Time:       5:30pm   Buffet Dinner ($14)
                6:30pm   Meeting

Place:      Shanghai Restaurant
                331 South Main Street
                Laconia, NH
                (603) 524-4100
                (see map below)

Agenda:

Special Speaker

Rich Ashooh

Candidate for Congress (CD-1)

Also speaking are two candidates for NH Senate District 4:  Jim Forsythe and George Hurt

                            Jim Forsythe, candidate for the Republican nomination for NH Senate in District 4

His bio can be seen here (the January meeting).

                            George Hurt, candidate for the Republican nomination for NH Senate in District 4

George is the founder of Hurt and Forbes Insurance Agency of Laconia, a multi-line agency well known throughout the state.  After successfully operating the agency for over 30 years he sold the agency in 1999.  Shortly thereafter, he formed a risk management company known as Forbes Risk Management...George was raised in Sanbornton, New Hampshire, one of three children. Together, his Father and Mother taught George and his siblings the meaning of hard work and the strong commitment to family.  His family is of Irish Scottish, English and German descent with his grandparents immigrating to America.

George graduated from Laconia High School with a strong commitment to health and fitness as he excelled in sports...He has a BS degree in Business Management.  Recently, he earned his Masters of Science degree in Law from Champlain College in Burlington, Vt.   He also has an Executive Fellowship certificate in Health Law conferred by the Williamson Institute of Health and the Virginia Commonwealth University.

George served in the Naval Reserves throughout his undergraduate years.

George is no stranger to politics having worked in several gubernatorial campaigns. He was appointed to various state boards by several Governors and Executive Council members.   Those boards included the State Board of Education, the Postsecondary Education Commission, the Education Commission of the States, the Water Supply Pollution Control Commission and in 2000  he was appointed to the Judicial Conduct Commission. 

In 1994-1998, he represented the Town of Gilford in the N.H. House of Representatives and while a representative served on the Commerce Committee.  His experience in the insurance field earned him the position as a liaison for the committee with the N.H. insurance department.  Much of his work in this capacity involved coordination of sub committee hearings on insurance regulation and policy.

George’s work in the past with the local Lions club, the world’s largest service organization, reflects his strong feelings about assisting those in need and to that end, his desire to make a difference within state government drives his ambition to make a difference.

George’s keen sense of the functioning of business within the maze of state government regulations drives his desire to seek reform and improve efficiency in state government.  The fiscal restraints, under which the state government is working, especially with regard for the elderly and handicap, should be scrutinized so that funding for those just causes not be diminished nor impaired with more fiscal policy edicts.  George feels his business background, prior legislative experience, and his inside knowledge of how our state boards function, will be pivotal in making a difference in this critical time of our economy.   George supports lower and less taxes, more transparency in our state government, and less regulation.   He is also opposed to any effort to remove our Constitutional “right to keep and bear arms".

Map to the Shang-hai restaurant:

    (map)

Date:       Tuesday, March 9, 2009

Time:       Dinner (at your option) 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm; Meeting begins at 6:30 pm

Location:  J.J. Goodwin's Restaurant (upstairs dining room),

769 Suncook Valley Rd
(Route 28), Center Barnstead, NH 03225 - (603) 269-8300 

Senate District 4 Candidate-Hurt- chides Governor on faulty business plan
George Hurt

Lynch, Legislature should rethink plans.

Gov. John Lynch’s recently announced business plans will hinder the business sector in New Hampshire, not help it. We need business to thrive, not to discourage them with new and higher taxes.

Lynch has said he wants to create jobs by tapping the state’s unemployment fund, into which employers pay in the form of unemployment insurance taxes. Currently the taxes employers pay into the fund was recently increased by 71%. In paying this increase in tax, many employers have trimmed their employee payrolls by either not hiring—as with the current climate or laying off employees. Unfortunately, because of the confiscatory tax structure created by the governor, including the current District 4 Senator, Kathleen Sgambati, this band aid approach will hinder rather than help the state’s business climate.

To attract new businesses and keep companies here in New Hampshire the governor should step forward and scuttle the LLC tax quagmire immediately. It is common business sense, to attract new business the state should be reducing taxes and offering tax incentives not increasing taxes. With a 71% increase in unemployment taxes, there clearly is no incentive for employers to hire new workers

Consider the following: If elected as the new Senator to District 4 I would sponsor legislation that would reduce the business profits tax to a palatable 5% and reduce the unemployment tax to the original minimum base prior to the recent 71% increase. I would also suggest we continue to utilize the money the Federal Workforce Investment Act provides to pay for the new training thereby maintaining the mechanism to which the unemployment fund will remain solvent for existing and future unemployment claims for qualified workers.

With a decrease in the unemployment tax to its original base, and the business profits tax set at 5%, it is almost guaranteed that business would invest the savings into hiring new employees, expand their business operations and perhaps offer employee benefits that they would not ordinarily offer due to the increase taxes they would be obligated to pay.

As companion legislation I would offer to eliminate the campsite tax, reduce the rooms and meals tax to 7% and eliminate the new 10% tax on gaming winnings. The campsite tax and the gaming bills were enacted at the late hour of midnight, with no public input. Both bills including the new tax on rooms and meals of 9%, exacerbate the worsening tourist economy by imposing taxes that directly affect our business environment and discourage tourists and the public alike to travel and do business in New Hampshire.

While other border states to NH struggle to keep business because of their confiscatory tax base of Income and Sales taxes, New Hampshire should be promoting a business friendly climate with lower taxes and less regulation. Unfortunately, the governor’s office and the current District 4 Senator feel doing just the opposite will enhance revenue.

Senator Sgambati seems to rationalize that because the budget can not be balance with the current revenue stream of confiscatory taxes she implies “the State faces a revenue problem not a spending problem”. Incidentally, Senator Sgambati approved the 23% increase in budget spending based upon projected revenues and was forewarned by the senate republicans this was poorly planned and will not stand with the current economic conditions of the state.

New Hampshire citizens’ liberties and freedom have been eroded dramatically in the last four years and with the current district 4 Senator in office we surely face perilous times ahead. Fortunately, the district has a candidate who is experienced, trusted, and a business minded conservative. And that individual is George Hurt.

Date:        01/13/10 (Wednesday)

Time:       5:30pm   Buffet Dinner ($14)
                6:30pm   Meeting

Place:      Shanghai Restaurant
                331 South Main Street
                Laconia, NH
                (603) 524-4100
                (see map below)

Agenda:

John Stephen

Former NH DHHS Secretary

John Stephen is a Partner at Lucas Group Partners and works in the firm's Government practice. In addition to experience consulting with state agencies, John provides the benefit of heading a state agency through a period of major change.

Prior to joining the Lucas Group, John served from 2003 to 2007 as Commissioner of New Hampshire's largest Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, and was in charge of a $1.8 billion dollar annual budget. During his tenure, John led the Department through a period of major innovation, including improving Medicaid operations and engaging families on assistance in work activities. He developed and implemented GraniteCare, a nationally recognized Medicaid reform program that focused Medicaid on prevention, wellness and rebalancing long term care. John initiated disease management and care coordination programs that transitioned New Hampshire Medicaid away from treating the sick to keeping people healthy. Through John's efforts, Medicaid long term care home and community placements increased 23%, replacing more expensive nursing home placements, which dropped 11%. Moreover, during each of the four years John was Commissioner, New Hampshire ranked first nationally in the Kids Count survey. During that same period, the enrollment of low income, uninsured children into the State's Medicaid and SCHIP program increased by 7500. John led efforts to transform welfare in New Hampshire, reducing the rolls by 20% and dramatically increasing work participation rates by bringing accountability to TANF.

In the area of job placement, job training and workforce development, John led efforts to transform the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program to one that has received national recognition for a 72% improvement in engagement of TANF recipients in job participation and placement. John brought a number of efficiencies to the TANF program and re-engineered the Department's efforts at the district offices and one-stop work centers to successfully focus on helping individuals find sustainable employment. John also led efforts to change the culture of TANF to make participation in work program orientation a condition of eligibility, help individuals return to the workforce promptly, and establish innovative job training programs and other employer-based incentives so as to increase employment opportunities. 

John also increased cooperation and collaboration between HHS and other state and federal agencies. Prior to heading the $1.8 billion annual budget at HHS, John served as Assistant Commissioner of Safety, where he served as the state's first Homeland Security Coordinator. John organized New Hampshire to be the first in the US to conduct a statewide Avian Flu pandemic planning exercise, testing all aspects of its emergency management response.

John was a prosecutor for 10 years, taking him from the county level to an Assistant Attorney General. In the process, he prosecuted crimes from misdemeanors up through homicide cases. A respected author, he has written or co-authored eight books on various legal matters.

John holds a JD from the Detroit College of Law and Michigan State University (1987) and a B.S. in Administration from the Whittemore School of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire (1984).

Also joining us is Jim Forsythe:

Jim Forsythe

A business entrepreneur focused on fixing our economy.

Jim’s entrepreneurial career began in 2003 when he became part owner of a small, successful aerospace company, Cobalt Solutions, LLC.  As Director of Research, Jim brokered deals with clients at home and overseas, and performed cutting edge research for numerous agencies and companies.  The company’s software product, which uses computational fluid dynamics to compute airflow over aircraft, is heavily used in the defense industry.  As an entrepreneur, Jim’s experiences with government regulation, the tax code, and big bureaucracy have reinforced his belief in the urgent need to reform and downsize government.

Jim Forsythe’s diverse experiences in military, business, and academics have instilled in him a deep love of this country, a fierce passion to defend and renew the principles for which it stands, and the leadership and knowledge to get it done.  After leaving the active duty Air Force in 2003, he and his wife, Sue, chose to live and raise their children here in New Hampshire, not only to be near family, but also to embrace the independent spirit of the most free state in the country.

The foundation for Jim’s love of country and freedom were laid at Virginia’s Episcopal High School, from which he graduated in 1986.  While at Episcopal, Jim learned to speak Russian and traveled to the Soviet Union twice, where his firsthand experience of the oppression of the people by their government instilled a deep conviction in the value of freedom that the United States has treasured since our revolution.

In keeping with his deeply held patriotism, Jim next decided to serve in the military while attending college.  He attended Cornell University in Ithaca, NY on an Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corp (AFROTC) scholarship, earning his B.S. in Applied and Engineering Physics and a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering within four and a half years.  Jim served as the detachment commander his senior year and was accepted to the highly selective Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program.

Jim and Sue were first assigned to Wichita Falls, TX, where Jim attended pilot training, and Sue became a civil engineer.  Jim was surrounded by classmates and instructors from Norway, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, England, Canada, and the United States.  After graduation, he received an assignment to fly KC-135s and wound up refueling his European classmates serving in support of operations in Bosnia.

In between combat support sorties, Jim began work on a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Wichita State University.  The U.S. Air Force Academy offered him a professorship, which he began in 1998.  He completed his Ph.D. in 2000 while teaching full time and flying for a flight test engineering course and a low level navigation course while at the Academy.  Based on superb teaching and research skills, he advanced to an Associate Professor position in record time. He also earned the Air Force Award in Science and Engineering, and the Frank J. Seiler award for research for his ground-breaking computational fluid dynamics research predicting aircraft stability and performance.

In 2003, after twelve years of active duty service, Jim accepted an Air Force Reserve research position with the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and was also appointed as an adjunct professor at Arizona State University.

With his wife and kids, Kate and Connor, Jim currently lives in Strafford, NH, where he chairs the Strafford town GOP, the Strafford Taxpayer’s Coalition and was the Cub Master of the town’s Cub Scout pack.  The Forsythes have also been active in the school choice community:  Sue assisted in the formation of a private scholarship foundation in Colorado, while Jim co-founded a school choice advocacy group in New Hampshire.  Jim currently serves as the Chair of the Republican Liberty Caucus in NH, and the NH Republican Liberty PAC, supporting pro-liberty candidates for the NH House.

In addition to Mr. Stephen and Mr. Forsythe, a "closed to the public" portion of the meeting will be concerned with activities in 2010.  Please mark off this coming Wednesday to attend!

The Laconia City Republicans are holding their first organizational meeting for the 2010 elections. The group will assemble on Wednesday, January 6, 2010 at 6:30pm; at the Laconia Library. Candidates are needed for various positions. A large range of expertise is essential, so all residents are invited to become involved.

 
Republican Senate Majority Committee
PO Box 3681
Concord, NH 03302

Date:        12/09/09 (Wednesday)

Time:       5:30pm   Buffet Dinner ($14)
                6:30pm   Meeting

Place:      Shanghai Restaurant
                331 South Main Street
                Laconia, NH
                (603) 524-4100
                (see map below)

Agenda:

Senator Peter Bragdon

Senate District 11

(Amherst, Greenville, Jaffrey, Milford, New Ipswich, Peterborough, Rindge, Sharon, Temple and Wilton)

He was elected to the New Hampshire Senate in 2004, having previously served in the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 2000 to 2002, and was chosen to serve as Republican Leader in 2008.

In addition to his responsibilities in the Senate, Bragdon is active in local government, serving as a member of the Milford School Board since 1997. He currently holds the position of school board chairman, a post to which his fellow board members have elected him 10 of his 12 years on the board. On the school board he is respected for his ability to bring members with diverse viewpoints together to solve major issues.

Bragdon is owner and publisher of The Milford Observer, a bi-weekly newspaper with a circulation of 7,200 (www.MilfordObserver.com), serving the Milford area. He was formerly the president of ACHIEVE! Technology, an Amherst software company helping companies comply with safety and environmental regulations from the EPA and OSHA, where he led the company to a position on the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies in America. Bragdon also taught high school math for a number of years.

Senator Bragdon was raised in Amherst, part of the fourth generation of his family to work the former Bragdon Farm on Route 101, land now preserved for conservation and recreation. He attended public schools in Amherst and Milford before entering the University of Massachusetts in Lowell, where he earned a BS degree in computer science, with a math minor.

Special Speaker

Ovide Lamontagne

Ovide M. Lamontagne is a native and resident of Manchester, where he practices law as a shareholder with the law firm of Devine, Millimet & Branch, P.A. Ovide is a 1975 graduate of Trinity High School. Following his graduation from The Catholic University of America in 1979, Ovide taught high school social studies for three years before obtaining his law degree at the University of Wyoming College of Law in 1985. During his legal career, Ovide served as a law clerk to the Honorable James E. Barrett of the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit and legal counsel for the New Hampshire State Senate during the 1991 Legislative Session. Ovide is a member of the New Hampshire Bar Association, the National Diocesan Attorneys’ Association, and the New Hampshire Judicial Council.

Since his return to Manchester in 1986, Ovide has been recognized as a leader in the charitable and non-profit communities, with a long list of activities.

Ovide served as Chairman of the New Hampshire State Board of Education from 1993-1996, and in 1996 he was the Republican nominee for Governor of New Hampshire.

Ovide and his wife Bettie reside in Manchester, and have two daughters, Madeleine and Brittany.