Common Sense For New Hampshire

While the town busily spends taxpayer money on building restaurants, they are demanding commercial property owners, many of whom are not even residents, pay for such basic improvements as new streetlights and sidewalks. Call me old-fashioned, but where I come from private parties built restaurants and the city government took responsibility for streetlights. Now I, for one, never had a problem with the streetlights and sidewalks we have now. I think the uncertain economy calls for more austerity both in our own spending and that of the government. If certain business interests feel that a spruced up downtown will help increase their revenues, then they should bear the cost and not demand that all businesses, many of whom are struggling, chip in. And if the town government thinks it’s so important to make these improvements, it should have the fortitude to ask the voters for the money. Count me, however, as among the people who can think of better uses for our hard earned money than to buy fancy new streetlights and sidewalks. Or restaurants for that matter.