Belmont, Belknap District 6
I appreciate all the support I have received over the past decade as I’ve worked to assure good and limited government in New Hampshire. I wish representative O’Hara well as he moves forward in Concord as the voice of the citizens of Belmont.
As we approach the primary I’m oft asked for my opinion on candidates in the Republican primary. I’m grateful that people trust my analysis of the candidates.
We are all getting loads of glossy mailers these days, particularly if you are on one of the various lists of regular voters. Of course, these postcards are mainly sent by those seeking national, or statewide offices.
Often there is less information available for those of us lower down on the ballot. Having served in the statehouse for the past 10 years, I am familiar with many candidates and have personal knowledge of their qualities.
For Governor, I am supporting Karen Testerman. She is a proven reliable conservative candidate with a strong familiarity of NH government.
I’m torn on US senate candidates. Bolduc, Mansharamani, and Smith each have great promise and I’ll gladly support the winner in replacing the current dud.
In CD1 I have endorsed Tim Baxter. I know Tim will NOT become a swamp creature if we send him to D.C.
For state senator I am supporting John Plumer. John has always been one to tell you what he would do, and then follow through with his actions. He is easily the most reliable candidate for state senate.
In state representative district 4, I ask for your vote. I have 10 years of experience in the statehouse, a solid Republican voting record, and the time to commit to the task.
Sheriff Bill Wright has been excellent in the job, a true professional.
Register of Probate is an interesting position. Upon request I’ll detail the history of this office. Cutting to the chase, this is a race for a seat in the Republican party leadership. Marc Abear is the superior choice.
County commissioner is a rather sad elected office, they serve to rubber stamp the actions dictated by the county administrator. Yes, that is a cynical viewpoint, I’ve watched them come and go; nothing changes. Dick Burchell was the last to try to apply a bit of integrity to the office, may he rest in peace. Fran Wendelboe has shown her Republican cred and gets my nod.
Finally, delegates to the state party. Both Doug Trottier and Nikki McCarter will be delegates by virtue of winning their uncontested primary. Both Susan Seaferd and Travis Toner would be good delegates. Only one can get the spot in D4. I recommend writing-in Susan Seaferd in D8. I don’t have any information about Margo Racicot, sorry.
My sample ballot is available if you’d like to print it out or share.
Belmont is buzzing with the release of our new property tax assessments. It is not the happy humming that comes from my bee hives, it’s much more an angry noise of a disturbed hornet nest. As we sit atop a housing market peak the people of town feel like they have been here before. With the new assessments will come a new lower tax rate, which many feel will push up the amount of tax paid on their property. They expect that this will start anew the ratcheting up of the rates going forward.
The Biden plan is to Build Back Better, but in order to build back he has, in short order, wrecked what was a vibrant economy. Spending more money labeled as Inflation Reduction is like eating dessert to lose weight. New Hampshire citizens wisely maintained a solid Republican state government which has buffered the people from the worst damage inflicted by D.C.
Some complain that my attitude of limiting government spending doesn’t allow for plush county services. Many of the hard working people of Belmont know the difficulties of filling the gas tank, paying the electric bill, and if there is a bit left over, buying a bag or two of groceries. They appreciate my service and thank me for taking the flack. I’m happy to do it and will continue to do so in the future.
Many believe that we may be headed for a more serious recession. The county delegation will be meeting on September 1, 2022 to consider raising wages to employees. This will add to the property taxes of Belknap county at a time when people are struggling with Bidenflation. Let your representatives know what you think.
Assessment Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
The citizens of Belknap county are mainly hard working middle class people with a good bit of common sense. They skew toward retirement age and many are getting by on their social security benefits. Well, they had been getting by before the Biden administration destroyed the economy. Now the Democrats are desperately seeking ways to distract our attention away from the unfolding disaster they have wrought upon us.
Along come the AstroTurf agitators of Citizens for Belknap. The real citizens of the county can easily see through their deceptions and their claimed need to rid the county delegation of ‘radicals and extremists.’ The front man of the group is well know in conservative circles to be a far left activist.
Belknap county is a solid conservative area in which all state representatives are currently Republicans. This drives the leftists crazy and it seems to have drawn the attention of big money donors from outside of our county and state. Knowing that the real political battles will be in the primary elections, that is where they have chosen to spend their money. They will be targeting good solid Republicans, and supporting less principled and more malleable individuals.
Those on the left like Citizens for Belknap have a far different perspective than the real citizens of Belknap county. From their perspective the people of the county are right wing extremist or as Hillary declared ‘DEPLORABLES.’ The people elected a solid group of Republican representatives in 2020 and have reaped the reward of good government (at least at the state level). Yet, this group will refer to us as ‘radicals and extremist’ as they question the integrity of the voters. The voters of Belknap county got it right in 2020, those saying otherwise are impostors with ill intent.
Mark your calendar for the September 13 primary election!
For those who will be voting in person, November 3 will be an exciting day at the Belmont High School. Polls open at 7 AM and close at 7 PM. All the official details can be found at the town’s website and the sample ballot is at the Secretary of States office.
Be sure to come out Tuesday, November 3rd to defend America and the New Hampshire Advantage.
We are counting down the days until the primary and there is good news to report; there are currently no active cases of COVID-19 reported in Belmont by NH Department of Health and Human Services. If you have symptoms of the virus it is best to vote absentee or wear a mask and wash your hands if you go to the polls. The WHO reports “SARS-CoV-2 transmission appears to mainly be spread via droplets and close contact with infected symptomatic cases.”
We should remain vigilant to risk associated with COVID-19 but we do not need to live in fear. I’ll see you Tuesday at the Belmont High School between 7 a.m and 7 p.m.
On Thursday,December 19, 2019 the Belknap Superior court issued its ruling in the case of Town of Belmont v. Mike Sylvia. The court ordered an injunction against the use of my property, and awarded attorney’s fees to be paid to the town. They held in abeyance any fines for prior use of my own property.
At the heart of this issue is the people’s right to ownership of property. To own a thing is to have control of that thing. If one owns and controls an object then he has a right to use that property as he sees fit as long as his use harms no other. If one is truly an owner there is no need to ask for permission to use that which is owned. To be required to seek permission to use ones own property, such as applying for a building permit, is contrary to our right of holding property.
The New Hampshire constitution, upon which our government claims authority, is a beloved document which I hold in high esteem. It predates the founding of the united States and is by far a better constitution than the U.S. Constitution. It was made clear prior to the formation of the New Hampshire state government that the construction of a government could not come into being until the inalienable rights of the people were documented. Therefore, before the republic was established in Part II of the New Hampshire constitution, Part I reserved to the people of the state all the essential rights which were unnecessary to a proper government. Only after our rights were reserved did we then parse out powers that would be necessary to a just government.
We the people of New Hampshire surrendered up only such authority as would be needed to form a society which could work together for the protection of all citizens. This exchange was to protect our rights to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness.
Among the proper roles of our government is to assure against trespasses upon its citizens. If the actions of one person reaches into harming the rights of another citizen the state was empowered with what is know as the police power of the state. All of the reserved rights of Part I were held as private rights which would be protected by the state; lacking that protection the constitution is null.
In the case at hand the court has ruled that I have harmed the Town of Belmont. I did not go to the Town and ask for permission to use my property. The harm alleged is that I have violated a Town ordinance. I posit that the Town’s ordinance is in violation of my Part I protected right to the ownership and peaceful enjoyment of my property. As we all should know, any law made in violation of our constitution is a nullity. The Town has not protected my right to property, it has failed to do so.
As we go onward from here, I want to express my gratitude for friends and neighbors who have supported my efforts along the way. I have stood not only for myself but for the people of Belmont and beyond. So, I ask you; do we accept that our property is not our own?
Send an e-mail with your thoughts; mike@mikesylvia.org
When you buy a puzzle the box gives you lots of useful information. Of course, the first is the pretty picture that you will be assembling. The box will give you ideas on how many pieces there will be and maybe an experience level for those putting it together. Puzzles are interesting and entertaining, good stuff for your brain.
Politics is a bit of a different puzzle. You likely have no idea the sort of fun you will have when you open that box. In a lot of ways you get to build your own puzzle in the political world; choose your challenge. Even as you are building your own, you may not know what it will look like when you’re done.
Today I’ll look at a couple of pieces that fit together that I had not recognized as they slipped together without me noticing.
Budget battles are particularly invigorating, if you want to spend the county taxpayer’s money you’re going to get resistance from me. Such was the case in 2017 when we had a fairly conservative delegation in Belknap county. We trimmed back the commissioners’ bloated spending plan to something not too egregious.
County commissioners like many managers want a bit extra in their budgets so they don’t have to work so hard at actually managing the budget. It’s much easier to have an extra million in the budget than it is to control expenses to finish the year without running out of money. In 2017 they hooted and hollered so much at the ‘tight’ appropriation that the Town of Belmont’s selectboard felt the need to chime in with a letter to the commissioners, and the Laconia Daily Sun. I can only guess what inspired them as there are no clues to be found in the minutes of the Board of Selectmen. There may be a missing puzzle piece here that I need to find. That or the board was acting outside of public view.
The budget crisis in Belknap county was so bad that the commissioners were forced to request a supplemental appropriation. That’s their story. Because such requests must be sent out to the towns and city of Laconia, I did my selectboard the service of laying out the reality of the budget in a letter. On July 31, 2017 the minutes of the selectmen note that they received my correspondence. After the meeting they went in to non-public session under RSA 91-A:3 II c (Matters which, if discussed in public, would likely affect adversely the reputation of any person, other than a member of the public body itself, unless such person requests an open meeting. This exemption shall extend to any application for assistance or tax abatement or waiver of a fee, fine, or other levy, if based on inability to pay or poverty of the applicant.) at which time they discussed the need to check my property for possible code violations. This seems curious, especially because I was never invited – unless such person requests an open meeting. – so sue me.
The taxpayers lost this little skirmish, and the commissioners would be able to sit out the rest of the year fat and happy.
As our section of the puzzle comes to a close at the end of 2017, you can see that the delegation had appropriated $933,604 (2017 audit) more than was needed for operations. Even before $256,852 was raised from a supplemental appropriation, the commissioners had $676,752 more than was needed to ‘fully fund’ the jail.
So why do I find the need to write about this stuff two years after the fact? One piece of the puzzle was the county budget; another was the Town of Belmont’s special interest in county affairs. Those two came together on July 31, 2017. They were hidden from view until I received discovery after the town chose to sue me. They have caused me to do a lot of review of the past. They have opened up a view to this puzzle and the connections to other pieces that are attached.