Remember to vote on the pool @ Cheshire High School !!!
And please remind your family, friends, neighbors and coworkers to get out to vote too!
If you want to know how the vote went, maybe Chairman Slocum will announce the results live during tomorrow's Council meeting?? With only one polling station and the new machines, the results should be tabulated pretty quickly.
And if I get the results tomorrow night - I'm confident the press will be reporting it - I'll try to mention it here.
Tim White
38 comments:
Have the planners considered adding waterpark-like features. This would attract more families since it would be more fun. Spending $7 million just to cover the same old pool really doesn't appeal.
voted at 7:15 AM--literally in and out in (4) min
The figures of the numbers of people who use the pool, seasonally and annually, were never provided to the public, so I voted NO.
This would be key info for intelligent voters to decide. Why wasn't this info released, and who's responsible for not releasing it?
If it is a fact that the figures of the numbers of people who use the pool, seasonally and annually, were never provided to the public.
It should of been the town manager.
The council chair should have demanded that Milone release those figures and not taken no for an answer.
We voted for CHANGE last November, for transparency, not for more council complicity with the TM-for-life.
hmmm... kind of like living in China: they get to vote for the People's Congress, but the unelected president really calls the shots, and the People's Congress won't touch him.
Please stop the lie that pool useage figures were never given....they have been given repeatedly and in great detail every spring at budget time.
It is a flat out lie that the numbers are a secret......the latest group to have them was the PBC committee that studied the pool enclosure project.
Too continually allege that there is some conspiracy to hide the numbers is irresponsible.....even if it comes from a Town Councilman who ought to know better....if he ever reads his material before he talks at Council meetings!
$7 million sounds like a lot of money....and it is. But the payments on that $7 million stretch over 20 years which means the annual payment averages around $500,000.......which will work out to less than 1/2 of one percent of the towns budget....and that is not including the savings on future energy costs.
The fundamental question is: should Cheshire have an indoor swimming pool? That is the question. Some pretty smart people put together a very affordable solution and we can fix this thing and move on with a yes vote today.
11:17
THEN YOU PROVIDE US WITH THE FIGURES IF YOU SAY THEY ARE THERE.
DON'T GIVE ME THE BS ABOUT 43,000 VISITORS. I WANT TO KNOW HOW MANY CHESHIRE RESIDENTS ARE MEMBERS AND HOW MANY OTHER CHESHIRE RESIDENTS PURCHASED DAY PASSES.
THERE ARE OUT OF TOWN PEOPLE WHO COME AND USE THE POOL, I DON'T WANT THME FIGURED IN.
GIVE ME THOSE FIGURES BEFORE I GO TO VOTE AT 5:30
11:33: Amen!
The numbers publicly thrown around have been vague and general, not broken down by dates, seasons, groups vs individuals, residents/ non-residents, etc.
The town manager has the specific data and he hasn't released it, nor has the council pressed him.
Like China, indeed.
11:23
Your rationale is the same fiscal lunacy that has gotten us into the mess of deficit spending that we are all in now---+++you think it's OPM (other people's money)--not yours!
11:33 AM
Hi Mr. Happy Face. If you think anyone thinks you are going to vote anything but NO regardless of the magic number of users you are no better than the folks you villify. Why wait until 5:30 to vote NO----waiting for the turnout numbers. At 1:30 more than 1,800 had voted and it was very steady and no out of towners either.
larger turnout points to a NO vote...
Voted Yes. Exit pollers said the Yes votes outnumbered the No votes. If you didn't vote No yet, better hurry up before the polls close.
2:15
IF YOU HAVE THE NUMBERS AND SHOW ME THAT AT LEAST 25% OF THE TOWN USES THE POOL, I WILL VOTE YES.
I DOUBT YOU HAVE NUMBERS.IF YOU DID, YOU WOULD HAVE PRESENTED THEM TO ALL OF US.
KEEP DREAMING IF YOU THINK THIS WILL PASS.
I BELIEVE THEY NEED 1/3 OF THE VOTERS TO VOTE IN ORDER TO HAVE THIS REFENDUM WORK. CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG.
DOES ANYONE KNOW THE NUMBER OF REGISTERED VOTERS IN CHESHIRE?
Voted Yes. Majority vote, no minimum. Better get to the polls before it's too late. Not that it's going to matter. Machine count was at 2,214.
actually 2:38, you have that backwards, thankfully!
For or against, people need to exercise their right to vote. It's pathetic that only 2214 people have voted. It was the same with the last Town Council election and then all the people "too busy" to vote or who say "oh, I just don't like politics" are the first ones to whine when things don't go there way.
what time do polls close?
3:54, actually last year's election was a blowout but no matter some folks will find reasons to complain, it's their specific nature...attention whores.
Some people are simply too lazy to get the poll today. Even with absentee ballots available in advance many folks are blowing off today's vote.
I'm not surprised the turnout is low so far today. Most of the town doesn't care about the pool one way or another. I suspect more people will show up during rush hour. Poll closes at 8pm.
Had today's vote been about Turf then we'd have record voter turnout.
One more thing, I found it odd that the pool support group was manning the poll and collecting exit poll information. I saw at least 3 people from the support group working there today. Hmm....
The polls close at 8. The reason that turnout is so low is that the council tried to backdoor this vote in quietly, rather than on a November referendum where it belongs. I'm sorry, but the cost of materials doesn't fluctuate that greatly that they couldn't wait 5 months. As far as being done by next summer, if they truly think the contractor will deliver when promised, they aren't being realistic.
This should have been on the November ballot. The council should be ashamed for this transparent attempt to sway voter turnout.
I voted Yes. I didn't catch the voter count on the machine. The wait was less then 5 minutes. Pretty easy voting.
I think it's funny how some folks can come on here Anonymously and spread back-door theories (not mention blatant lies) but the TC and PBC can put their names behind their proposal as well as their reasons for today's vote out in a public forum.
It just goes to show who has integrity and who doesn't. TC and PBC lots of integrity...4:47 not so much.
Vote Yes and end this mess.
I'm sorry - I didn't feel my name was necessary. But since you feel that I - 4:47 have no integrity, I will you appease you and tell you that my name is Linda. I am not just making up things and writing them on the blog. I went to the microphone at the hearing and asked numerous questions. My main concern was that this should have been put on the November ballot. I asked Mr.Slocum over and over why it HAD to be in June. He insisted that we had to lock in the price of materials and be open by next summer. Thus my previous comments. I told him at the mike in front of the entire room that it appeared to be a back door attempt and that if they really wanted to know how the whole town felt, they should wait until fall when there is a major election. And as the Herald reported yesterday it is costing between $10,000 and $12,000 for the referendum. I had no problems speaking publicly. Feel free to watch the tape. There were also numerous people who spoke at the meeting and wrote to the Herald and wrote on this blog that it seemed inappropriate and smacked of impropriety to force a vote now.
I can't believe how ridiculous this blog gets with people calling other people names, insulting them, questioning their integrity or concerns. We all have different opinions on this issue. Please keep it civil. Thanks.
LL - everyone knows this ref. vote is a shameless way of trying to force this town into paying 10mil (more) for this dumpy pool - anyone with a brain will vote NO, TC dirty politics as usual
Honestly, who really cares about the pool? How is it possible that the pool has become so much more important than education in this town? We laid off 17 teachers and cut education funding (ok, the education went up but not nearly enough). Not that the union helped the situation but with escalating education costs and shrinking revenue why isn't the focus of this education town on education?
Perhaps if the TC spent as much time researching education funding options as they did with the pool enclosure we wouldn't be facing devastating degradation to our school district.
Let's stop pumping precious tax dollars into the money pit and put it into education. Let's get our priorities in order. Instead of investing $7M for something that generates no returns we should be investing the $7M in education.
Wake up people.
"I can't believe how ridiculous this blog gets with people calling other people names, insulting them, questioning their integrity or concerns. We all have different opinions on this issue. Please keep it civil.",
So...accusing the TC and PBC members of back-dooring the vote therefore questioning their integrity is civil to you?!? Accusing them of lying about lower material costs and not sticking to schedule is civil huh?
At the public hearing, one of the councilors gave you a long, detailed explanation for the June vote which besides material costs, lower union wages also included saving summer pool revenue and saving the costs of taking down/putting up the bubble, among other things.
Civility is a two way street.
THE Cheshire Schools are the only joke bigger than the pool. The teacher are overpaid, underworked, and dont care. They look good by teaching how to pass CAPT testing which is how the town gets State/Federal funding. Hire the laid off teachers to build the pool structure.
Vote count at 7:10 PM was 3,632 with hundreds waiting to vote. Based on the look of the crowd, this will pass.
ha - oh, the crowd looked like suckers??
"ha - oh, the crowd looked like suckers??"
Why? Are they voting No?
The vote has failed:
http://www.rep-am.com/news/local/490874.txt
The NH Register is reporting that the referendum was defeated:
2572 NO
1621 YES
CHESHIRE - Voters rejected a $7 million referendum on a proposed pool building Tuesday, turning up in large numbers to weigh in on the contentious issue.
Total votes cast were 4,193, with 2,572 opposed and 1,621 in favor of the seasonal pool bubble alternative
So, the voters have spoken!
It is nice to see that common sense won out.
Those of you who were so confident that this would pass should thank those of us who voted against it. We are being fiscally responsible.
Now we should make the next vote for a summer only.
I can't believe there was ever any doubt. I knew this town would pull together.
Dear Council majority,
We voted down this scheme by as wide a margin as we elected you, and for the same reason: we want fiscal restraint.
And don't assume this means we want the bubble. Now let's talk about what most taxpayers really want: a summer-only pool. Let's have a bubble vs summer-only question on the November ballot.
Good work Tim!
As usual, you know the pulse of the voters.
Thanks everyone for posting ongoing turnout and the final results... I couldn't post the results too quickly tonight as we had a Council meeting.
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