To the Editor:

The Goffstown Board of Selectmen are once again trying to find the best way to provide 24-hour staffing, seven days a week for a least one Goffstown fire station. This was a critical issue in the 2005 election and it created a real interest at the 2006 ballot box as well. Is there a chance that some of the same town officials that concocted and voted for a public safety department last year could revisit this very unpopular solution to the problem of 24/7 funding? I would not put it past them!

Now that the 24/7 issue is active again with the GBS, I would like to challenge those Goffstown taxpayers who are not completely certain what a Goffstown firefighter confronts each day to become educated! There are a few ways to accomplish this.

For those that have a bit of time, visit a local Goffstown fire station and talk to the firefighters on duty. If you would rather stay home but are still interested in what the GFD is up to, go to a computer and search for a fire and police scanner.

This is a device that allows you (hopefully) to hear the dispatch center direct Goffstown firefighters to calls of distress. The Bearcat BC350A that I purchased was not that expensive ($69.99, plus shipping) and when you receive it, program the frequency to 158.8800 for Goffstown fire.

Reading the Goffstown News and researching the town of Goffstown Web site at www.town.goffstown.nh.us will also allow you to become a more informed voter.

Goffstown’s municipal departments are all equally important, but the Goffstown Fire Department is one of the most important departments in town! The reasoning is simple ­ we are all vulnerable to fire or emergency situations which are beyond our control. The GFD’s role is to respond to these situations, take control and protect us from further tragedy.

Firefighters are highly trained personnel that are willing to put their lives on the line each day and when the call for help is made, they respond to do whatever it takes to solve the emergency. The GFD has many needs and these needs should be addressed in a nonpolitical method to ensure that the residents of Goffstown can rely on being protected by a first-class fire and rescue department.

To become a first-class fire and rescue department, the GFD must have the undivided support from the majority of Goffstown’s residents. The 24/7 plan adopted by the GFD before the 2006 voting was a reasonable plan in terms of the cost.

The staffing would allow response times to emergencies to be cut substantially, resulting in a reduced loss to property and possibly the saving of lives. Either way, you will have to pay!

You can pay a small increase in taxes or pay more for your insurance coverage. I will not gamble with my family’s safety and prefer to fund a first-class Goffstown Fire Department!

Bruce Lemire
Editor ­ Amoskeag Reserve Engine Company
Goffstown

To the Editor:

Barbara Barbour, a resident near High Street in Goffstown, is our next candidate for people we have caught “doing it right” with respect to recycling. Barbara has a multifamily unit and insists on her tenants recycling extensively, and she diligently recycles as well.

She has small, covered buckets in her kitchen, a very small kitchen, for compost materials, recyclables and trash. She has a large compost bin in her back yard divided into a couple of sections. She doesn’t turn the contents of the bin. The contents naturally become fertilized soil over the course of two years, which she then uses in her beautiful garden and immaculate lawn. While talking with me, she pushed Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.”

While I reserved judgment on the contents of this documentary, her very promotion of it certainly illustrates her commitment to the environment!

We did take a TV camera to her home and shot our own short documentary, which should wind its way intermittently into the lineup on GTV 16 or GTV 22, but in case you don’t catch it there, this letter will reinforce the message.

Barbara estimates that most of her waste stream is either composted, or ends up in “big blue.” There isn’t much left over for the green trash tote.

Thank you, Barbara Barbour, for your commitment to the environment, and to the Goffstown Single Stream Recycling program!

Fred Plett, Chairman
Goffstown Solid Waste
Commission

To the Editor:

I am pleased to announce my candidacy for re-election to the New Hampshire House of Representatives for Legislative District 7, covering both Goffstown and Weare, and would appreciate your vote of support in the upcoming Sept. 12 primary election.

As your representative in Concord, I stand firm in fighting to protect your rights as a property owner, taxpayer, parent, business owner and have voted against any bill that would take away those rights. Constituent service is an important aspect of my legislative work, and I faithfully responded to constituent inquiries and requests.

Realizing that I represent you at the state level, I have maintained an attendance record of 99 percent for both 2005 and 2006 session. This includes both House sessions and committee meetings.

As your representative in Concord, I will continue to fight to preserve your rights as a homeowner, a parent and a taxpayer. I will continue to work in the best interest of the small-business owner to try to keep taxes low and protect and promote laws that enable anyone to open and run a business in our great state. I will also continue to respect and recognize the need to preserve our open green space so we, as New Hampshire citizens, may continue to enjoy the beauty that is New Hampshire.

If you believe in personal freedom, low taxes, land conservation, privacy, property and parental rights, please vote for Pam Manney on Sept. 12, 2006. For more information, please log onto www.pammanney.com. Thank you for your support.

Rep. Pam Manney
Goffstown

To the Editor:

There is nothing we citizens can do about the Iraq War, but we can do a much better job of supporting our veterans.

The following statistics come from the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans and the Department of Veterans Affairs. You are welcome to check them yourself by visiting the Department of Veterans Affairs Web site at http://www1.va.gov/homeless/page.cfm?pg=1.

“About one-third of the adult homeless population have served their country in the Armed Services. On any given day, as many as 200,000 veterans (male and female) are living on the streets or in shelters and perhaps twice as many experience homelessness at some point during the course of a year.”

“Many other veterans are considered near homeless or at risk because of their poverty, lack of support from family and friends and dismal living conditions in cheap hotels or in overcrowded or substandard housing. Right now, the number of homeless male and female Vietnam-era veterans is greater than the number of service persons who died during that war -- and a small number of Desert Storm veterans are also appearing in the homeless population.”

“Although many homeless veterans served in combat in Vietnam and suffer from PTSD, at this time, epidemiologic studies do not suggest that there is a causal connection between military service, service in Vietnam, or exposure to combat and homelessness among veterans. Family background, access to support from family and friends, and various personal characteristics (rather than military service) seem to be the stronger indicators of risk of homelessness.”

We are the “family and friends” that are referred to in this article. If you really want to do something about the Iraq War, leave the politics at the door and start thinking about what you can do for the troops.

Carole Huxel
Pinardville