Age: 72

Political party: Democratic

Elected position you are seeking: State Representative; Strafford 1. That’s a new district with Milton & Middleton together.

Number of years living in the district you seek to represent: 19

Family (name of spouse/partner, number and ages of children if at home, number of grown children):

Susann and I have been married 48 years. Our 2 children are married and on their own.

Education: MA

Current occupation/employer: retired

Employment, military and volunteer history: My employment has been in social work fields: State Psychiatric Hospital Medicaid compliance and administration, Vocational Rehab Counselor, and Social Worker. I worked my way through college and grad school on an apple farm. When our kids were in school, I was a PTO President and soccer league secretary. I’ve scraped, sanded, and painted at Old Nute and the Town House, and I’ve put in over 2000 hours on various Town Boards and committees. Susann and I spent two years running the NH Farm Museum for free and I’ve been a volunteer, Board member, and next door neighbor for almost 20 years.


Please list all public offices to which you’ve been elected, when and where: In the small rural towns of northern Strafford County, public office is volunteer work. If you show up, a board or committee will find you. In Milton, I was first “written in” to the Cemetery Committee (10 votes) in 1998. Right now I serve on the Planning Board, ZBA, and Budget Committee. I’m also a Cemetery and Library Trustee. I’m past chair of the conservation committee and a former sewer commissioner. As Milton’s Rep, I chaired the Executive Board for the Strafford Regional Planning Commission and presently serve on the Transportation Technical Advisory Committee.

Please list any unsuccessful runs for public office and when:

I lost the last time out — 2012 — by 32 votes and a 4-color glossy postcard sent by Americans for Prosperity postmarked from out of town.

Other prior political and government experience: During my 3 three terms as State Rep (2004-2010) I was an active county delegate, served on the executive committee which has budget/oversight for the commissioners, and was appointed to the State Board of Manufactured Housing


During those 3 terms as a State Rep, I served on the Municipal and County Government Committee. This has been and continues to be a committee remarkable for its collegial work and its impact on local government and our daily lives.

Key endorsements you’ve received: I haven’t asked for any. I expect individuals to vote on their own for what is important in their own lives. If they support funding for the public schools of our state, funding for UNH and the community college system, funding for bridges and roads, paycheck fairness, and health care access, safe air, food & water, and equality, I hope to receive their vote.

Campaign contributions on hand and campaign expenditures to date:

I’m funding this myself. There is no PAC money out there, there is no out-of-state money, there is no “puppet string money” coming in from the shadows. I’ve spent $82.38 on photocopies. If you get a letter from me, read it. I wrote it, I paid for it, and you can call me at 652-4306 to talk more about it.

Top contributors to your campaign fund: I’m funding my campaign out of my own money. Frank Guinta can’t remember what he did with $350,000.00. I spent $82.36 at Staples. You can vote the stock market or you can vote Marketbasket. I value local democracy.


Why should people vote for you? What separates you from your opponent(s)? For my 3 terms in Concord, I was there every day and voted on every bill (over 95% of the time). I voted to raise the minimum wage, for R&D tax credits, job training funds, better workers comp, full-time kindergarten, and increased funding for tech colleges and the UNH system.

I voted to sunset the disability services wait list, expand children’s health insurance, keep civil access to health services for women, and add adult children and the children of divorce to health insurance plans.

Every program here — legislation to protect real people in the hopes and struggles of their lives, was either voted down or dead. That is the legacy of the O’Brien-led House of 2010.

What are the three most important issues you would address if elected? How?

Much good work gets done in committee. A thousand bills come up every year. A solid bipartisan recommendation from committee says a lot about issues that will come up. The question is not how to address an issue, but what to support as fair goals.


1. Foster education — that includes building aid for local school districts, tuition aid at UNH and the Community College system and business investment credit and technical training that grows NH jobs and job skills

2. Environmental Protections, cultural History, and tourism. The New Hampshire advantage is its lands, waters, and the history of its people. Visitors and citizens alike deserve it

3. State infrastructure — nothing wastes money like repairs put on a list and never done.

What other issues do you see as important? Campaign finance reform, Equal health care access, Gambling — to support schools

These three issues share one thing. Americans for Prosperity, Big Pharma/Big Health, and casino interests push money to the top and pit working people against each other.

What specific steps will you take to make government more open and accessible to the public?

A great deal of government is open and accessible. Open meetings, public notice, agendas, minutes, — all under the New Hampshire “Right to Know” Law. The definition of access is access — not agreement. For close to 20 years, I’ve followed public meetings, chaired them, or taken the minutes. Few people come.


Have you ever been convicted of a crime (felony), been disciplined by a professional licensing board or organization or had an ethics violation filed against you?

No

Have you ever filed for bankruptcy, had your mortgage foreclosed, or been delinquent on your federal, state or local taxes? If so, please give the details.

No

Are there any personal details about yourself that voters would be interested in knowing?​

My father’s family farmed New Hampshire before it was a State. My grandfather, a Theodore Roosevelt reform Republican, was still working at 80 and out on strike because the workers deserved fairness. My mother, a widow at 31, had $34.00 left when all the medical bills were paid after my father’s early death. “Time and chance will come”. What is important in our lives is what we build out of our losses.

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