Simply Somersworth: City mayors represent democracy in action
Jenne Holmes
There have been 36 serving mayors in Somersworth since the community voted to become a city in 1893. The first of those mayors was Franklin N. Chase, who served for a year. The city s youngest mayor would be George Bald, who served from 1978 until 1984. Mayor Bald would be the last mayor who would govern under what is referred to as the strong mayor form of government. When Mayor Burkham took office after Bald he would be serving under the mayor/city manager form of government.
Now, you might be wondering what the differences between a strong mayor and that of the mayor/city manager form of government. The good news is that it has nothing to do with how much weight they can lift or how much they weigh. (At least it’s good news for them.) A strong mayor is basically the chief executive of the council and has the power to veto any measures that might be passed by the city council and is a full-time p
Somersworth City Council allows school district to keep surplus
SOMERSWORTH – The City Council voted to allow the Somersworth School Board to keep $419,671 of its more than $432,000 surplus of fiscal year 2021 appropriated funds.
Typically, any unused funds go back to the city s general fund and the school district would have to request a special supplemental appropriation. Pre-COVID, there was little surplus typically left at the end of the year. The challenges faced in both this fiscal year and last due to the pandemic, have led to this unprecedented surplus. What this is allowing them to do, which we ve never done before, is to allow the school department to anticipate what the unspent funds unanticipated revenues will be in advance of their final budget preparation and show that as revenue on their ledger, City Councilor and Deputy Mayor David Witham told the council.
Somersworth moves toward adopting Indigenous Peoples Day
SOMERSWORTH The Hilltop City’s School Board recently voted to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day on local school calendars.
School Board member Coty Donohue, who spearheaded the change, said “it’s about time” the Somersworth School District reframe and rethink how it celebrates a dark chapter in the continent’s history.
“I support the name of Indigenous Peoples’ Day because that does recognize the people that were before us,” Donohue said during a board meeting last week. “One of things we believe according to (the district’s) mission statement is that the education of today shapes the world or the future of tomorrow, and I think reframing this holiday in the light of acknowledging and honoring Indigenous people allows for our future generations to be raised into and learn about the truths of our history, from early on.”