This diary is prompted by a front-page story in the Sunday New York Times, describing an electoral saga this year in a small New Hampshire town. I live about forty miles from there and perhaps can add some local color.
The story is about Croydon, New Hampshire, a town of about 800 residents in the southwest of the state (between Newport and Interstate 89, if you know the area). And it’s about the Free State Project (FSP).
The FSP is a supposedly libertarian effort to get like-minded “libertarians” to move to a single state where they will thereby have more political influence. It was started in 2001 by a Yale graduate student—thank you again, Yale; Elmer Rhodes has company. In 2003 they chose New Hampshire as their target: partly because it is small, partly because they believe the ‘Live Free or Die’ state has libertarian tendencies, partly because they thought they could take over local governments with relative ease. I say “supposedly libertarian” because these activists generally don’t give a damn about reproductive rights or civil liberties: all they want is Lower Taxes. I say that confidently, based on almost 20 years of watching them here.
It took a while—of course, getting people and families to move would. But a fair number have moved here—probably in the thousands, but reliable numbers are impossible. Some publicly declare their membership, others stay quiet.
Serving on a school board or as a town selectman can be a lot of work: night meetings, reviewing detailed spreadsheets, learning the history of local issues, answering questions and complaints when you’re out shopping. One Free State couple, Ian and Jody Underwood, who moved from Pennsylvania in 2007, got elected to both positions: he as one of three selectmen, she as one of three school board members.
You may wonder how they got elected, and part of the answer is that the jobs are not appealing, as stated. They don’t pay much at all, they are very demanding: they attract either a public-spirited person or an ideologue. But I think another part of the answer is the disappearance of local newspapers. Thirty years ago, Croydon was served by the weekly Newport Argus Champion and the daily Claremont Eagle Times. When local elections rolled around, voters would have already read profiles of the candidates. Not so much today.
Selectmen and school board members make decisions throughout the year, and propose yearly town and school district budgets. Then the voters of the town approve, reject, or modify those budgets at a town meeting, usually in March. There is no quorum requirement for a regular town meeting: the date and time are publicly noticed, and the voters who turn out make the decisions.
The Croydon town meeting was held in March of this year. After the town budget was approved, the $1.7 million school budget was next. Ian Underwood moved to slice it to $800,000. His motion passed, 20 to 14. (Yes: there were 34 voters present.) The Times quotes Ian Underwood as asking later: “Why is that guy paying for that guy’s kids to be educated?” (The Underwoods have no children.)
The town was blindsided by this. A mixed group—liberals, conservatives, independents—formed We Stand Up for Croydon Students. They checked with the state’s Attorney General and found that they could schedule a special town meeting—and if at least half the electorate showed up, it could cast binding votes. Townspeople also looked more closely at the Free State Project. A second selectman generally votes with Underwood but said “that doesn’t make me one of them.” “I don’t believe it for a second,” responded a local teacher.
On May 7th, Croydon held a second town meeting. They needed 283 voters to conduct business—they got 379. They voted to overturn the “Underwood budget” by 377 to 2.
School board member Jody Underwood called this a victory for “mob rule.”
The whole story is loaded with lessons:
- Democracy requires constant vigilance. If you don’t vote, or show up for town meeting, your government will be stolen from you.
- Democracy also requires transparency, visibility, and some form of free press. A painting contractor in town is now recording selectmen and school board meetings and posting them online. A good start.
- Libertarians are completely lacking in any principles except “I don’t want you to tax me.”