from the Union Leader…<\/p>\n
MANCHESTER \u2013 The New Hampshire Advantage Coalition is taking the city to court over last week’s vote to keep a proposed spending cap off the November ballot.<\/p>\n
A petition filed yesterday afternoon in Hillsborough County Superior Court accuses eight Democratic aldermen of violating state law in a “grotesque political ploy” to kill the proposal. Mike Biundo, chairman of the Concord-based anti-tax group, said he hopes the city will be forced to put the question before voters on Nov. 4.<\/p>\n
The aldermen, meanwhile, have agreed to put the referendum to a vote, but not until November 2009.<\/p>\n
Alderman At-Large Mike Lopez said the 14-month window would allow city officials to get a handle on how a spending cap would affect the city budget and to disseminate that information to voters.<\/p>\n
“In the end,” he said, “if the voters of Manchester vote for the cap, I want to be satisfied to the best of my mind they’ve been given all the information,” Lopez said.<\/p>\n
Biundo argues Lopez and other officials have had since May to scrutinize the proposal, which aims to limit the size of the city budget.<\/p>\n
“They’ve had four months to start asking questions,” he said. “Instead, they took the four months and figured out a way to keep it off the Nov. 4 ballot.”<\/p>\n
A court hearing on the New Hampshire Advantage Coalition’s petition is likely to be scheduled this week or next, Biundo said.<\/p>\n
Members of the coalition, whose leaders include several Republican political candidates, allege the eight Democratic aldermen acted illegally when they blocked efforts to put the question on the Nov. 4 general election ballot.<\/p>\n
“Placement on the ballot on that date is not discretionary. It is required by RSA 49-B,” the group’s petition says.<\/p>\n
Aldermen who argued against the early date offered a different interpretation, saying the law does allow for a special election that could be held at any time, so long as voters have at least 60 days to prepare for it.<\/p>\n
“We didn’t break the law. We worked within that law,” Alderman Jim Roy said.<\/p>\n
A November 2009 referendum would coincide with elections for mayor and aldermen. Many board members said they believed it would be better to hold the referendum then, rather than hold a special election that could cost anywhere from $30,000 to $40,000 and would not draw as many voters.<\/p>\n
“History shows participation is much higher in a general election, rather than a primary,” Alderman Mike Garrity said. “I think we should have as much participation as possible on this question.”<\/p>\n
There was, however, some hesitation about the choice to delay the referendum for 14 months. One alderman at-large, Dan O’Neil, voted against the November 2009 date because, he said, he was not convinced it is legal to schedule a vote more than a year in advance.<\/p>\n
Alderman Mark Roy, the only other board member to oppose the date, said he would have preferred to hold a special election, saying it would be “money well spent.”<\/p>\n
“It’s a major change of legislation for the city,” he said, “and I think it deserves its own day.”<\/p>\n
Yesterday’s vote in favor of the November 2009 date passed by a margin of 11 to 2. Alderman Kelleigh Domaingue was absent.<\/p>\n
Similar caps have already earned a place on the November 2008 ballots in Rochester and Somersworth.<\/p>\n
Biundo said he plans to file a petition in Merrimack County Superior Court this Friday in hopes of forcing a vote in Concord this November.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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