There is hope on the horizon. A COVID vaccine has been approved and New Hampshire is rolling it out to those most in need. Balanced against this good news are recent deaths and the dangerous climb in infection rates. While I would enjoy attending my last Executive Council meeting in Council Chambers, reluctantly, I’ll participate by phone and share my concluding thoughts here.
Even in our weak executive form of government, governors clearly set the state’s agenda. They garner press attention, decide who and whether to nominate for key positions, and determine which items are voted upon by the council.
The role of a councilor is to collaborate when possible, but also to be a check on gubernatorial powers. People will be surprised to learn that much of the council’s business is not political, as reflected by many unanimous votes. Councilors are also willing to set aside partisanship when asked to problem solve, but these opportunities were too few. As well, party politics could be avoided on particular issues. For example, Republican Councilor Joe Kenney and I worked together on the pardon application of a Vietnam veteran. Councilor Russell Prescott and I often agreed on issues that were business related.
There are notable nominations coming up in terms of the judiciary, climate, and education. Sadly, the governor refused to fill a Supreme Court vacancy for 17 months, since Attorney General Gordon MacDonald’s nomination was rejected. Watch for Gov. Sununu to nominate a justice early in 2021.
Similarly, two nominations to the Site Evaluation Committee (SEC), which approves big utility projects, failed and a Public Utilities Commissioner recently resigned. Look for the Business and Industry Association (BIA) and the New England Ratepayers Association (NERA) to weigh in heavily on these nominations. NERA is the shadowy group that opposes clean energy policies.
Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut will be up for reappointment. He will continue to divert scarce funds from public schools and undermine local boards by grabbing power for the state. Also expect highly ideologic but ill-informed nominees to the State Board of Education.
There are four longer-term challenges that Gov. Sununu and the new council should tackle.
First, there is an acute shortage of nurses and mental health workers in our state that requires us to regularly hire temps through staffing agencies and that causes workers to be overwhelmed with large caseloads. These shortages affect long-term care, child welfare, and prison systems. Remedying the problem won’t be easy, but improving pay scales and increasing the availability of low-cost or no-cost educational programs will help.
Second, our child welfare system requires focused attention and improved transparency. The Office of Child Advocate has documented many concerns that should be addressed, including the current and future use of the Sununu Youth Detention Center in Manchester. Legitimate questions should be raised about the center’s treatment model focused on confinement and its cost given that its census is generally fewer than 15 young people.
Third, the state must take a hard look at the men’s prison in Concord to avoid court supervision as happened with the women’s prison. Prison staff are frequently required to pull multiple double shifts each week. The state’s inability to properly staff the prison, plus the higher cost of incarceration over community supervision and our failure at re-entry programming, should dictate a change in sentencing practices. The Governor and Council should instigate this discussion with the judiciary. The state must also relocate the Secure Psychiatric Unit (SPU) outside the prison. In addition to constitutional concerns, the state cannot seek Medicaid reimbursement as long as the SPU is a prison facility.
Fourth, an insufficient commitment to building affordable housing is a drag on our economy made worse by our extreme over-reliance on property taxes to fund education and further complicated by COVID. Perhaps the Council on Housing Stability will help, but more resources are certainly required. The need to house the transitionally or long-term unhoused who require wraparound social services is also an emergency that the Governor and Council must address very soon.
I’ll miss my time on the council, my current and previous colleagues, our staff, the leaders of our state agencies, and, most certainly, I will miss our state’s employees. While I am sad to go, I believe that two terms on the council is about right. Thank you for allowing me to serve. I wish the best for Gov. Sununu, the new council, and our great state.
(Andru Volinsky of Concord is executive councilor for District 2.)