Monitor editorials

Contractors should have to post a bond

Fri, 25 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Monitor editorial

On Monday the Monitor published yet another story about the victims of a contractor who took thousands of dollars up front from homeowners who wanted work done. Complaints about contractors who pocket the deposit and never perform the work, or do a shoddy job and disappear, outnumber almost any other in the annals of the attorney general's office. Often those contractors move down the road, set up a business under a new name and continue to bilk customers.

Lawmakers have sponsored legislation requiring the licensing of contractors in the past - an approach taken by many states to address the problem - but the bills failed to overcome opposition by the construction industry. Licensing, at least in New Hampshire, may be a bridge too far. But contractors, roofers and others who accept a deposit in excess of, say, $2,000 should be required to post a bond that would reimburse customers if the work is never done or done poorly.

Schools should care about all the Kelseys

Thu, 24 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Monitor editorial

Children and teens with emotional and behavioral problems can drive parents and educators to distraction. They are far more likely to drop out of school, get into trouble with the law and be unemployed. Kelsey Carroll was one of them, but she made it.

Carroll's life during her senior year at Somersworth High School, and how enlightened educators helped her turn it around, is the subject of a new film by Dan Habib, the resident filmmaker at the University of New Hampshire's Institute on Disability and the Monitor's former longtime photo editor.

The film, Who Cares About Kelsey?, is airing now at Red River Theatres in Concord, and it will be shown to assemblies at Concord High School and Pembroke Academy. It is a must-see for anyone who works with children, parents struggling to understand and help their child, policymakers, people in law enforcement and anyone who likes a good story.

Legalize the medical use of marijuana

Wed, 23 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Monitor editorial

Writing in The New York Times last week, Gustin Reichbach, 62, made a passionate plea to legalize the medical use of the marijuana that allows him to sleep and combat the nausea caused by chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer. Reichbach's story was similar to those heard by New Hampshire lawmakers, who will soon vote on Senate Bill 409, legislation that would make New Hampshire the 17th state to legalize medical marijuana. The difference is, Reichbach is a sitting justice on the New York state Supreme Court.

Earlier this year, by a veto- proof margin, the New Hampshire House passed a bill that under tightly controlled conditions would decriminalize the production, possession and use of small quantities of marijuana by patients with physician approval and qualifying illnesses like cancer, glaucoma and AIDS. The bill passed the Senate as well, but by a margin three votes short of the ability to override a promised veto by Gov. John Lynch.

Embarrassed by the House

Tue, 22 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Monitor editorial

In December 2010, on the day he officially became speaker of the New Hampshire House, Bill O'Brien urged his colleagues to "bring respect for colleagues" to the State House, to "bring solutions, not condemnations."

"Leave rhetoric, disparagement and condemnation to the editorial pages and blogs," O'Brien recommended.

Republican leaders that day said that despite their new, lopsided majority, they would work in a bipartisan fashion.

Nonetheless, a year and a half later, New Hampshire is being treated to the most unlikely and depressing political debate in years, spurred by recent antics on the floor of the House. When Republican Rep. Steve Vaillancourt rose to the defense of a Democrat he believed had been unfairly silenced by O'Brien last week, the speaker cut him off, and Vaillancourt responded, "Sieg Heil."

Tax code playing millions for suckers

Mon, 21 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Monitor editorial

The choice of words in the news reports was inevitable: Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, who became worth nearly $4 billion as a result of Friday's public offering of Facebook stock, "de-friended" the United States and renounced his American citizenship.

Through a spokesman, Saverin said that the far lower tax rate in his new home of Singapore played no role in his decision. But then, that's what they all say, all the mega-millionaires and billionaires who renounce their U.S. citizenship to live in low-tax havens like Ireland, Belize, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Cayman Islands. Because the United States taxes the assets of wealthy Americans who renounce their citizenship, Saverin did have to pay roughly a half-billion dollars in taxes on his assets. But by one estimate, because Singapore does not tax capital gains, he escaped paying between $68 million and $364 million in taxes that he would have owed had he remained an American.

Stop party work by state employees

Sun, 20 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Monitor editorial

New Hampshire taxpayers should not foot the bill for campaign-related, on-the-job activities of state employees, nor should election-related work be done on state time. It's one thing for employees in the majority and minority offices of the House and Senate to do partisan work on behalf of legislation, quite another to do work that rightly should be performed by the staff of political parties.

The practice was called into question by the payment of a $455.66 mileage reimbursement collected by former Mont Vernon state representative Robert Mead. Mead, whose job was described as being in charge of "legislative outreach" billed the state for trips to meetings where he tried to recruit Republican candidates for the House.

Ethics code could prevent problems

Fri, 18 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Last fall, a decade or more after the idea first arose, the Concord City Council adopted a code of ethics and voted to establish a five-member board charged with investigating allegations of ethical violations levied against elected or appointed city officials.

The establishment of an ethics code, if only for clarity's sake and to serve as a guide for city officials, was long overdue. We can think of a number of instances over the years - the censure of Councilor Dick Patten for interceding on behalf of a friend who received a traffic ticket being the most recent - when the existence of a formal code and a board empowered to investigate violations might have prevented a transgression.

Honor voters' choice

Fri, 18 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Concord residents spoke in November. They voted to adopt a new school district charter that maintains the Concord School Board's status as the only one in the state that determines a school district budget on its own.

Elsewhere in New Hampshire, school boards in some districts must seek budget approval from a city council or board of aldermen; in others, they must put their budget up for a vote by residents at a school district meeting. Concord's school board is independent. Among its powers - for a century or more - is its ability to appoint the district treasurer who also, at least in modern times, serves as the district's business manager. This was true under the old charter and under the one approved by district voters last year.

Bassett will be an excellent justice

Thu, 17 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Monitor editorial

The New Hampshire Executive Council has had to weigh numerous contentious, complicated, difficult matters over the past several months. The nomination of Jim Bassett of Canterbury to the state Supreme Court is not one of them. Councilors will hold a hearing on the Bassett nomination this week. Afterward, they should make quick work of his confirmation. After all, Bassett would be a terrific addition to the court.

Bassett, 55, graduated from Dartmouth College and the University of Virginia School of Law. He is an attorney and shareholder at the Orr & Reno law firm in Concord, where he has worked for 27 years. He handles commercial and civil litigation and appeals before both the state and federal appeals courts. He has also represented New Hampshire media outlets, including the Monitor, in their efforts to obtain government or court records.

Senate should kill anti-tenant bill

Wed, 16 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Monitor editorial

House Bill 1263, which passed the House by a vote of 226-85 and is now before the Senate, should rightly be titled "A Bill to Reduce Tenants' Rights and Encourage Slum Housing." The Senate should kill it.

New Hampshire law allows tenants current in their rent to remain in their home after the expiration of their lease under its terms until a new lease is signed. A tenant cannot be evicted unless he or she has failed to pay rent, damaged the property or otherwise broken the terms of the lease. Tenants can, however, be evicted if they are unwilling to pay increased rent under a new lease, or when a landlord wants to renovate the unit.