Proposed Strafford County gerrymander doesn't pass muster: Letters

Proposed Strafford County gerrymander doesn't pass muster

May 25 −To the Editor:

We read with great interest Representative Turcotte’s response in The Rochester Voice to an article appearing in Foster’s Daily Democrat regarding the attempt to redistrict the election area for the Strafford County Commissioners.

For someone who was on the statewide redistricting committee, we are surprised that he does not recognize that both Carroll County and Sullivan County elect their County Commissioners countywide. This process is only slightly different than the election process used in Strafford County. In addition, it is surprising that Rep. Turcotte’s claim that it was the intent of the House of Representative’s Special Committee on Redistricting, of which he was a member, to redistrict the Strafford County Commissioners after all other state redistricting was completed. Really? The committee can redistrict the entire state including other races in Strafford County, but not the Commissioners? Oh, by the way if this was the real intent, he forgot to include it in the committee report from the “Committee Input Session” held in Strafford County on September 22, 2021. If it was mentioned during the input session, the voters in Strafford County could have had a chance for input. Rep. Turcotte was quoted in the report, but never mentioned the Strafford County Commissioners. In addition, the race for Strafford County Commissioners was included in the final redistricting bill as “elected at large.” All 400 legislator seats, 24 senate seats, 5 executive council seats, all county seats in New Hampshire and the United States Congressional seats were considered for redistricting, but then the committee did not have the time to address the Strafford County Commissioners “DUE TO COVID.” WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE KIDDING???

Rep. Turcotte also has claimed that Secretary of State Scanlan says his bill is legal. Maybe Secretary of State Scanlan could tell us why HB 75 was heard in front of the legislative committee that Rep. Turcotte chairs instead of the Election Law Committee, where all other redistricting bills were heard. In addition, courts decide these types of disputes, not the Secretary of State.

Rep. Turcotte states there is no effort to gerrymander in the new bill, yet he mentions in his letter that Commissioner Maglaras was elected from a “one party system.” Really? Over his tenure in office, Commissioner Maglaras was nominated eleven times by the Republican Party and he has proudly served for decades with several Republicans who he considered his friends, including George Young, Earle Goodwin, Cal Schroeder, Catherine Cheney (all Strafford County Commissioners) Wayne Estes as Sheriff, and Charles Crocco as County Treasurer.

A common misnomer is that no one has been elected from the towns in Strafford County. Nothing is further from the truth. Cal Schroeder from Town of Strafford, Ron Chagnon from the Town of Farmington, Leo Lessard from the Town of Milton and Deanna Rollo from the Town of Rollinsford have been on the commission. Along with Wayne Estes from Milton as Sheriff, and Pam Arnold from Milton as County Treasurer.

It is our belief that the people should elect who they choose to the Executive Branch of Government. Strafford County is recognized as the best run county in New Hampshire for this reason. Our budgets have been managed under the caps voted in by the cities of Dover, Somersworth, and Rochester and for decades we have had unanimous budget votes by the County Delegation made up of Democrats and Republicans.

Rep. Turcotte and Senator Gray, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

George Maglaras, Robert Watson, Deanna Rollo

Strafford County Commissioners

More: GOP moves to change Strafford County election. Dems call it 'gerrymandering at its worst'

If the House GOP wants to make people work they should start with Congress

May 28 − To the Editor:

You can see which days members of the US House of Representatives are scheduled to be in Washington DC by looking at their congressional calendar which is posted by the House Majority Leader.  This year they are scheduled to work 113 days in DC.  They take off all of August. There are approximately 260 weekdays in a year.  10 of them are Federal holidays.  They are at work less than half the year and you, the taxpayer, pay to fly them home after any week they work.

I bring this up because the House Republicans threatened to make the country default on its debts if President Biden did not agree to kick the poor off the food stamp program if they did not work at least 80 hours in a month.

8 hours a day times 113 days is 904 hours.  80 hours a month times 12 months is 960 hours. The GOP is insisting the poor work more than they do.

If the GOP really cared about deficits, they would fire half of congress and tell those remaining to work a full year for a full paycheck and not insist on starving the poor.

Walter Hamilton

Portsmouth

Nuclear Safety Now: The truth about aging nuclear power plants

May 25 − To the Editor:

Director Oliver Stone covers nuclear energy in his new film Nuclear Now. After watching, I agree with the call to prioritize carbon-free energy now. Knowing the dangers of climate change, nuclear power’s carbon-free electricity can seem attractive. While the film highlights innovative experimental nuclear technologies, it fails to acknowledge issues occurring across the old nuclear plants we already have.

As Executive Director of C-10 Research & Education Foundation, I can speak to issues found at Seabrook Station. The 33-year old plant is old and showing her age, suffering from a condition called Akali-Silica Reaction (ASR), a.k.a. “concrete cancer.” The salt marsh water reacts with certain ingredients in this plant’s concrete. This is the only plant in the U.S. known to have this problem, for now.

Frustrated by Seabrook Station’s chronic non-compliance of the rules meant to track the concrete cancer’s progress, C-10 has been sounding the alarm bell. There is legitimate concern about the ability of the plant’s weakened structures to withstand increasingly brutal storms or an earthquake. Any buckle or breach could result in radiation leaking into surrounding communities. There are 180,000 residents in just the 10-mile evacuation zone, covering 11 NH towns and six MA communities, and millions live within the 50-mile exposure zone, including Boston.

We take some comfort knowing that C-10 tracks radiation levels in the air 24/7/365 with our real-time sophisticated network of probes situated at 20 sites across MA and NH.

Mr. Stone says he makes films that “prod at our prevailing narratives.” If taking his own advice, he may consider that old nuclear and new nuclear do not belong in the same narrative.

Sarah Abramson

Stratham

Abortion restrictions are blatant government overreach

May 28 − To the Editor:

As we all are well aware, the matter of abortion is one of the more contentious issues facing our country. Certainly people are entitled to an opinion one way or the other, to voice that opinion, and to apply their beliefs in their own life choices. The very first question, however, is whether or not the government should be the decision-maker. And here is where the logic of the debate begins to fall apart.

One of the basic principles of the Republican Party is "small government". Government should not control our use of guns. Government should not set standards in the name of climate change as to the production of fossil fuels. Government should not involve itself with issues of air and water pollution, relying instead on promises of corporate responsibility; not supervise the banks and allow the market to be the guide. But when it comes to perhaps the most personal of life decisions, involving the individual, family considerations, or serious medical issues, the same people are demanding full governmental intervention in the entire process, not only as to the woman most directly affected but also the entire medical community.

Although it has been shown that education regarding sexual relations, including the several varieties of birth control − abstinence among them − can significantly reduce the number of unexpected and unwanted pregnancies, all too often it is the very same people who condemn abortion who are the ones moving to limit, or even eliminate, by governmental decree, appropriate sex and health education programs from our schools.

At the same time many propose, by legislation, limiting public access to legitimate birth control devices. The upshot of this is bound to substantially increase the number of pregnancies, but then with this as an inevitable result Republican legislators across the country are voting to reduce governmental financial support for women's health clinics. They oppose paid parental leave programs and any increase in housing or medical subsidies for low income single parents. Many are now pushing for increased work requirements for a parent receiving such aid, while at the same time cutting appropriations for day care programs. It is another example, they say, of too much government, too much welfare state. But such an approach penalizes all children (and families) regardless of the circumstances of their birth.

It is certainly unfortunate when a woman has to face the decision. But if these legislators are to be consistent with their approach to "government overreach", it should be her sole decision based on family, medical, and her future life considerations. She should not be deemed a criminal for her choice not to have a child, nor should laws be passed reducing funding for future medical and educational resources that penalize both mother and child, creating further burdens on families and society as a whole.

Anthony McManus

Dover

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Proposed Strafford County, NH gerrymander doesn't pass muster: Letters