Candidate Profile: Mandy Sliver
Ahead of this Thursday’s (5/5) Peterborough Parley Debate and Salon and in preparation for next week’s Peterborough Town Meeting, GoMonadnock sent some basic questions to all candidates in contested races. We will be publishing candidate responses, unedited, as we receive them. —CJD
GoMo: As a member of the Budget Committee, how do you plan to maintain a balance between the high levels of service expected by residents and the demand to keep taxes low and cut costs?
The joint Budget Committee and Select Board meetings serve as a public forum to create a level of transparency and accountability to our Department Heads and Town Administration. Anyone attending these meetings is given the full budget and the opportunity to question any line item in a public setting. Last year, the Budget Committee returned to the practice of assigning a member to each department to look deeper into the assigned department's budget and attend meetings throughout the year. I plan to continue to participate in this process and raise questions when I see potential issues. I also plan to reach out to members of the community to encourage participation and feedback prior to the presentation of the budget when it is often too late to make any real changes.
What are the ways in which you as a candidate are unique and distinct from your opponents in this race?
I currently serve as the elected Treasurer for the Town of Peterborough and I have served on the Budget Committee for the past 6 years.
Tell us your vision for the future of Peterborough.
My vision for Peterborough is to be a connected community, working together to maintain vital services, support one another, and be respectful of our differences.
What else do you want our readers to know?
There is often confusion about what Peterborough's Budget Committee does. I would like to take the opportunity to remind the residents of Peterborough that we do not have an official budget committee as outlined in RSA 32:14. Non-official budget committees (like ours) serve in an advisory capacity to the governing body, which is in control of the budgeting process. This explanation is not meant to say that the committee is not important, but it should be noted that we do not control the budget or the process. The Budget Committee Charter (adopted at annual town meeting of 1993) explains the purpose of this committee and includes this task: "The Board of Selectmen and the Budget Committee shall meet jointly to evaluate the recommendations of the department heads, and for any discussions involving any budgetary matters related to the upcoming budget." These meetings are open to the public with the schedule set weeks in advance and I plan to do better about helping to publicize the schedule and draft budgets. Every resident of Peterborough has access to a copy of the full budget and is invited to attend these meetings to ask questions of the governing body that controls the budgeting process and the department heads who create and maintain these budgets. Regardless of the outcome of this election, I will continue to attend these meetings, study the budget, and question the department heads and Select Board.
