Belmont, Belknap District 6
I appreciate all the support I have received over the past decade as I’ve worked to assure good and limited government in New Hampshire. I wish representative O’Hara well as he moves forward in Concord as the voice of the citizens of Belmont.
Many voters are still concerned about election integrity. They ask me what can be done to assure the votes, ALL the votes, get counted properly. The general answer that they receive is to not worry, the system is fine. Of course, they have their doubts and even Hillary questioned the 2016 results.
Here in New Hampshire we have three polling locations that were found to have mishandled ballots. So telling people every thing is fine is less than satisfying. While we know that three locations in the state have had problems, we don’t know what we don’t know (for the youngsters that’s roughly from Rumsfeld). The problems in Laconia had been going on for a long time and yet were just revealed. Where will the next discovery be made?
If the people are not confident in their elections, one of their first thoughts is ‘then why bother voting.’ Fewer voters gives more control to those whom have a higher incentive and receive special privileges from their government.
We need more voters not fewer. We need to turn out voters at such a high number that it overwhelms their ability to rig the system. We have to have faith that justice with prevail.
Another thought just popped up over at GraniteGrok. Ken Eyring suggests contacting the Secretary of State’s Special Committee on Voter Confidence.
Others are working on grassroots solutions. Check out The Resolve for some ideas. As is all in politics, we sometimes need to respectfully disagree. I support John Plumer over their preferred candidate for senate in District 2.
There is no quick and easy solution. And even if there were we would still need to remain vigilant to maintain a legitimate election system. Have faith, be hopeful, and most of all take action; bring your neighbors to the polls on September 13th.
As we approach the primary I’m oft asked for my opinion on candidates in the Republican primary. I’m grateful that people trust my analysis of the candidates.
We are all getting loads of glossy mailers these days, particularly if you are on one of the various lists of regular voters. Of course, these postcards are mainly sent by those seeking national, or statewide offices.
Often there is less information available for those of us lower down on the ballot. Having served in the statehouse for the past 10 years, I am familiar with many candidates and have personal knowledge of their qualities.
For Governor, I am supporting Karen Testerman. She is a proven reliable conservative candidate with a strong familiarity of NH government.
I’m torn on US senate candidates. Bolduc, Mansharamani, and Smith each have great promise and I’ll gladly support the winner in replacing the current dud.
In CD1 I have endorsed Tim Baxter. I know Tim will NOT become a swamp creature if we send him to D.C.
For state senator I am supporting John Plumer. John has always been one to tell you what he would do, and then follow through with his actions. He is easily the most reliable candidate for state senate.
In state representative district 4, I ask for your vote. I have 10 years of experience in the statehouse, a solid Republican voting record, and the time to commit to the task.
Sheriff Bill Wright has been excellent in the job, a true professional.
Register of Probate is an interesting position. Upon request I’ll detail the history of this office. Cutting to the chase, this is a race for a seat in the Republican party leadership. Marc Abear is the superior choice.
County commissioner is a rather sad elected office, they serve to rubber stamp the actions dictated by the county administrator. Yes, that is a cynical viewpoint, I’ve watched them come and go; nothing changes. Dick Burchell was the last to try to apply a bit of integrity to the office, may he rest in peace. Fran Wendelboe has shown her Republican cred and gets my nod.
Finally, delegates to the state party. Both Doug Trottier and Nikki McCarter will be delegates by virtue of winning their uncontested primary. Both Susan Seaferd and Travis Toner would be good delegates. Only one can get the spot in D4. I recommend writing-in Susan Seaferd in D8. I don’t have any information about Margo Racicot, sorry.
My sample ballot is available if you’d like to print it out or share.
I got a good chuckle reading about my becoming a RINO (Republican In Name Only) after I escaped one of the worst Democrat strongholds in the country, New York. Good riddance to bad trash. As I arrived in New Hampshire in 2010, I stopped at the border to breathe in the freedom in the air. As a new refugee I looked for ways to assimilate to the local culture.
Shortly after arriving a political storm was brewing; Ward Bird had become a victim of a lunatic leftists’ trespass on his property. I, armed with freedom and a bit of new hardware, joined the fight to get Ward out of his cage.
I didn’t have any plans to become a political office holder, in fact I hadn’t even registered to vote. Then in June 2012 providence came knocking. Having recently moved to Belmont, Republicans were searching for two people to run for state representative. I long resisted the arm twisting but finally joined Chuck Fink to run a write-in campaign in the primary.
These days words are difficult to trust, so please consider my deeds. In my first term in the House, I was introduced to the House Republican Alliance (HRA). This group is dedicated to evaluating all bills in the light of the Republican party platform and our constitutions. Looking back at that first term, I see my HRA scores were 97.7 and 97.9 (http://nhhra.org/hra/publications/scorecard-archive/).
Is it possible that the HRA was under the influence of RINOs? You might recognize a couple of the Tri-chairs of 2013-2014; Al Baldasaro, Carol McGuire, and Pam Tucker. I dare you to call Al a RINO to his face. The Honorable Pam Tucker now serves as vice-chair of the NH Republican party. I have been one of the Tri-chairs of HRA for these past 4 years.
Perhaps we need to go back and consider the source, those who would like to place a label upon me. The guy who voted against parental rights (HB1431):
Don’t be fooled, Skip Murphy of GraniteGrok has definitely not endorsed this representative for reelection.
Belmont is buzzing with the release of our new property tax assessments. It is not the happy humming that comes from my bee hives, it’s much more an angry noise of a disturbed hornet nest. As we sit atop a housing market peak the people of town feel like they have been here before. With the new assessments will come a new lower tax rate, which many feel will push up the amount of tax paid on their property. They expect that this will start anew the ratcheting up of the rates going forward.
The Biden plan is to Build Back Better, but in order to build back he has, in short order, wrecked what was a vibrant economy. Spending more money labeled as Inflation Reduction is like eating dessert to lose weight. New Hampshire citizens wisely maintained a solid Republican state government which has buffered the people from the worst damage inflicted by D.C.
Some complain that my attitude of limiting government spending doesn’t allow for plush county services. Many of the hard working people of Belmont know the difficulties of filling the gas tank, paying the electric bill, and if there is a bit left over, buying a bag or two of groceries. They appreciate my service and thank me for taking the flack. I’m happy to do it and will continue to do so in the future.
Many believe that we may be headed for a more serious recession. The county delegation will be meeting on September 1, 2022 to consider raising wages to employees. This will add to the property taxes of Belknap county at a time when people are struggling with Bidenflation. Let your representatives know what you think.
Assessment Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Beware citizens, there are radicals and extremists roaming the countryside. That’s what all those signs littering the streets would have you believe. Oddly enough they seem to consider freedom to be a radical concept. This, in the ‘land of the free,’ doesn’t make sense.
In order to understand what’s really going on, you need to consider the source. It appears that the source is working from an instruction manual. Perhaps they are using Saul Alinsky’s ‘Rules for Radicals’?
Alan Posnack audaciously claims to be the leader of the citizens of Belknap County. He and a small band of entitled elitists scatter their trash across the county in an attempt to appear to be supported by the average people of the area. These are the same sorts of people that want to ban ‘single use’ plastic bags. They lack the self-awareness to see the irony of the mess they create.
As Rob Natelson writes in his article, Beware the Word “Extremist”:
The modern “progressive” project has centered on changing the key factors of cultural and freedom: attacking the culture, undermining constitutional restraints on government, and expanding the public sector until it dominates American life. A group seeks to topple the central pillars of a system is by definition “extremist,” no matter what they call their opponents.
I’ll happily accept the badge of honor offered by ‘progressives’ for my work in leading the most conservative county delegation in the state of New Hampshire. They are a small minority desperate to distract you from the catastrophic failures of the Biden administration of which you are reminded every time you reach for your wallet.
The July 20, 2022 Gunstock Area commission meeting saw more than fireworks. The ‘world class management team‘ was dissatisfied with the seating arrangement and went for the nuclear option.
You can read the leftists view of events at the Archive.org site. Or if you want a report with video evidence, hit the GraniteGrok.com.
The kingpin of the operation, now former commissioner Kiedaisch, signals that he had foreknowledge of the events. On his way out he says that the commissioners will need to get to the ski area bright and early to stand in for management. And having been a long time business man he should have known the consequences of the management’s decision. Almost every business owner knows that departing/disgruntled mangers are to be walked off the premises immediately. The management team should have known that it would cause significant damage to Gunstock.
Tom Day also reveals that this was likely a planned maneuver. One might wonder who is included in ‘we.’ Some might call it a conspiracy to damage Gunstock. Gunstock is not an employee owned ski area, it is a county asset.
Without skipping a beat the Citizen for Belknap PAC jumped in with a full page advertisement in the local paper.
While they say that they ‘stand with Gunstock’s employees,’ they seem to ignore the fact that even a short shutdown of the business will harm the majority of the workers. The management ‘team players‘ are well compensated and can afford a bit of time off in the summer. On the other hand, the wage earners are counting on every paycheck. The ‘professionals’ quit and the PAC, with no hint of irony, applauds the political stunt, then claims to stand with the employees. It certainly looks like Alan Posnack thinks you have to expect, and accept a bit of collateral damage.
As a reminder, this all started with a commissioner actually doing his job. When management and former commissioners threw up a stone wall, they thought that would end any queries. When more questions were asked they began a campaign to rid themselves of those with enough integrity to pursue the truth.
Those who had much to hide are now gone, those who sought the truth will start cleaning up the fall out.
The Biden administration has given us an energy crisis. Let me know how you think the NH legislature should respond, take the survey.
The citizens of Belknap county are mainly hard working middle class people with a good bit of common sense. They skew toward retirement age and many are getting by on their social security benefits. Well, they had been getting by before the Biden administration destroyed the economy. Now the Democrats are desperately seeking ways to distract our attention away from the unfolding disaster they have wrought upon us.
Along come the AstroTurf agitators of Citizens for Belknap. The real citizens of the county can easily see through their deceptions and their claimed need to rid the county delegation of ‘radicals and extremists.’ The front man of the group is well know in conservative circles to be a far left activist.
Belknap county is a solid conservative area in which all state representatives are currently Republicans. This drives the leftists crazy and it seems to have drawn the attention of big money donors from outside of our county and state. Knowing that the real political battles will be in the primary elections, that is where they have chosen to spend their money. They will be targeting good solid Republicans, and supporting less principled and more malleable individuals.
Those on the left like Citizens for Belknap have a far different perspective than the real citizens of Belknap county. From their perspective the people of the county are right wing extremist or as Hillary declared ‘DEPLORABLES.’ The people elected a solid group of Republican representatives in 2020 and have reaped the reward of good government (at least at the state level). Yet, this group will refer to us as ‘radicals and extremist’ as they question the integrity of the voters. The voters of Belknap county got it right in 2020, those saying otherwise are impostors with ill intent.
Mark your calendar for the September 13 primary election!
In a letter on Tuesday, July 5, 2022 my Democrat opponent for state representative in Belmont did his best to misdirect attention away from the disasters of the Biden administration. While he throws insults at the excellent management of our award winning county nursing home, he diverts the public eye from the crisis of health care sweeping the country.
Perhaps the 300 word limit prevented him from trotting out the tired old lie about the insufficient funding for oxygen at the nursing home. To set the record straight, the county delegation sets a budget that doesn’t over-tax its citizens. It was clear in 2021 that occupancy would be reduced in the nursing home due to Covid and a shortage of nurses. The years of experience held by the executive committee paid off in recognizing an extremely fat line in the nursing home budget. While local writers tried to gin up fear of patients lacking oxygen, the reality was that we didn’t cut enough. In the end, the commissioners’ request of $49,800 for oxygen was cut to $39,000. How many residents died from lack of oxygen? Zero. At year end for 2021 only $27,000 was spent on oxygen.
There are plenty of people willing to throw false allegations around. They need not backup their bogus claims. One of the problems in politics is the lack of spine to stand up against bullies and storytellers. This is where experience comes to play; knowing the truth and standing up for the truth. Belknap county delivers quality services to its citizen without putting them in the poorhouse (which ironically was known, in years gone by, as the County Farm).
I am running for re-election to continue putting pressure on bad actors in our state and county government. Those who would prefer to have their politicians turn a blind eye to corruption have recruited a primary opponent. I ask for your support in the September 13, 2022 primary. Please mark your calendar and share with your friends.
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Detractors and distracters make claims that the drama surrounding Gunstock are driven by my desire for control of the Area. This nonsense is just screeching by the outrage mob. My desire is simple; good governance.
When commissioner Gallagher resigned I hoped that action might smooth out the turbulence of governance at the Gunstock Area Commission (GAC). It was not that Gallagher was the cause of the problems, but it provided an opportunity to replace him with an individual whom would not be influenced by power seekers.
With Gallagher’s resignation the position opening was advertised in the local newspaper seeking applicants. Shortly after the advertisement started running, I received an email from the county administrator.
Noting this error I publicly acknowledged the error in a letter to the editor of The Laconia Daily Sun.
incorrectly states the position will be a five year term. This is my error. While the delegation has in the past filled a vacancy for a five year term, the enabling statute is clear that the vacancy is to be filled for the remainder of the vacant term. I apologize for that error.
Chapter law 399 of 1959 is the enabling statute of the GAC. Short of much controversy it is primarily of interest to the GAC. Now that all eyes are on Gunstock my past error is going to receive plenty of attention.
Back in 2020, with issues of viruses filling the news, the delegation voted to replace commissioner Nix with Rusty McLear. As it was the last year of Nix’s term, I misunderstood that we could appoint for a full 5 years. Why bother filling a position for 5 months?
Interestingly, as Hepburn points out, commissioner Kiedaisch asked about McLear’s term in October of 2020. Why did he ask about that?
He asked because he had read Chapter law 399. He knew that the law only allowed the appointment to fill the remainder of the Nix term.
Did he share that knowledge? No.
Did he think that an opinion of a representative would trump the law? If so, that little bit of deception by omission is about to bite him.
An honest chairman of the GAC would have shared this information and asked for the reappointment of McLear. And the delegation, with the power of appointment, could have simply reappointed McLear without going through advertising for a replacement. Why would we bother seeking new candidates after such a short time. Nothing in the statute requires the formality of taking applications.
This foolish maneuver on the part of Kiedaisch now puts in question every vote of McLear since his term, by law, ended in November of 2020.
GAC is scheduled to have an emergency meeting today, March 11, 2022. While not on their agenda, they should seek to have the delegation fill the seat vacated by law in November of 2020.
