To The Taxpayers of Goffstown:

I am communicating through as many points of contact as possible to ask for your vote to the Town Budget Committee in the upcoming election. 

If elected, I promise to keep the interests of Goffstown's taxpayers first.  I believe the roll of the Budget Committee is to continually keep the taxpayer in mind when working on the town budget. 

The way you keep the taxpayer first is to look at the economy we ALL live in each day -- to always make sure that government spending accurately reflects what taxpayers are faced with everyday in the economy at-large.  Unemployment, downward household income trends, static wage growth and several other economic indicators provide a "guide" and should be used by government leadership when looking at budgets each year.  Selectmen should be using this information to provide top-down leadership and guidance to all department management in government BEFORE they begin the budget process, and the performance of those managers should be judged appropriately. 

I think town government "lost its way" this year.  There seemed to be a disconnect between their spending decisions and the economy -- as if other interests were being put ahead of taxpayers.  What we saw was a "business-as-usual" attitude irrespective of the economy -- this has to change. 

If elected, I will work with my budget committee colleagues to: 

1. Develop sound / austere guidance to Selectmen on the current state of our economy, provide budget guidance to Selectmen IN ADVANCE of the next budget cycle, and will ask them to acknowledge this input and go on-the-record in supporting this when communicating to all departments. I will also strongly support the communication of this information directly to all town Department Managers when the process begins. 
   
2. Repeatedly communicate to all Department Managers throughout the budget process to discuss this guidance, with the expectation that managers will ultimately come to the Committee with budget recommendations for their departments that reflects this guidance.  If there are instances where it is not being followed, I will make sure that Department Management is held accountable and their employment as a managers is judged on the basis of cooperating with the Committee and providing a budget that can meet the expectations of the Committee.

Probably like most taxpayers in Goffstown, I read the papers and look at what's going on in our country.  I have noticed over the past year that BOTH POLITICAL PARTIES and MOST ECONOMISTS are saying we are in the worst economic period in history since the great depression -- virtually everyone agrees.  And almost everyone agrees it is going to take some time for our economy to recover. Unemployment is not going down, real household income has been on a downward trend, foreclosures are up, and wages are down.  Most households are learning to to do more with less, and "tightening their belts" during a tough economy.  So why do we see government spending in Goffstown going up this year? 

If you want to change the outcome you have to do things differently.  NOTHING EVER CHANGES WHEN YOU KEEP DOING THINGS THE SAME.  If taxpayers in Goffstown vote for me, I will work hard for a different outcome and bring a fresh approach to the town budget process. 

I am asking for your vote and I also sincerely ask that each of you pass along my communication to other taxpayers and other groups you know. 

With Best Regards, 

Bill Bates, Candidate for Budget Committee
Goffstown