New Hampshire: A Land of Refreshment and Artistic Creativity
New Hampshire is wonderful and beautiful. I am connected to art, music, theater, and film communities, and know that the people and the 49 towns and cities in District 2 inspire and showcase creativity, and provide contributions made in NH to the world.
Many contributors are residents who have taken years to perfect their art and are part of the rising average age in NH. Others come to NH because of the relative seclusion and easy access to urban and international resources.
I want NH to be more fully seen and appreciated as a vibrant, relevant, and creatively productive, and to attract, retain, and grow our younger talent. I will work to promote that, and of the traditional values and cultures of NH.
I believe that a larger national exposure of NH will be valued by the world outside of NH, and will improve the lives of us who live in NH.
As someone who has worked with creative people and productive communities, I know what to look for and to assist the executive branch of the state of NH.
Here is where I stand on the issues that affect our New Hampshire way of life:
On Addiction
Addiction can be an escape, self-medication, or another way of coping. Sometimes addiction is the only thing to do. But often the addiction becomes a person’s identity and they identify with the source of their addiction. When several parts of a person’s life finds a home in addiction and the addiction community, even the best efforts, resources, and opportunities from either state or the local community will seem too hard to grasp, especially when there is shame.
It is better than the combination of resources, opportunity, support, and especially a change in culture, surround the person and make the transition out of addiction ‘natural’ and permanent. Improving opportunities in the non-addicted culture, and making it be more productive and interesting, will let people see that addiction is undesirable, and the community can reinforce the resources of the state government.
Better to confront the problems rather than escaping and building a history of failure. A combination of and coordination between the state and local communities, within constructive guidelines, will build a consistent, sustainable, and productive response to addiction in our communities.
On Technology and Innovation
New Hampshire both inspires and requires creativity and resourcefulness. I have helped people develop, protect, and profit from their innovations and problem solutions here in NH, in the US, and countries outside the US.
As a patent attorney for 40 years (registered in MA and in the US Patent Office, and formerly a New Hampshire Professional Engineer), I am and have been an advocate in basements to board rooms, for people of all backgrounds and a wide variety of innovations, and I have worked to see these creators and innovators succeed and make our life better.
On Education
The distractions of poverty, a corrosive community, and personal insecurity must be addressed for effective teaching, whether with students having deep personal challenges, or with students of high potential or academic achievement.
But better and more effective teaching is not merely throwing more money at problems. I have taught middle school students with behavioral problems and on the verge of expulsion in poor urban areas, and engineering, and law to students from around the world, and students in their 20’s to their 60’s.
As an attorney and an educator, I know that increased funding alone will generally never solve problems or get us out of ‘crisis’ reaction mode. Often, the problems relating to education also needs a sense that people can do something to improve their community’s learning opportunities and environment.
Some of our finest post-secondary institutions are in the 49 communities of District 2. I believe that with the available technology, the students, faculty, and staff of the different institutions, resources, and skills could be better academically integrated with each other, to multiply the educational resources and better develop the individual talents and achievements of the students within the 49 communities of District 2. I will look for local concerns and initiatives that can, through the NH Executive Council, further improve education at all levels in NH.
On Privacy
Our ‘smart’ devices help us live in a very complicated world that has many options, and asks for (or takes) information about us because it can. While I support new technology to make our lives better and easier, I am aware of the dangers of over-reliance on and uncontrolled use of private information about us. There is not enough control of gathering and using information about, and there are attempts to change our behavior and affect our free choices with that gathered information.
It is important for us to have someone on the Executive Council that understands the costs for the conveniences, as well as their benefits. But the existing laws and guidelines are not enough. I am introducing my Citizens Digital Rights Protection Act to keep ownership and control of information about us and the models (of us) that businesses make with that information. In this and other privacy matters, my role as part of the Executive branch, is to work to better protect us today and in the future as technology changes.
On Immigration
I am blessed to have heard the same common themes of love of family, faith, and our form of life and commitment to the US from my immigrant grandparents, and from new citizens of NH.
Immigration is essential to growth and reinforcing our values, but it cannot be unlimited or unmanaged, or be limited to any particular agenda. There needs to be a greater public understanding of the requirements of life in NH, the difficult decisions made to support NH, and the new arrival. But both for the current residents of NH and the new arrivals, better education, and understandings of our civic structures, traditions, and obligations are needed to keep us together as a state and maintain our historical leadership position. Then all who live in, or want to live in NH, can then better keep our traditions while expanding our world, by carefully welcoming people into NH.