Cone says he will bring new leadership as mayor

CONGRATULATIONS to Mayor-Elect Cone. First thing he needs to do though is take a course in economics. He stated that a tax assessment goes up when someone paints their house. Not so! Assessor's valuations are based on fair market values, which means they are based upon sales of real property, not property maintenance. He believes his mortgage doubled because of his increasing tax assessment. No mortgage ever heard of is tied to tax assessments. I don't know where he found his, but he should refinance with a lender who, like all i ever heard of, tie mortgage rates to interests rate, which in turn are based upon 10-year Federal Treasury Notes - which have been increased in the last couple of years by the Federal Reserve Bank to stem inflation. Cone believes that ATVers are staying and dining in Gorham and need to by attracted to Berlin with a hotel. Buthotels have assessed Berlin and declined to invest here because ATV tourism is seasonal and Berlin is already accomodating them. I run a short term rental in Berlin, like a number of other property owners, and we are booked up with ATVers who dine primarily at Berlin restaurants, not Gorham. He states that Berlin needs to gather small business owners to survey them to figure out how to revitalize the business center and how to attract more business investment. However, that's already happening with the $20 million federal grant that the existing mayor and council acquired to transform the downtown streets and sidewalks with the waste heat from Burgess Biomass, which, when done, will attract downtown investment in small business. The existin mayor and council has borought in the huge agri-business project by North Country Growers now being constructed across from the federal prison where Mr. Cone wroks. They will soon be employing at lesat 80 people with good paying jobs and adding to the tax base. He complains bout the school district's low ratings and says money is not the problem, and believes that an independent task force needs to be assembled to assess what is needed, but ignores the fact that that has already been done statewide and the finindgs of that assessment are that Berlin schools are being underfunded by the state legislature under the court order to deliver an adequate education to all NH public school students. Moreover, Berlin is now losing public money from its school budget under the state voucher program passed by State Republicans to support private and homeschool choices. Mr. Cone has much to learn about what is happening in and to Berlin and in the the statehouse. A few recent visits to council meetings clearly wasn't enough. He will have to learn it on the job now. Hopefully he will.