This past Thursday, the Granite State Future project (the project that the Federal Departments of HUD, EPA, and DOT are using locally to Federalize the local zoning codes here in NH via their “Sustainable Communities Initiative”). The “purpose” is ostensibly to “listen” to the public and get their input as to what the future of New Hampshire should be by the use of:
- A strictly controlled meeting agenda of questions and issues
- A division of the prospective audience / attendees into “circles” consisting of about 10 people (remember that number)
- Paid “facilitators” and “scribes that are to guide the “conversations” and to “take notes” – in this case, paper easels
More details later on this later, as I was rather, well, I dunno, not surprised at the set up but the brazenness of their set up as I observed the meeting instead participating. However, one person who did was Tim Carter of the Lakes Region TEA Party (yes, the same person that addressed the Belknap County Republicans here). He was outside the Senior Center in Meredith Plymouth (where he is a resident) and greeted people going into the meeting, so I took the opportunity to do a micro-interview with him:
