Goffstown Matters

Dear Friends,
 
It is with great pride that I announce the formation of a new advocacy group for Goffstown politics, one that is dedicated to sharing accurate information about our town, our schools, and our taxes, encouraging civic engagement, fostering a sense of mutual cooperation among town and school officials, and highlighting some of the many positive aspects of our community. This group is called Goffstown Matters, and it was founded by a collection of people brought together by our common concern with maintaining the balance between the taxes we can afford and the services we value.
 
The website can be found at: http://www.goffstownmatters.org/
 
I invite you to take some time to check out the website and become familiar with the valuable information it contains. This website will be updated on a continual basis, so please check it often. If you are sympathetic to this group’s goals, please take a moment to send an email to info@goffstownmatters.org, which will add your name to the list of supporters. There is more information on the website if you click on the “Show Your Support” banner.
 
Also, if you were not already aware, the Budget Committee will be presenting its budget to the public this Wednesday night, Jan. 12, at 7 p.m. at Goffstown High School (free childcare is being provided on site). This meeting is a very important opportunity for residents to come and speak their minds about the current budget situation. Your comments can be informative and full of facts or they can simply be a brief, one-sentence statement of support or opposition for the proposed budget. You are also free to ask questions of the Budget Committee. A week after the meeting, the Budget Committee is legally required to meet again and reconsider the budget based on the public comment at the Jan. 12 meeting, so this is a great opportunity to influence this year’s budget process. Please make an effort to attend, as some very important changes are being proposed for our town and schools that will affect everyone, not just those with kids in the school system. Last year, only a handful of people showed up to this meeting, but the majority (10 of them) spoke in favor of additional cuts, and the Budget Committee eliminated an additional $400,000 from the budget in response. Those 10 speakers became “the people.”
 
And finally, as you may have noticed over the past several weeks, the folks at the Goffstown News are not sympathetic to our cause, so we doubt Goffstown Matters will receive much publicity—or at least not much favorable publicity—from them. Please help us spread the word about this group by forwarding this email to people you know in the community.
 
Cheers, Elizabeth Dubrulle