Dover Election Report

Dover (NH) Election Report

by Dave Mincin · 11/14/05

Foster's Daily Democrat, November 9, 2005, (special election edition):

• "Region votes for change"
• "Larochelle wins mayor's race in Rochester upset"
• "Watman wins Somersworth mayoral race"
• "New faces to take the reins in Portsmouth"
  
  and my very, very, favorite:
  
  
• "Scott takes Mayberry's seat" (Dover chooses tax fighter over incumbent).

I was recently asked to write a little report on the elections in NH. Truthfully, I wanted to defer, because for the last five weeks I have had but one goal and that was to do my best to get elected to City Council here in Dover. Well, I lost my bid to a lifelong resident and two term incumbent 209-164, but for sure, the good guys won in an big way, and Dover has begun the process of bringing power back to the folks.

To get the true magnitude of our success, a little history is in order. First, Dover has long been considered one of the centers of power for those who believe "government knows best"; Sheehan was a Senator here. Spending is out of control, and land taxes and debt are rising at a frightening rate. We had a City Manager who ran Dover as his little serfdom, and secrecy was the norm.

About a year and a half ago David Scott sued the city to open up the books per the freedom in government law RSA 91A, requesting salaries of municipal employees. Of course the City Manager refused, saying the information was not available, and would be too costly to provide if it was available.

I joined David's little group of concerned Dover folks last November when we were working on getting our people elected to the Charter Commission. Unfortunately we were only able to get 3 of 9 members elected and the final recommendations were not very encouraging.

Our next mission was to go after the City Manager, who finally under a cloud took a job in Arizona.

So what does the City Council do? It pulls a fast one and cuts a secret deal with the assistant City Manager to give him the job, at a higher salary than the governor has. Well, we papered the city with the truth, a number of Free Staters and friends helped with this too. We packed City Council the day of the vote. According to insiders we brought more folks to city hall that night that can be remembered, I even did my first testimony before Council against hiring the assistant. We lost the vote, but receiving 3 Council votes was a victory of sort. What we really didn't notice at the time was that the politicos in Dover were beginning to take notice, and get a little riled!

Next we began meeting weekly and David began recruiting folks to run for Council. In a way we were kind of like the FSP, from different backgrounds and differing political views, but we all agreed spending was out of control, taxes increases must stop, and the folks have a right to know what's going on.

Personally I had no intention of running for anything this early in my NH life, but when I was asked by David, one of the NH folks, I just figured if they have enough faith in me, then I must give it my best effort. Truth is we had no one else to run in Ward 1 either.

We were able to contest 4 seats, David and I against incumbents, and Catherine, and Harvey against competition for open seats. Make no mistake, folks knew my task was a large one. Ward 1 had the highest union population, most city employees, and least number of homeowners, not to mention my opponent was a former city employee as well as former president of the Municipal Employees Union.

I was just overwhelmed by the help from the folks: Dover folks, NH freedom folks, and Free Staters too! We had a total of twenty-seven folks who helped, some more that others, but all helped in some way and can honestly say that each had something unique and important to add to our effort. We also had ten donors and one PAC help cover our costs.

Unfortunately we came up a little short 164-209, but by no means do I consider our effort a loss. Three of four of our candidates were elected, and we received a commitment from my opponent to not vote for any tax or spending increases. All of us learned so much about running for office, working together, and using our varying talents for a common goal.

I guess you might say for me, that this truly sealed the deal about NH and me. After the election many of us went to David's house for a victory celebration. A good number of the folks who have been working to get it done in the Seacoast were there. Lots of smiles, hand shakes, and "good job"s floating around. I couldn't help but feel humbled!

I expect none of can say for sure about much other than our own thoughts, but I believe after rubbing elbows with so many of the folks who get it done in Strafford County, that I have been accepted as just one of the local folks who cares about freedom.

New Hampshire is now my home, and I thank all you folks for never making me doubt my move for a moment. I think this coming year is going to be a great one for freedom in New Hampshire!

Taking freedom for Granite

Taking freedom for Granite
Libertarians shake it up! Or, my weekend with the Free State Project

LANCASTER, NH — Last November, Russell Kanning — a big, shambling man prone to furtive whispers and gleeful giggles — relocated from California to New Hampshire. He made the move under the auspices of the Free State Project, an ambitious plan to pack the Granite State with tens of thousands of libertarian activists who pledge to make it their home. Kanning no longer works as an accountant; instead, he mows lawns in Keene, which lets him get paid under the table, tax-free.

His real vocation, though, is fighting tyranny. Earlier this year, Kanning traveled to the Manchester airport and — carrying only pocket-size copies of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence — tried to board a Southwest Airlines flight to Philadelphia. There was just one catch: he refused to take off his shoes, and insisted that he not be frisked. (He also declined to provide identification.) As a result, Kanning was promptly arrested and jailed; a few days later, he pled guilty to a trespassing charge.

Why did he do it? "We're not going to be free if we keep cowering at the airport," Kanning explained as he stood outside his tent at PorcFest 2005, the Free State Project's annual shindig. "When you watch people shuffle through there with their socks and their bags — dude! This is freedom?"

In most places, Kanning would be dismissed as an extremist. But here at PorcFest 2005, he was a celebrity and a hero. (The porcupine, a friendly little creature you don't want to mess with, is the project's designated mascot.)

"We need to start a revolution," Kanning told me near the end of our conversation. "In the last revolution, we had to get to the point where we said, 'No, no, I'm not paying taxes. Here's your tea.' The thing I want to do this time around is see if we can do this without shooting anybody."

A SIMPLE PLAN

If things work out the way they're supposed to, thousands of libertarians who share Kanning's outlook will be flocking to New Hampshire in the next few years. The Free State Project was the brainchild of Jason Sorens, an earnest, baby-faced Yale PhD who received a hero's welcome in Lancaster. Sorens's epiphany was simple: move a large number of libertarians to a small state, where they can go about remaking the political landscape as they see fit. Libertarians who sign the project's Statement of Intent — so far, about 6600 in number — aren't agreeing to live in the same community, or to work toward a specific set of goals. They are, however, agreeing to move to New Hampshire no more than five years after the total number of signers reaches 20,000. (New Hampshire got the nod after Free Staters chose it over several other states in a popular vote.) Once they've arrived, the theory goes, their libertarianism will permeate culture and politics — from school boards to the state legislature — leading to the advent of "liberty in our lifetime." At least, that's the idea.

The Free State Project is still in its early stages, but it's also off to a bit of a slow start. Four years in, the 20,000-signature mark looks awfully remote. And only 100-some Free Staters have already made the trek to New Hampshire from points west and south. But their faith in the project's potential seems both boundless and unshakable. Last Saturday evening, as a libertarian hard-rock outfit serenaded the 500 Free Staters gathered at Rogers Campground and Motel, I asked Amanda Phillips, the project's president, what she hoped its legacy would be in 20 years. "I would love to see New Hampshire as a beacon of liberty for the rest of the country and the rest of the world," replied Phillips, who is attending Harvard Law School this fall. "A place for the rest of the country and the rest of the world to look at and say, 'Look, this is how these libertarian ideas will work in practice.' And they're going to work well. And many of them already work well."

It's challenging — to put it gently — to imagine a future in which a bunch of New Hampshire libertarians tutors the rest of humanity on political fundamentals. For one thing, the Libertarian Party (LP) has never shown signs of becoming a national political force in its own right. The LP's political high point came in 1980, when the Ed Clark/David Koch presidential ticket garnered about 921,000 votes, or 1.1 percent of the national total. Since then, the party's presidential nominees have struggled to hit the half-percent mark; in 2004, Michael Badnarik topped out at just over 397,000 votes, or about a third of a percent. Part of the problem is that the libertarian umbrella covers widely disparate elements: there are anti-taxers, gun-rights advocates, civil libertarians, Ayn Randians (a/k/a "objectivists"), polyamorists ... the list goes on and on. All agree on one thing — they don't want to be messed with — but that may be all they agree on.

To be fair, not all small-L libertarians (or, to use the preferred Free State phrase, "freedom-loving people") identify with the Libertarian Party. Rabid tax-haters can ignore the more unsavory elements of the GOP and vote Republican; indeed, the ability to capitalize on anti-tax sentiment is a key part of the current Republican ascendancy. Conversely, libertarian types who see civil liberties as paramount, or who want to stave off any reduction of reproductive rights, can hold their noses and vote Democratic.

But while the major parties may have claimed the loyalty of salad-bar libertarians like these, they'll never have the allegiance of purists like those in the Free State Project. For these men and women, the imperial arrogance and puritanical impulses of the Bush administration are repugnant. But so is the abiding Democratic commitment to some form of welfare state — and most state governments, which keep on taxing and spending and regulating education and banning smoking, are no better. (New Hampshire is a welcome exception: there's no income tax and no mandatory car insurance, and guns can be carried freely and openly.) In fact, for most Free Staters, politics in today's United States is utterly debased.

For die-hard libertarians, however, this sorry state of affairs could be a blessing in disguise. After all, the worse things get, the more likely people are to realize that libertarians have the answer. And the past few weeks — which saw the US House and Senate reaffirm the Patriot Act, and the US Supreme Court deal blows to medical marijuana and private-property rights — have given Free Staters plenty of new ammunition with which to make their case. "I think the real problem we have is, it's the frog in the boiling water," said Seth Cohn, an affable techie who left Oregon with his wife in 2004 and now lives in New Hampshire. "Until the water gets hot enough, nobody jumps out. And if it turns up slowly enough, nobody ever jumps out. The water's gotten pretty hot — and there are some of us that will want to go ahead and say, 'No more'"

Badnarik — the ex-presidential candidate, and a registered Free Stater — takes this argument even further. "I think the Libertarian Party will be the primary political party," he told the Phoenix in Lancaster. "I think the existing government has stepped on its own feet publicly, and disturbed the American public so dramatically, that the cat is out of the bag."

Clad in an Air Force One-logo polo shirt, and looking like a cross between Mike Dukakis and David Copperfield, Badnarik promised to do his part for the coming libertarian renaissance in 2006, when he'll wage a soon-to-be-announced campaign that will "open the floodgates" and "shatter the rumor that Libertarians can't win." This will keep him in Texas for a few years — but as a committed Free Stater, he considers New Hampshire his home-to-be. "I'm not very happy about snow, and I love Texas," Badnarik says. "But I love liberty more. And if moving to New Hampshire is going to help me create an environment where I can make my decisions, and government works for me, then I consider that a very small sacrifice to make."

FREEDOM ISN'T PRETTY

It's impossible, after hanging around PorcFest for a couple of days, not to feel genuine admiration for the men and women involved with the Free State Project. In today's United States, it's cause for celebration when half the electorate simply turns out to vote. Contrast that with the commitment shown by the Free Staters, who are literally abandoning their old lives to build new ones based on political principles they hold dear. Furthermore, while the frequent anti-tax griping in Lancaster probably wouldn't endear the project to most liberals, the ever-widening scope of the Bush administration's "War on Terror" has made libertarians' darker dystopian visions seem less far-fetched than they used to be.

Still, it's hard to imagine the Free State Project inspiring a true mass movement — and though it may sound odd, the problem is largely aesthetic. At the risk of painting in too-broad strokes, and with apologies where appropriate, the Free Staters are, on the whole, a somewhat dorky bunch. They tend to look like people you'd see at a Star Wars or Dungeons and Dragons or Mensa or Linux convention; the big difference is, they're packing heat. (Hip-holstered handguns were one of the hottest accessories at PorcFest.) Maybe this is inevitable: libertarians are still a marginal subculture, and marginal subcultures tend to attract individuals who, for whatever reason, are uncomfortable in the mainstream. But if the Free State Project wants to become the national focus for current and potential libertarians, a more polished public image wouldn't hurt.

Then again, the Free Staters seem to appreciate this challenge. Another discussion at PorcFest centered on whether to sign with an advertising agency — one run by a Free Stater who'd offered his services at reduced cost — in order to develop a more sophisticated marketing campaign. This would risk compromising the project's DIY ethos, but it could also be a boon for recruitment. The stewardship of Phillips — a smart and photogenic woman with a knack for framing libertarianism in feminist terms — could help as well.

Time will tell. The sober outsider's assessment is that the Free State Project will, at best, peter out a few years from now and join the long list of failed American political and social experiments. But as long as the Free Staters press on, there's an outside chance that something truly revolutionary is happening an hour north of Boston.

Adam Reilly can be reached at areilly@phx.com

Free State Project

Home page for the political experiment dedicated to creating "Liberty in our lifetime."

Michael Badnarik

Still cast as a presidential site, this will soon be converted to plug Badnarik's upcoming run for federal office, a campaign Badnarik promises will foster a national libertarian renaissance.

National Libertarian Party

Plenty of info on the self-styled "Party of Principle."

Bureaucrash

Grassroots organization dedicated to pro-libertarian public actions. Plus, there's plenty of merchandise here for liberty-lovers — check out those T-shirts ($17.76, natch).

More media articles about the FSP

These media articles are maintained on a non-commercial basis by The Free State Project, a non-profit organization, for historical, educational, scholarship, and research purposes. (For information regarding "Fair Use", see US Code Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 107).

You missed the boat on Free State

You missed the boat on Free State

To the editor:

You had a chance to print a community-based story on the local Free Staters exploring the human face of the project. What drives people to give up their old lives to move to this state and start over again'? Can it really be a desire for self ownership and a life free of coercion? That is the real story.

Instead you chose a patchwork interview and website hash of misquotes and poorly reported misconceptions concerning this nation's, and our project's, core ethical beliefs. A divisive strategy driven by a need to provoke conflict instead of opening communication channels.

Will Stewart had the opportunity to engage in real journalism at a level where his story was being lived. However he declined, or was ordered, not to accept our invitation to join our meeting as a true journalist would have. Instead a photographer was sent to record the gathering. By the time of the meeting Will's story was already pre-written. No human element desired.

Free Staters accept these offers to disclose our convictions and hopefully avoid the misperceptions hyped in your story. We're in the same ship as every other American. We're as concerned as others about the looming crises facing this state and nation. If this ship goes down so do we all for only the wealthiest can afford a lifeboat. For this we are endlessly caricatured by the press but seldom honestly portrayed.

Before condemning our solutions, at least legitimately hear us out. You missed that opportunity this time around. We have a traditional view of community-based solutions that never make it to the table for discussion because the media lacks the ability to set aside their prejudices. How sad.

We'll keep trying though. I have faith that there is a principled media dedicated to fairness still alive somewhere. If you ever want the Porcupine Perspective on local or state issues you know where to reach me.

Quality of life score: 0 (nothing new here)
Comments: Hippo's commitment to journalistic integrity is trumped by scare tactics debasing true communication.

Calvin D. Pratt
Goffstown

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Porc Fest 2005 draws 450 Libertarians

Porc Fest 2005 draws 450 Libertarians

LANCASTER -- Libertarians and other freedom-loving political activists came from New Hampshire cities and towns last week as well as from states across the nation to network, exchange information, and energize themselves to continue to try to mobilize 20,000 Americans to move to the Granite State.

"It's possible that this is the biggest Libertarian gathering in 2005 in the world," said attorney Timothy Condon of Tampa, Fla., who said that he had traveled seven times to the Granite State and eventually plans to move here. Not only does the "Live Free or Die" state have the lowest per capita tax burden outside of Alaska, Mr. Condon noted, but its citizens also believe in maintaining a small government that "doesn't treat you like a baby" as long as you are not harming anyone else.

The term "porcupine" to describe Free Staters was chosen because of the mammal's "leave-me-alone" defensive attitude and its quills' "don't-mess-with-me" message.

Darian Worden and Helen Nayfield, both New Jersey residents who are undergraduate students at Rutgers University, said on Sunday morning that Porc Fest 2005 was their first exposure to the Free State Project. Mr. Worden started a Libertarian Club at the state university. Mr. Worden, who said he is majoring in history and political science, said he was a committed Libertarian, while his traveling companion said she was an economics and computer science major who agrees with much of the Libertarian philosophy but still has not joined up. New Jersey, she said, already has too many laws and more are being proposed all the time. "Now they're trying to prohibit smoking while driving," she said, indicating that these kinds of restrictions to adults' personal freedom have made moving to New Hampshire look very appealing.

Kevin Ryan of Burlington, Vt., said that he had talked with people from Virginia to California and felt more enthusiastic and optimistic than he had in a long time. Although Mr. Ryan said he is a registered Republican and not a Libertarian, he said that he had been impressed by the number of tables, loaded with leaflets and merchandise, that had been set up on Saturday. "It was almost preaching to the choir," he said, noting that it was easy as a Republican to feel somewhat isolated in the liberal city of Burlington. Nonetheless, Mr. Ryan said, he does not plan to leave hearth, home and friends and move to New Hampshire. He said he did not think it was a good idea for Free-Staters to try to take over an existing community, but, if like-minded people want to live together, then they should start their own "liberal utopia."

He said that, in actuality, some Libertarians are purists, who do not support enacting bike laws, requiring dog permits or prohibiting nudity in public, while others just believe that it is essential to "let neighbors do what they want" and not to use laws to force citizens to adopt certain moral values, such as marriage or gun ownership.

A number of people attending Porc Fest pointed to a recent U. S. Supreme Court decision opening up the use of eminent domain so municipalities could promote economic development as an egregious example of the state overstepping its bounds. One man said that he understood that a permit had to be secured before hikers could climb certain mountain trails in the Adirondacks. "Would a judge really enforce an arrest for walking in the woods, do you think?" he asked.

Others focused on the Second Amendment and the ways in which it now appears that the government is trying to keep guns out of people's hands. Lectures included instruction on the Second Amendment, and shooting instruction for beginners was offered on Sunday at a venue in Manchester. Several attendees carried sidearms conspicuously on their belts. A Second Amendment Gear Swap at which people could sell and trade firearms and related equipment, such as holsters, guns cases, and slings, was held on Thursday evening.

A number of attendees make their living by using the Internet or developing software or being webmasters, all portable jobs, they pointed out, that were easy to move from one end of the country to another. One software engineer pointed out that word about the Free State Project had been spread via the Internet, so that it is not surprising that this cutting-edge segment of the workforce makes up much of those committed to moving to the Granite State.

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They want to take over the state

Scanned PDF version of this article

They want to take over the state

Free Staters love freedom and they're coming to your neighborhood

They're coming. Some, in fact, are already here. They say they don't want to take over, but they advocate changing state government from within to fit their laissez faire philosophy. Consider yourself forewarned.

"We're not sure when we'll meet our goal," said Free State Project Merrimack Valley coordinator Calvin Pratt. "We have 6,400 signed up now and we're getting about two recruits a day, or about 14 a week."

The Free State Project started with a goal of recruiting 20,000 "liberty-loving people" to move to a single state, where they would work within the existing political framework to reduce the size and scope of government. In 2003 the group voted "Live Free or Die" New Hampshire as its destination of choice.

Project organizers had hoped to reach the 20,000 mark, whereupon all participants would begin moving to the Granite State, by late 2005 or early 2006. However, at the current rate, it won't happen until sometime in 2023.

However, Pratt said the group may see more sign-ups as a result of November's presidential election.

"A lot of people just can't deal with four more years of Bush," he said.

While it may be a bit frustrating, the fact that the 20,000 mark isn't even close hasn't stopped 100 or so people from moving here already. For the most part, the Free Staters have settled in the southern half of the state, Pratt said. He moved from New Jersey to Goffstown with his wife shortly after New Hampshire was selected as the Free State destination.

Another recent arrival is Keith Murphy, who, according to his essay at fieestateproject.org, moved to Manchester at the end of January to "escape the big-government mentality of my native Baltimore."

"I moved here on a New Year's Eve whim, on a gamble, and there's not a day that passes that I reflect that it was the wisest decision I ever made," he wrote.

When he moved, Murphy had money to sustain him for just six weeks, but he quickly found a community planning job in the central part of the state. But not all are so fortunate.

To help new arrivals adjust to New Hampshire, Pratt said already-settled Free Staters are resurrecting the concept of mutual-aid societies. These associa- tions are designed to provide economic and social services such as medical benefits and old-age pensions for members. He said such organizations went out of vogue with the creation of the welfare state last century, but are in line with the Free State Project's ideas.

"It's only temporary help, it's not a lifestyle or an entitlement," he said. "And it's based on reciprocity, in which those receiving help today will be helping others tomorrow."

Still, he said, many Free Staters, who hold strong beliefs on the virtue of self reliance, are reluctant to accept what they see as charity.

"It hasn't sunk in that it's not charity. It's been a hard sell -we're a spiny bunch," he said.

Those who have settled in the Menimack Valley gather once a month at Milly's Tavern to discuss strategy and make plans, like testifying in Concord on liberty-related bills. They call themselves the Merrimack Valley Porcupines because, like porcupines, they are "cute and non-aggressive, but you don't want to step on them."

The moniker has been attached to the national group as well, and serves as a fitting description of the group's members and ideals, Pratt said.

"We are reasonable people," he said. "We're not here to take over. We want to persuade people. We don't use force, but that's not to say we won't defend ourselves."

Photo caption: Area Free Staters met at Milly's last week to plot to take over the state.

Photos by James E.D. Cook

[FSP note: This article received a letter to the editor discussing the problems with its inaccuracy.]

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These media articles are maintained on a non-commercial basis by The Free State Project, a non-profit organization, for historical, educational, scholarship, and research purposes. (For information regarding "Fair Use", see US Code Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 107).