“Actually, the town has MADE it their issue.“
Tonite was the organizational meeting for the Budget Committee – and the last year of my last term per my promise to TMEW (The Most Esteemed Wife). Pretty much a time to quickly review the minutes of the last meeting, vote for Chair and Vice-Chair, and sign up for the sub-committees for the Town and School District departments.
Per my expectations, and that the BudComm is now Left-of-Center controlled, Sean Murphy was renominated to be Chair. I did decide to have a bit of fun so in response, I nominated Jack Kelly, the appointed rep from the Village Water District (and conservative). Given that I hadn’t warned him in advance, the looks I got from him in doing so (sheer terror, severe consternation, and the “shakes”; the rolling of the eyeballs were extra special!) was well worth the exercise – and as expected, he gave the expected William Tecumseh Sherman answer:
“If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve.”
Thus, Murphy was then voted in. Then to my surprise, I was nominated for Vice-Chair by Joe Wernig – to be very honest I did not see THAT coming at all. No, I did not follow with the Sherman response. Thus, after some questions from the new folks on the board while signing up for the subcommittees, the meeting was over.
So, what’s with the post title?
There was a bit of banter before the meeting about the trials and tribulations about a young gal, 26 years old, that is now working in the School District. Apparently, she is also of the entrepreneurial bent as she had a food truck custom built and had it shipped up from Florida. It’s still “check it out” time and she doesn’t have her menu quite set up yet but it was made quite clear that even though she’s in our hamlet, she won’t be serving folks in town anytime soon.
Long story short, it would cost her $2500 for a biz license in order to operate here in town. Now think about that – how many burger (or tacos or wraps or food bowls or….) would she have to sling before even being able to pay for that license. And her other costs? Not the town’s issue.
Actually, the town has MADE it their issue. Rent-seeking.
Seriously, $2500 for a simple food truck – that struck me as being VERY wrong and ham-fisted. In fact, the actual question that ran through my mind was “and who in town manipulated the ordinances so as to use the force of Government to “capture the market”. This is what politically connected people do – use Government to fend off competition in their industry so as to enrich themselves (or, at the worst, protect whatever profit margins they now have). Instead of stating “we will win in a competitive environment on the merits”, they turn to a level of Government, in this case, the local one, to be the bulwark against said competition.
I used the phrase “disruptive force” last night – meaning that the market has wanted alternatives. Just a bit ago at the local outlet mall, the owners promoted a food truck gathering for its patrons – even as they have several food businesses in regular brick and mortar spaces TO WHICH THEY PAY RENT to the owners. In other words, competition to their renters. From what I heard, several trucks came from quite a distance away. The event was successful and folks enjoyed the variety that they otherwise wouldn’t have had. All over the nation, food trucks have become a “thing” and have become quite creative in what they offer for food products.
So since I had a camera running (per my normal standard operating procedure; I should brought the one with the better shotgun mic), I asked Scott Dunn why the fee was so much (around 3:20 and you have to listen carefully). Simple, was the answer (and said with a bit of scorn):
“The people who pay taxes here.”
Just another way or phrase of “we’re protecting the established businesses in town against a different business model”. Er, doesn’t EVERYONE pay taxes here? And to register that food truck in Gilford, it will be a fair amount of taxes to boot, along with all the other stuff. This might be a great exercise to follow though on – what does it take to start a business in one’s town? How easy or how difficult is it – and do they discriminate against (or for) certain businesses in town?
We’ve been spotlighting a number of towns lately: Manchester, Brentwood, Peterborough. We also have several others in process. I didn’t think that I’d be having to put my town back under the light again (e.g., I dismantled GilfordGrok years ago now). I’ve called the office of the Selectmen / Town Administrator to try to start to sort this all out.
To be continued…
