GILFORD — Although last night's Deliberative Session of Town Meeting was sparsely attended, those who were present rose against the Board of Selectman's attempt to split the position of Town Clerk-Tax Collector into two separate positions.
Leading the onslaught was former Police Chief and Town Administrator Evans Juris, who said the article was "absolutely unnecessary" and in his opinion it was nothing but a "power play" to usurp the authority of the elected Town Clerk-Tax Collector.
Juris also challenged the board to produce the minutes of any discussion about the split of the position saying from what he has read there has been no public discussion of why they want the position split.
The article, if passed would change the elected position of Town Clerk-Tax Collector into one elected town clerk and one separate tax collector who would be appointed by the selectmen. At the end of the deliberative session, selectmen met and changed their recommendation to 3-to-0 against passage although it was the board who initially added it to the warrant.
Selectman Vice Chair Kevin Hayes told the meeting the warrant article was "housekeeping" and that its passage would make certain the office of Town Clerk-Tax Collector runs smoothly in the event that anything happened to the existing office holder.
Hayes also said he has no personal issues with Town Clerk-Tax Collector Denise Gonyer or her office and emphasized that it would be his position that if the article passes, the appointed Tax Collector would be the same person as the elected Town Clerk.
As to Juris's request for minutes, Hayes said the discussions were held in a non-public session and the minutes were sealed because the discussions were personnel related.
Selectman John O'Brien said that his reason for wanting more control over at least the tax collector's portion of the office was because a study commissioned by the board to determine if there was adequate personnel in the office said that the office does things that are not done in other towns.
He said those "extras" cost money and the selectmen have been trying to reduce the overall cost of government but are powerless to control the functions and duties of the Town Clerk-Tax Collector.
Gonyer said those "extras" were boat registrations that bring about $53,000 in annual revenue to the town.
There were also several attempts to amend the article, including a lengthy discussion prompted by Mark Corry and seconded by Budget Committee member Kevin Roy to change the wording such that the article would only go into effect if the current Town Clerk-Tax Collector resigned, retired or lost the election.
After Moderator Peter Millham (Town Moderator Sandy McGonagle was ill and appointed Millham to run the meeting in her absence) held a private discussion with Town Counsel Robert Ciandella, they both explained that state law provides specifically for what happens should a town choose to split the position and the motion ran contrary to state law.
Corry and Roy withdrew their motion.
Budget Committee member David Horvath was successful in getting the language "following the example of many town throughout the state removed" removed after Gonyer said that no other towns in the state, to her knowledge, had ever split the two positions.
On the contrary, she said, towns have been combining them to save money.
Budget Committee member Dale Dormody said he felt there was inadequate public discussion about what he considered to be a very big change to the town government and asked if selectmen could and would remove the article from the warrant.
Millham and Ciadella both said an article cannot be removed, however, the board did vote unanimously not to recommend its passage, after the Deliberative Session ended.
Exluding those who had to be there — like department heads, committee members and media — about 50 residents attended last night's session. There was little to no discussion about any of the other warrant articles except a petitioned Warrant Article 6 which would change the way the town administered the State Water Quality Protection Act.
The primary sponsor of the article, Everett McLaughlin, said the article was flawed and because he couldn't remove it from the warrant, asked that voters not support it.

LACONIA — A Laconia native, Graham Nyhan began his high school career at Bishop Brady in Concord, a private school that counts both of his parents, Mary and Chip, as graduates. After a couple of years, though, Nyhan asked his parents to let him transfer to his local high school. In the beginning of his junior year, Mary said, she found out why.
During a home football game in the 2011 season, Mary and Chip experienced the longest 23 minutes of their lives. Graham, their oldest of two boys, had been knocked unconscious and was lying on the field in the fetal position, unresponsive. After nearly a half-hour of a parent's worst nightmare, Graham was loaded on to a stretcher and gave a thumbs-up gesture. With that, the previously-silent audience exploded.
"The crowd roaring was of super bowl-dom," Mary recalled. When she, Chip and Graham returned home from the emergency room later that night, their answering machine was full of well-wishes from the superintendent, athletic director, coaches, parents and friends. "The outpouring of support was almost overwhelming," she said. "It confirmed for us our choice of having Graham return to his home school."
Yesterday afternoon, in a room packed with coaches, teammates and high school staff, Graham formally signed his letter intent to attend Stonehill College, in Easton, Mass., where he will receive a partial scholarship to play football and a second partial scholarship to play baseball.
Nyhan said he plans to study either engineering or accounting at Stonehill, a school he decided to attend the moment he began his tour of campus. While he's excited to play on the college's sports teams, he said one of the strongest factors in his decision was the academic opportunities. "Sports isn't going to last forever, education will," he said.
Graham is the child of educators; Mary teaches English at Inter-Lakes High School, Chip is a social studies teacher and coach at Moultonborough Academy.
Graham is the sixth Laconia athlete since 2007 to receive a significant athletic scholarship, according to football coach Craig Kozens. Kozens, as well as baseball coach Jon Myers, described Graham as a versatile player who could excel in nearly any position, as well as team captain who exhibited a relaxed, lead-by-example style.
Said Kozens, "We're going to miss him, he's a good athlete, a great role model for our young kids."

CAPTION for NYHAN SIGNING in AA:
Graham Nyhan, a senior at Laconia High School, yesterday officially signed his letter of intent to attend and play baseball and football at Stonehill College in Easton, Mass.. Shown here at the ceremony, left to right, are football coach Craig Kozens, principal Jim McCollum, baseball coach Jon Myers, Nyhan, and his parents Chip and Mary Nyhan. (Laconia Daily Sun photo/Adam Drapcho)

CONCORD — A bill that would repeal a statute halving boat registration fees scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2015, sponsored by Rep. David Huot (D-Laconia), was heard by the House Transportation Committee yesterday.
Huot, who with Earl Sweeney, assistant commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Safety and a representative of the New Hampshire Marine Trades Association spoke in support of the bill, said that the proposal received a favorable reception from the committee.   
The registration fees are deposited in the navigation fund, which together with an annual matching grant from the United States Coast Guard are the major sources of funding for the Marine Patrol. Huot said that he filed the bill at the request of the Department of Safety, which feared that the prospective reduction in revenue from the fees would cripple the Marine Patrol. The registration fees, which had not been raised since they were introduced, were doubled in 2009 to when the growth in number of registered vessels stalled, sapping the revenue stream.
Meanwhile, in the 2011-2012 budget, the balance in the navigation fund, some $1-million was stripped and transferred to the general fund to help balance the state budget. Huot said that a share of funds were designated for repairs to the facility at Glendale, which is settling into Lake Winnipesaukee. The department was not only compelled to defer work at Glendale, but also to reduce the personnel deployed on the lakes last summer from 60 to 39. Moreover, without sufficient matching funds, the grant from the Coast Guard is at risk, which could prompt further reductions in personnel this summer.
"This bill is just the beginning," Huot said, explaining that funds must be included in the 2013-2014 budget to secure the Coast Guard grant. "This is a difficult situation," he remarked.