it, but that’s no guarantee that voters will do so in March.
Finally, the meeting is over, less than five hours after it began. Now the fight moves to Facebook, where advocates on both sides will attempt to persuade their “good neighbors” how to vote on March 10.