A campaign sign that has popped up across Concord in recent days should give voters pause. It features the names of two candidates at once - Gov. John Lynch and Executive Councilor John Shea - and implies that voters should support them as a team.

Trouble is, that philosophy is exactly the opposite of what the Executive Council is all about. And it's a big reason we endorse Republican Dan St. Hilaire for the Executive Council in next week's election.

Shea is a one-term Democratic councilor running for reelection in District 2, which stretches from the Vermont border, through Concord, clear over to Maine. He is a favorite of Lynch because he tends to vote with the governor on nominations for key state agency chiefs and judgeships. Democrats speak of Shea as the "third vote" - that is, along with two other Democrats on the five-member Executive Council, he gives Lynch a working majority to do what he likes.

We have little argument with Lynch's recent picks for major state jobs. To the contrary, he has a record of seeking smart, nonpartisan experts to lead state government. Our quibble is with the notion that District 2 voters should have anything other than a strong, independent representative looking out for their interests on the Executive Council. After all, the very reason the council exists is to provide a check on the governor.

As a Concord city councilor and Merrimack County attorney, St. Hilaire has impressed us as practical and non-ideological. He says he would not impose a partisan litmus test on the governor's nominees - but would make sure they weren't single-issue candidates with axes to grind.

Most of all, we have confidence that he would look out for the interests of Concord-area communities and residents.

We have sympathy with Lynch and all past governors who grew frustrated with the Executive Council's power to thwart their ability to choose their own cabinet - and who grew weary of the interminable meetings in which councilors approve scores of small state contracts without discussion.

But reforming - or better yet removing - the antique Executive Council is a discussion for another day. While it's still with us, Concord-area voters deserve a clear-thinking, independent councilor. They would be wise to go with St. Hilaire.