NH Resources

  If former senator Molly Kelly were a stronger gubernatorial candidate Gov. Chris Sununu might be in trouble, but she isn't.   Starting with his seriously flawed proposal to bring amazon to New Hampshire the performance of this governor has been essentially nothing.   All of his legislative initiatives from school vouchers to right to work crashed right along with parts of the state budget and contract negotiations with the state employees union. The first term governor shuffled the Department of Resources and Economic Development or infamous DRED to Business and Economic Affairs which is supposed to be advancing the state economy and creating jobs. But instead it picks winners and losers with the winners being mostly from Concord.   In the Granite State the next election is never more than two years away. This encourages performance by elected officials but it really doesn't work like this. Statewide political campaigns simply cost too much.   Almost r...

  Kirby, Vermont resident Melanie Finn wants to restrict free speech and letter writers to the Caledonian Record.   "Limit length of letters. This paper needs more diverse, fresh voices on the letters page. Many other newspapers have such policies." Finn said. One would not need to look further than New Hampshire to see just how dangerously bad this would be.   All New Hampshire newspapers restrict length in one form or another. This isn't ideal but it's fair considering the rising costs of newsprint and the market competition newspapers face. These are also opinion letters not graduate level dissertations and some letter writers don't understand this. But the rest of the letter writing policies that exist in the Granite State are clear restrictions of free speech and constitutional rights.   This starts with one letter per month, geographical requirements for submission and with content has to be in alignment with the political philosophy of the editor. The...

Two days after the state primary will be a day of decision for New Hampshire.   The September 13th veto override day in Concord will determine if wood biomass energy production has a future in the Granite State. This vote could go either way.   If the political analysts and State house watchers are to be believed there are now about 107 swing votes in the 400 member house. Swing votes are undecided votes that are frequently characterized by horse trading which isn't a good thing especially with the permanent economic consequence and job losses to the North Country if this override fails.   In recent days the wood biomass industry has stepped it's presence with rallies at the State house plaza and the southern tier which is where I think these swing votes are all from.   There has to be a 3/5ths vote majority to override Gov. Chris Sununu. This vote will be close like razor thin close. It will be a history defining day for New Hampshire.  

The Business Finance Authority made the right decisions in the now withdrawn Balsams Bailout.     New Hampshire does alot for a small state to advance economic development and create good jobs. This is significant because the Granite State can't dole out generous tax, land, energy and workforce incentives the way states like Tennessee, South Carolina and Connecticut can. Yet New Hampshire still manages to attract some quality business endeavors.     The Balsam's Bailout proposal wasn't a quality business endeavor. It was an example of speculation, risk and more to this point- gambling. And had these real estate dice rolls come up short the real loser would have been NH taxpayers.     But post Balsams Bailout I'm not understanding the behavior of local elected officials like Executive Councilor Joe Kenney and Berlin Mayor Paul Grenier. Their attitude seems to be one of complaining if not whining why this risky real estate deal didn't move forward. ...

  A number of wood biomass supporters including the son of a former governor recently appeared before a Sun editorial board with reasons why Senate Bill 365 should be overridden and continuing this North Country industry.       Unfortunately, they sung like a choir performing before the wrong audience.     Sen. Jeb Bradley, Lobbyist Jasen Stock, Tom Thompson and local forester Karla Allen all made compelling arguments for wood biomass energy production but they should have been in southern New Hampshire where the real votes are that will decide the fate of this industry on September 13th.     "If landowners who for years have been willing to share with the public and the state are going to shut access to their land down." said Tom Thompson son of the former governor best known for his ultra-conservative policies on state spending and his infamous quote, "Ax the tax!" New Hampshire was different then but Thompson is right if this override...

 Apathy kills things faster than the politicians in Concord.   And a killing time is coming. The fate of the New Hampshire biomass industry will be decided on September 13th which is veto override day at the Statehouse.   Some things will happen before then. New Hampshire has two advocacy groups dedicated to forestry and biomass energy production. The New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association and the NH Wood Harvesting Council both have a long-term lobbying presence in Concord. But neither are doing enough statewide outreach especially as $100 million dollars, good jobs and an entire way of life that sits in the crosshairs. Apathy Kills Things. Quickly.   If the legislature does not override the veto of Gov. Chris Sununu of Senate Bill 365 means the closure of six biomass energy plants, mass layoffs and some towns will lose as much as 27% of their total property taxbase. Bethlehem and Tamworth as examples.   The economic consequences for New Hampsh...

 Gubernatorial candidate Steve Marchand is a perpetual politician that has no real plans for New Hampshire.   Marchand made a recent campaign swing through Berlin and from the article by Barbara Tetrault, "is running partly because a lot of people have urged him to make another run." Marchand says.    Not a lot of substance there. Berlin like the rest of northern New Hampshire faces mounting challenges in everything from education quality to increasing strain on the local property taxpayer. The Marchand campaign offers nothing. I wonder who these people are that are urging him to run for Governor?     Marchand seems proud of his French-Canadian heritage, yet like the rest of his empty campaign offers nothing about what New Hampshire could do with Canada.     An experienced if not career politician, Marchand tries to make the argument that "no state has less of a relationship between state and local governments. Which really isn't true. New...