After being elected as a selectman, I was surprised to find that few rules are clear, coherent, and or completely agreed upon. New Hampshire is not a home rule state, meaning that all local authorities are specifically limited to actions granted by the State Legislature. This limitation applies to Town Meeting as well; our state constitution does not grant any power directly to municipalities or towns.

While the state constitution does not address municipalities, in 1981 the New Hampshire Supreme Court did: “Towns only have such powers as are expressly granted to them by the legislature and such as are necessarily implied or incidental thereto.” (Girard v. Allenstown)

Adding to the complexity of running a town are state administrative rules, which are set by state agencies and have a similar effect as statutes passed by the legislature and rulings from the state courts. Unfortunately, no branch of state government produces a book incorporating and compiling the rules. Instead, towns like Andover are forced to rely on opinions, which vary and are often contradictory.

The role of the Board of Selectmen is first and foremost to act as committee, because individual members of the Board have no power to act. While the Board is charged to oversee committees, the oversight role is only administrative: to ensure that public meetings have taken place, that meeting notes are filed with the Town Clerk, and that monies expended by the committee have been approved by the committee.

Additionally, the Board works with elected officials like the Road Agent, establishing and ensuring that the policies and priorities are as discussed at Town Meeting and voted in the Town budget.

Two challenges faced by the Board that are equally daunting are the quagmire of rules and the ability to enforce policies even-handedly. The first step to meeting these challenges is to involve the community as much as possible. The second is to have clearly-written policies in place before starting enforcement. The next step is to aggressively seek universal enforcement of policies across the entire town.

The Andover Board of Selectmen invites your ideas, opinions, suggestions, and attendance at all of our meetings. Our town is facing many challenges and choices; your involvement will help us make the best choices we can.