Raymond Rights

04/06/2026

Attention Residents of Raymond: Monday April 6th at 6pm the Board of Selectmen will meet in the High School Cafeteria to discuss the Municipal Water System.

According to the town website, “This meeting will include representatives from the Board of Selectmen, the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES), State Representatives, the Water Planning Committee, and the Planning Board.”

Residents are encouraged to attend and public input is requested as these matters affect all taxpayers.

See the full news post here:

There will be an important public meeting on April 6th at 6:00pm in the High School Cafeteria. All residents are strongly encouraged to attend.

03/17/2026

UPDATE: Location has been changed to Raymond High School Gym

The Town has announced a recount of votes for the Board of Selectmen and Library Trustees, to be held Friday, March 20th beginning at 6pm in the Middle School Gym.

According to the 2026 NH Town Meeting Guide* "Any person who received a vote at any town election may request a recount by the Friday following the election." The request must be in writing to the Town Clerk and Fees paid according to
RSA 669:31, which are based on a percentage of votes a candidate lost by.

The recount is managed by the Town Moderator with the assistance of "The Board of Recount" which is comprised of the Town Clerk and the Board of Selectmen. If any member of the Board of Selectmen is also on the ballot, a proxy or substitute is appointed by the moderator to fulfill their duties.

Recount teams are assembled to review each ballot and record the vote of each office being recounted. In this case:
Board of Selectmen - Andrew Snow, Patricia Bridgeo, Kyle Curley, Rani Merryman
Library Trustees - Cindy Bennett, Debbie Mayo

Each candidate may bring an observer for each of the recount teams. Observers will oversee the process and may challenge a vote, but they may not touch the ballots.

Once the recount is tallied, if the votes did not change for the elected candidates, they may take an oath of office, but must wait 6 days before assuming office. This is to allow for an appeal of recount, which is made to the Superior Court.

This year the town debuted new ballot counting machines by VotingWorks. These machines scanned the ballot to tabulate the votes cast. According to the Official Tally Report** there were 1224 ballots scanned and 26 hand counted. Each of the elections were close with votes in the teens separating winners.

Do you plan to attend the recount? Do you expect it will produce a different result?

https://www.sos.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt561/files/inline-documents/sonh/town-meeting-guide-2026_0.pdf
*https://ecode360.com/RA1135/document/753235845.pdf

03/07/2026

Inquiring Minds Want to Know - What's going on with Raymond's Municipal Water System?

Like us, you may be seeing a slew of accusations and years-old information regarding the “current” state of the Raymond Public Water System. These appear to stem from a recent Board of Selectmen work session at which Senator Keith Murphy appeared. During his discussions with the board he stated “The town has to add water capacity and solve the water problem and if they don’t, if you don’t, they [NHDES] are going to start issuing fines in 2029”

The truth of the matter is that the Town of Raymond IS still under an Administrative Order with NHDES Drinking and Groundwater Bureau to address the need to expand the system. This is NOT new information (we've been covering the subject since 2023). Within the order two separate deficiencies were identified:

1. Water Storage Tank
2. Source Water Capacity

WATER STORAGE TANK
The Water Storage Tank Deficiency wasthe catalyst for the Administrative Order being issued. It was initially identified in 2013 in relation to the 1893 Orchard Street water tank, citing the need for major repair and painting. At that time it was recommended that rehabilitation be completed on the tank within 5 years.

In 2016 NHDES identified an additional deficiency with the 156 water tank, requiring repainting.

On April 8, 2020 a Notice of Violation was issued by NHDES for the town’s failure to correct the significant deficiency in the water system and given 30 days to correct the deficiency or submit a Corrective Action Plan.

On April 28, 2023 NHDES issued an Administrative Order for the Water Storage Tank deficiency.

In March 2024 Residents approved a Warrant Article to address the unresolved Water Storage Tank deficiency with a rehabilitation of the 156 Tank and the demolition of the Orchard Street Tank.

The rehabilitation of the 156 Tank was completed in the fall of 2024 and the Orchard Street Tank was taken offline with the completion of Water Main updates, later to be demolished in October 2025.

As of June 25, 2025 the Water Storage Tank Deficiencies have been resolved, as indicated on NHDES OneStop and confirmed by Eric Skoglund, Enforcement Specialist, NHDES Water Division.
[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T2c_d5Hx9tO5dcaI5u9ZdxUjIVCpIb9h/view?usp=drive_link]

SOURCE WATER CAPACITY
The Source Water Capacity Deficiency was added-on to the Administrative Order and remains open and is actively being addressed by the town, who remain compliant with quarterly updates of the Corrective Action Plan.

As of the most recent update, January 10, 2026, the town has been engaged with Underwood Engineers to develop a preliminary design of Water Treatment Plant upgrades. They have also entered into contract with Emery Garrett for the replacement of Well #2, which will be starting soon, and potential redevelopment of Well #4.

A conceptual design of the Water Treatment Plant upgrades is anticipated to be completed this month with application for construction funding in May.

We urge you readers, do not be dissuaded by misinformation and false accusations, which are seemingly being used as campaign tactics in an attempt to disparage the incumbent members of the Board of Selectmen. Rather, we invite you to do your own research and rely only on factual data.

View our files full of facts: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1h71rSAhpV0ZU72w8oHmxyn8DLcjW9pbF?usp=sharing

03/06/2026

Is your town holding its local election next week? If you are registering to vote on election day, remember proof of your identity, age, U.S. citizenship and domicile

02/25/2026

Election Day is Coming: Candidate Lineup!

On Tuesday, March 10th we’ll cast our votes for Zoning Amendments, Budgets, Appropriations and Citizens Petitions. But before any of that business, we’ll select our candidate choices for a variety of Town Offices.

While our town elections are technically non-partisan (we’re all on Team Raymond, right?), the question always comes up. Which “team” are they on?

We’re all neighbors here—we see each other at the grocery store, at the transfer station, and definitely in the school pickup line. Each name on the ballot is volunteering to represent you and the community at large ... at multiple meetings a month for many!

So without further adieu, here is the list of candidates and their respective party affiliations according to the January 27, 2026 Voter Registration list:

BOARD OF SELECTMAN - Two 3-year Terms
Andrew Snow, Undeclared
Patricia Bridgeo (Incumbent), Republican
Kyle Curley, Republican
Rani Merryman (Incumbent), Republican

BUDGET COMMITTEE - One 3-year Term
Jeffrey Roy (Incumbent), Republican

BUDGET COMMITTEE - One 2-year Term
Brandyn Naro, Undeclared

ETHICS COMMITTEE - One 3-year Term
Dee Luszcz, Democrat

PLANNING BOARD - Two 3-year Terms
Tracy Stickney, Republican

PLANNING BOARD - One 2-year Term
Gretchen Gott (Incumbent), Undeclared
Zachary Paradis, Undeclared

TRUSTEES OF THE TRUST FUNDS - One 3-year Term
Kevin Woods (Incumbent), Democrat

LIBRARY TRUSTEES - One 3-year Term
Cindy Bennett (Incumbent), Republican
Debbie MAyo, Republican

LIBRARY TRUSTEES - One 1-year Term
Marla Aasen, Undeclared
Gail Columbud, Undeclared

CEMETERY TRUSTEES - One 3-year Term
Kevin Woods(Incumbent), Democrat

TREASURER - One 3-year Term
Jerry Zimmel, Undeclared

MODERATOR - One 2-year Term
Kera Clements, Undeclared

TOWN CLERK - One 3-year Term
Alyssa Richard-Enos (Incumbent), Republican

SUPERVISOR OF THE CHECKLIST - One 6-year Term
Amiee Hayes (Incumbent), Undeclared

SCHOOL BOARD - One 3-year Term
Anthony Clements (Incumbent), Republican

SCHOOL BOARD - One 2-year Term
Kristianne Lemieux, Republican

Does party affiliation matter to you when it comes to your local representatives? Or is "fixing the potholes" and "balancing the budget" a language we all speak regardless of affiliation (or nonaffiliation as is often the case in NH)?
_______________________________________

Which Warrant Articles are you watching? Whether it’s the operating budget or the latest zoning amendment, we want to hear what’s on your radar!

See you at the polls!

02/21/2026

We know we’ve been quiet here. Just checking in to let you know we will have some content coming soon.

In the meantime, let us know if you’re tuned in for the upcoming Town Election and if you’re not planning to vote why not?

10/03/2025

ATTENTION ALL NH RESIDENTS:
Raymond Board of Selectmen, State Reps and Water Planning Committee have called for a Town Hall Meeting to discuss recent legislative changes and their impacts to our communities’ water resources and infrastructure. This meeting is open to the public and residents of surrounding communities are invited to attend.

This meeting will be held Monday, October 6th at 6:30pm in the Raymond High School Cafeteria.

05/21/2025

MYTH: State Controlled Zoning will make housing more affordable and end the housing crisis.

TRUTH: Our diverse and rural communities will be crushed by these bills, overwhelming local infrastructure and burdening residents to foot the bill to expand under the pressure of rapidly increased density and overpopulation.

We are not anti-development, we are pro-thoughtful and responsible development !

Contact every representative and senator to day and ask that they Vote NO to State Controlled Zoning. Preserve New Hampshire’s diverse communities and natural resources!

House of Representatives:
https://gc.nh.gov/house/members/

State Senators:
https://gc.nh.gov/senate/members/wml.aspx

And if you have not done so - please sign and share this petition to our Governor https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/dont-mass-up-nh

Edit to add: While Meta has indicated this post may be AI generated, only the image was produced by AI.

05/18/2025

Do you oppose the state overreach with zoning mandates and forcing NH communities into “one-size fits all” development?

Keep Zoning Local to protect our natural resources with moderate growth and thoughtful development over forced high-density development with no guarantee of affordability and laxed safety standards.

Please sign and share this petition to Governor Ayotte asking her to veto these bills that will significantly change NH’s landscape -

Don't

05/15/2025

Zoning Legislature in NH - Lawmakers & Lobbyists vs. Residents

Over the course of the last few months our New Hampshire Lawmakers, Senators and House Representatives, have presented a significant number of bills that would drastically change local zoning regulations - those, which in many communities, were enacted by a vote of "The People".

The push - To address NH's housing availability and affordability.

The reality - If enacted, the cumulative effect of these bills will have adverse effects on many of our rural communities and very little impact on the needs for affordable housing. With increased administrative workloads and strains on our infrastructure, the cost to local taxpayers will have the biggest consequences.

Following the progression of these bills one thing has become abundantly clear - Lobbyists have invested a lot of time and money to support this legislature, going so far as to hold private "legislator -only" town hall meetings, which is a direct violation of NH RSA 91-a.

In response, Raymond Rights has received a copy of a Right-to-Know request from a citizen seeking transparency. The letter was sent to each State Senator and House Representative and their responses (or lack of) will be tracked and publicly available here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bYW4qcEdvMXGbafsAD8nJAuJUNCvmirYoMVDBkaF8Xs/edit?usp=sharing

If you oppose State control of Local Zoning we encourage you to contact your legislators today!
Office of the Governor
State House
107 North Main Street
Concord, NH 03301
(603) 271-2121
(603) 271-7680 (fax)
[email protected]

Please also consider signing this petition:
https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/dont-mass-up-nh

05/14/2025

Have you been following the progression of the State Legislature on Zoning?

Tomorrow, Thursday May 14th our Senate will vote on several bills proposing State mandates on Local Zoning. The article below provides a summary of these bills and a list of Senators to contact - For Raymond, Senator Keith Murphy has sponsored several zoning bills this session and claims they are intended to “protect individual property rights” and “make housing affordable” while “making the process easier for developers”.

Not one of these bills guarantees affordable housing, they strip residents of their right to vote on local zoning laws for their unique communities and taxpayers will be picking up the cost of infrastructure needs to support the mass influx of development these bills pave the way for.

Contact your senator now, if you agree and let them know to Keep Zoning Local!

List of Senate emails listed below… URGENTFULL Senate Votes – Thurs 5/15/2025These bills will be coming up for a SENATE floor vote on Thursday May 15, 2025Write to all …