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Hereforthemadness1 t1_j93pj1h wrote

Reply to comment by TurretLauncher in Free State Founder Is Running For Amherst Planning Board Amid Anti-Free Stater Sentiment by TurretLauncher

Tragic fact is that a position like the planning board is a rather thankless job. Someone in my family spend decades on it trying to preserve the town, yet allow for growth that is inevitable, and allow it in a productive manner instead of turning Amherst into another Nashua. Spent years working on a proposal to allow open space, not allowing housing developers to clearcut their 40 acre lots and slap houses in everywhere they could, but still allowing housing to be built and work with the land.

Then new people move to town, and shot it down, and now say that my family member and rest of the board is corrupt, taking bribes and should be sued. The family member in question is a very, very well respected person in town, anyone who’s lived here longer then these new flatlanders who think they know what’s best knows them and respects them. Also, she says that if she’s been corrupted, she doesn’t see the benefit from corruption, because we’re still poor as shit lol. Literally only live in this town because we were here before it was a town 😂

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YouAreHardtoImagine t1_j93tybr wrote

Having served on boards, yes, it’s thankless but it’s truly rewarding more than not. It’s unfortunate so many are hardcore advocates of voting but hardly show up where a lot of work really could be done.

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Hereforthemadness1 t1_j9494xa wrote

Absolutely, zoning, planning, and especially here in NE conservation boards are the utmost importance, what keeps much of our rustic glory in its prime and preventing swaths of land being bulldozed and devolved like those endless developments in Texas

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jgren91 t1_j93yvns wrote

Are you a Wilkins? If so I see Sally posting all the time on the FB pages. There's a reason I moved to Amherst and these people are nut jobs

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Hereforthemadness1 t1_j949es2 wrote

Not a Wilkins but I know them, and more down to earth people you’d be hard to find, except a few other of the old families in Amherst, MV area. You consider the Wilkinses to be nut jobs?

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jgren91 t1_j94bb8d wrote

No not them. There's other people in Amherst who back the free staters and they are the nut jobs.

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Hereforthemadness1 t1_j94bw2t wrote

Phew I was gonna say, the families like them, been here long as hell like the Pomeroy’s in MV, the Trows, the Lamson Descendants, in my opinion are the types of people we should be listening to. I don’t agree with all of their politics (who does agree 100% with anyone these days anyway), but they have as long as I’ve seen, always just wanted what’s best for the town and its folks.

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TurretLauncher OP t1_j94cf5b wrote

OP is probably referring to the two declared candidates in this race (neither of whom is named Wilkins).

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RoadAdventures t1_j9b6rif wrote

>TurretLauncher[S]

> OP is probably referring to the two declared candidates in this race (neither of whom is named Wilkins).

Have you forgotten that you are on the TurretLauncher account right now, OP?

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TurretLauncher OP t1_j9byu8b wrote

In this context, "OP" refers to /u/jgren91 and is in reference to this comment.

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Curious_Buffalo_1206 t1_j96pc70 wrote

Flatlanders? Dude you are a flatlander, Amherst has no mountains.

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Hereforthemadness1 t1_j98086x wrote

Alright bub, go tell that to the northern Mainers who live in potato country and they’ll Ayuh your ass back to wherever you come from. It’s an expression, maybe I should say “transplant” to you instead, more applicable.

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TurretLauncher OP t1_j93r8aa wrote

Thankless or not, somebody should step up and declare their candidacy. People in Ukraine are literally dying for their country right now, just as Americans did in 1776 ("Give me liberty, or give me death!"). Simply doing a "thankless" job for your town is way easier.

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Hereforthemadness1 t1_j94bkyl wrote

I mean, that’s a pretty wide comparison. Yeah, it’s a much easier job compared to putting down your barber scissors and picking up a stinger missile to shoot down a Russian Jet. But that’s like telling someone who just had a broke limb to quit whining because people in Africa get their limbs cut off or Syrian children are getting gassed. Is it true? Sure.. is it a fair comparison? No even remotely.

The fact is that just caring about your town zoning will not prepare you for this role. As with any government entity, there’s much more to It then just going in and fixing things or changing things, hell a president can’t get fuck all done if they don’t control the house. You have to be willing to give up large amounts of your time, deal with knuckleheads, big developers with money and lawyers, all sorts of pains in the asses, for no pay, and often disappointing results. Most people who would be good candidates for these positions are also family people, working people, who between work and family can barely scrape together enough time to make dinner, let alone do the work required to prepare for each weekly meeting.

I’m not saying this to discourage possible valid candidates, for Amherst and towns across NE. I hope more people do take active roles in small government. I just want to really point out the silly comparison that you used. Like, I’m sure you get mad when you stub your toe or someone cuts you off in traffic, but have you ever considered that in Afghanistan women aren’t allowed to drive at all and will be killed if they’re eyebrows are seen?

Yeah, not super relatable is it?

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TurretLauncher OP t1_j94fv2u wrote

It’s a fair comparison. The Founding Fathers put their lives on the line so people could have democratic freedoms. Some of those people today are too lazy to even vote.

Given that the current candidates are a Q-Anon and a Free Stater, a candidate whose qualifications are minimal could easily be elected.

As for the lack of pay, Amherst should consider changing that. State representatives get two (2) Benjamins per term. Maybe Amherst could spare a few nickels (or even dimes!) for its Planning Board members?

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AnythingToAvoidWork t1_j941kuo wrote

Go for it

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TurretLauncher OP t1_j94b9ji wrote

You are incorrectly assuming that I could be a candidate, which isn’t possible due to the requirement that all candidates must currently be Amherst residents.

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