This page is devoted to the facts and nothing but the facts.
FACT: Bob Elliot has a pending legal action against the town over property issues. FACT: Randy Cutter has a pending legal action against the town over property issues. FACT: Both Randy Cutter and Bob Elliott are friends of Selectman Dan Schroth and made significant contributions to his being elected, in way of money and/or moral support. FACT: Bob Elliott wrote a letter to the editor which appeared in the "Suncook Valley Sun" on Aug 29th, 2001. In that letter he stated, and I quote, "Art, you have nothing to fear from Dan. He operates out in the open and above board. Fear the official whose actions are hidden, who uses the law illegally to achieve personal ends". endquote.
FACT: Selectman Schroth took "confidential documents" that were marked as such, and gave them to his friend Randy Cutter.
FACT: Selectman Schroth, while sitting with the Board of Selectmen at their meeting of July 17th, 2001, knowingly and deliberately violated not only the law, but his code of ethics, both of which he swore to uphold, when he publicly and illegally,fought for his friend Randy Cutter.
FACT: Bob Elliott stated in the same above mentioned letter, and I quote, "You said the Cutter property was bought with known restrictions. However, you did not point out that Randy states, prior to buying the property, town officials told him he could get a variance after buying it." endquote.
FACT: Mr Cutter was told BEFORE purchasing the property that it had not been used for commercial purposes for over 20 years and that the zoning that had since been enacted by the town prevented him from using it as such. However he could APPLY for a variance. He was also told that the town would help him in filling out the application for that variance and he denied that help.
FACT: Mr Cutter could probably have his garage on his property, if he would combine his house and his business property as one and run a home business. However, he chooses not to do that, and that certainly is his right.(note: this is not documented fact, but is the general opinion of many involved in the case.) FACT: Mr Elliott, in the same letter stated, quote, "The people voted, then their vote was ignored!" FACT: The Board of Selectmen DID NOT "ignore" anyone. They were advised by Town Counsel to get a clarification from the court before acting on that vote, because it could cause serious problems down the road for not only the town, but also for Mr Cutter. This they did and the court ruled that what the people had voted in favor of was "spot zoning". They went on to say that "spot zoning" was illegal and because of that, the vote was invalid. As a result of the courts ruling, the board had no choice but to follow the order of the court. The Board of Selectmen are sworn to uphold the law and that is exactly what they did. MOVING ON TO ANOTHER ISSUE
FACT: In a letter to the editor which appeared in the "Suncook Valley Sun" on August 1st, 2001, Bob Elliott stated, while talking about the July 17th, 2001 Selectmen's meeting, quote, "Many of us who were at the meeting that night(Don, as I recall you were not at the meeting)feel that Dan was not threatening anyone, but taking a strong stance against a tax increase this year." endquote.
FACT: Bob, as of this writing, I believe there have been 22 selectmen's meetings since Town Meeting. Of those 22 meetings, I have missed "1". I missed that one because I was on vacation with my family and out of town. One of the first things I did when returning to town was to go to the town hall and get a copy of the minutes AND the audio tape of that meeting. Thats 21 out of 22 meetings Bob, a record that I am very proud of and I know for a FACT that you can't even come close to it.
FACT: The following is an "exact" word for word transcript of Selectman Schroths statement to the School Board after inviting them to the meeting.
DLS.... “Thank you. Uh, now…I’ll be honest with you. I wasn’t happy with the school board last year. I went to the school district meeting and I think…now I’m just guessing you know, you had a four hundred thousand dollar increase…seven million dollar budget… I’m probably way off, but it comes out to be like a five and a half percent increase and then you add a new building…and anyway, I thought you should have gave back the hundred and fifty thousand…but as a democracy, I was out-voted and I’ll live with it. But, to keep things interesting…this year…ah…if…if I don’t see a zero budget increase…then, as a person, I’m going to work to get all of my buddies together and go down to the school district meeting, give you a zero budget increase and take back that hundred and fifty thousand from last year. That’s just to keep things interesting and I’m just being honest with you. And I respect what you’re doing with the kids…but I don’t have that same passion you do, right now. I have a different passion, listening to other people out there. And I mean you no disrespect, I just want to kinda’ tell you where I’m at and be right up front with it and I hope I don’t have to do that. I hope you come in with a zero budget increase and that the town comes in with one…and we don’t have to fight each other…but…I mean, that’s the point where we’re at right now…so, I just want to be completely honest with ya’...so you know where I’m coming from. I don’t mind losing that hundred and fifty thousand last year…that I thought we should have kept…and I know you had your reasons for needing it…but I’d say we gotta’ stop now…and we have to stop…and that’s…that’s how much…that’s my passion. So…
Only facts that can be documented will be placed on this page.
If I state something to be fact, then it means that I either have the documents to prove that it is fact, or they are a matter of public record and I would be more than happy to tell you where those records are.
