In this episode of Hanover Happenings I sit down with Selectboard Chair Athos Rassias to run through the Warrant for 2024 Town Meeting.   Athos and I discuss a little bit about his time serving on the Selectboard and involvement in Hanover's School Board and Finance Committee, why Hanover is such a cycling paradise, who is better Bruce Springsteen or Taylor Swift, and then we run through the entire ballot and Warrant and explanations for Town Meeting. Go one episode back for a budget overview, which we don't spend much time on in this episode.   Town Meeting is Tuesday May 14th at HH ..read more

In this episode I sit down with Ellen Bullion, Finance Director, to talk some budget! We start off with a basic Budget 101 - revenue/appropriations, operating/capital, how the budget leads to the tax rate, and some differences between private and public sector budgeting. We then move on to cover a very broad overview of the FY25 budget, and the "Top 12" highlights of things to keep an eye on in the FY25 budget that was approved by the Selectboard on April 1st, and endorsed by the Finance Committee. What we cover in this episode will be largely mirrored in the Town Report as well. Then we discu ..read more

In this episode I discuss the importance of civic engagement and recap a project several dozen state and local officials worked recently to produce a produce a free, nonpartisan guide on how to boost participation at Town Meeting. It was covered on NHPR and you can download the guide at nhtownmeeting.com. In the episode we cover the phrase “Authentic and effective public engagement” and why it’s important to have shared definitions of terms such as these. We go through some of the reasons behind the handbook, and then go through the five best practices we identified, as well as some quotes fro ..read more

Hey folks, this is your Town Manager Alex Torpey here with a bit of a late update for December and Happy New Year, and January 2024. How it's 2024 already I have no idea, but we'll have to save that for a different podcast.   A lot has been happening in the last month, though much of that has been really on the staff side, both working on turning the data and feedback from our retention and recruitment study into proposals and then budgeting them out and working with our collective bargaining units and staff and selectboard to move forward, so with that and a few persistent vacancies in s ..read more

This is your Town Manager Alex Torpey with another spotlight episode. In it, I sit down with Heather Drianan, Director, Dartmouth Government Relations, Jim Alberghini, Director Dartmouth Institutional Events & Logistics, and John Sherman, Hanover Parks and Rec Director to talk about.... This winter, check out free, public skating (BYOS(skates)) at the Dartmouth Green! Thanks to a new collaboration between the College and Hanover Parks and Rec, the rink will generally be open to the Dartmouth community and general public during daylight hours, weather permitting, starting early January. Lea ..read more

Hi all, this is your Town Manager Alex Torpey here with your November update. We covered a lot of ground in November, and in this episode I'll provide updates from: 11/6 and 11/27 Selectboard meetings: Nonpublic on 11/7 to discuss staffing and compensation potential proposals A number of important budget updates over both meetings: Discussed and set ARPA allocations (and next meeting modification) Results from SB priorities/goal setting workshop 24/25 tax rate guidance Finalized FY 23/24 tax rate and tax bills due Set several public hearings via 41:14a Completed various donations and othe ..read more

In this special episode I sit down with Allie Levy of Still North Books and Bar talking about some of the great value in supporting local businesses this Saturday, November 25th for Small Business Saturday in Hanover. Supporting local businesses has so many benefits - aside from keeping money in the community, shopping local helps create and support good and well paying jobs in the Upper Valley, reduces the environmental footprint of your shopping and so much more. Parking is free throughout Hanover on Saturday. Park once, and get outside and walk around and support local! Here is a selection ..read more

This is your Town Manager Alex Torpey here with another spotlight episode.   I sit down in Town Hall with Sian Beilock, Dartmouth College's 19th president, who was inaugurated in September of this year. Sian and I discuss a range of issues from mental health, to housing in Hanover, to disagreeing and having civil conversations, what insights we can gain from cognitive science and psychology about how people interact with each other, and whether Sian can still beat her daughter in tennis or not. Both Sian and I wanted to make sure to share how essential it is to both of our organizations t ..read more

Hey all, this is your Town Manager Alex Torpey with your October update. First update: fall has come and gone! Anyway, October was a busy month in town, and in this October recap, we're going to cover topics   From the October 9th and 16th Selectboard meetings The October 18th Selectboard goal setting workshop And my monthly report   This includes updates on:   An employee proclamation FY24-25 budget updates, including updates on the new Capital Improvement Program Committee, ARPA funds, state report filings, and more A big update on the Mink Brook Community Workforce Housin ..read more

I had the pleasure to attend the annual conference of the International City/County Management Association last week in Austin Texas and wanted to bring you some stories from Town Managers from across the country. Nearly 6,000 local government managers and professionals gathered from around the world to work on every issue you could possibly imagine (Learn about ICMA here). For this conference, I was also selected as one of two town managers by the Municipal Management Association of New Hampshire, along with Karen Conard, the City Manager of Portsmouth, to represent our state at a 4-hour in-d ..read more