Sunday, September 7, 2014
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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