Though I don’t ordinarily do this, simply because it is “unattributable,” I felt that the following was worthy of publication. It came to me from an individual identified only as “November Was A Mistake“.
In a recent board meeting of the Board of Directors, the Republicans stunned Manchester voters by being incapable of defining a huge part of their campaign platform. This was an astonishing revelation. The Republicans were completely unable to define performance-based accounting when asked by the Democratic Directors, and almost every Republican Director publicly admitted utter ignorance of the concept. Not one of them knew what it is—not one—and when asked directly to define performance-based accounting by John Topping, even Matt Peak (the “idea man” behind it) dodged the question. The Republican failure to be able to explain their own platform has raised shocking questions about the honesty of their campaign.
What exactly were they telling voters performance-based accounting was this November? The term, after all, appears on nearly all of their campaign literature. When they were going door to door, were they honestly telling voters, “Well, I don’t know what it is, but Matt Peak says it’s good for the budget”? Believe it or not, that’s actually what Cheri Pelletier told voters during the last Board meeting! It’s doubtful the same honesty came from her during the election. The Republicans’ inability to define this campaign promise has staggering significance about how they ran their campaign.
If a political party puts performance-based accounting on their platform and tell voters it is going to save them money, they better well know what it is! Yet, these Republicans have no clue what it is! How can they promise a Covenant with Taxpayers when they don’t even know what it’s about? Or will the terms of this sacred promise simply change over the next two years as they begin to redefine what’s in it?
It should be repeated that performance-based accounting was one of the most important facets of the Republican’s Covenant with Manchester. But when all five of the Republican Directors, in succession, failed to even define it last month, it became immediately clear that the Republicans clearly ran a campaign of rhetoric. When Directors like Tweedie, Beckman, Pelletier and Peak all admit one after another, openly, that they do not know what performance-based accounting is, they demonstrate that (1) they were either lying to voters during the election, or (2) there is no substance behind this part of their Covenant with Manchester.
They certainly don’t know what they are talking about! They even admit that!
Before the election, in September actually, Matt Peak wrote that “Performance-based accounting is the accepted Standard for measuring how well a town performs.” Yet at the last Board meeting however, the Republicans revealed that only one town in New England uses it. Only ONE! What?! What standard was Peak talking about that September morning! The Standard no one uses? Peak has clearly misled the voters and taxpayers of Manchester with this part of the Republican campaign platform. The truth is that performance-based accounting is obviously NOT the standard municipalities use as the “key to saving tax dollars.” Not even Saco, Maine, uses it to save tax dollars!
So, the big question remains: if not one town in New England uses performance-based accounting in their budgetary process, and it’s not going to save us money, just what exactly is it?? I guess that’s a pretty hard question to answer… It must be if the people who came up with the idea can’t!
One thing, however, we do know for certain: the truth is that Republicans misled Manchester voters about their knowledge of performance-based accounting during the campaign; the truth is that they cannot even define it today.
How do you spell Accountability again?
Posted by gmyd 
