You know, it would be good to get it right, Mr. Kitch - Granite Grok

You know, it would be good to get it right, Mr. Kitch

Yesterday was a “day off from work / a day of blogging activities” for me as I had promised a lady in our town, Barbara Aichinger,  to video record a Supervisor of the Checklist hearing.  The back story is just before our local election last month, local Democrat activist and public employee  Joe “No Show” Wernig decided on a crass political stunt and accuse her of not being eligible to vote here in town.  Which,  as it turns out, meant that she could not run for office to. More on this later (full video of the hearing is here at the ‘Grok’s “little sister” blog I keep just for local activities) and in my opinion, an attempt to silence a strong voice that advocates for exactly for everything that Wernig stands for: smaller government, less taxes, and more personal liberty.  Why else call a press conference when issuing a voter challenge based on flimsy Internet based information?

Well, two of the local pro-scribblers showed up; Michael Kitch from the Laconia Daily Sun filed his report and did a decent job (after having a “discussion” with Barbara, but that’s for another post) but got something wrong:

David “Skip” Murphy, who video recorded the session for his blog — Granite Grok — upon learning that Miller’s services cost the town $160 per hour wondered if there was any means of compelling Wernig, who has complained about the cost of frivolous litigation to the town, to foot the bill.

“No,” said Miller. “There is no recourse.”

Er, no.  This is why one brings a recording device to such an event – as he got this part of the my “public input” absolutely wrong:

As you can see, I had two issues:

  • Joe Wernig has just done what he had excoriated others for trying to right wrongs in town that ended back up in court.
  • I was not looking to get reimbursement for the town – I was wondering if the statutes allowed for Barbara to go after Joe Wernig for a knowingly false accusation (after all, the Supervisors of the Checklist voted 3-0 AFTER her testimony).

Sidebar: I’m betting that the legal bill will be for at least one day if not two days – at $160 / hour.  Joe?  Wasted money?  And I know, having been on the Budget Committee for this year’s budget, the Supervisors do not have a line item for legal issues.  Joe, ready to make a donation to cover the costs for, in my opinion, was a crass and frivolous political stunt?

Not once did I mention a compensation back to the town – now, will I get an apology?  I’m certainly not above doing so – is the Laconia Daily Sun?

Here’s what I wrote over at GilfordGrok about Joe Wernig’s political mischief:

Congrats, dude – you’ve now joined the club.  However, instead of trying to right a wrong, you simply wanted to make a crass political play.  You cost a whole slew of hours of work to a whole bunch of people, including Barbara Aichinger.

And if that was your sole point, you succeeded.  Such a thing to be remembered for.

But you will also be remembered for not having the courage of your convictions by being a “no show”.  If there was any thought that this was a truthful challenge on your part, you proved that with the lack of your shadow in the hearing room.

Thanks for proving our point for us.

Oh, back to Mr. Kitch – at the end of the hearing, he had “words” with Barbara:

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