Windham Candidates Fire Away On Local Issues

Local candidates for state office took a detailed look at several pertinent Windham issues during a candidates night hosted at Town Hall just 12 days before the general election.

The impact of Interstate 93, taxes, school overcrowding and property development all received mention during a two hour event hosted by the Windham Woman's Club.

The forum saw a clash between seven of Windham's eight state representative candidates.

On the ongoing development of I-93, incumbent Republican candidate Rep. Charles McMahon said that Windham has been "held hostage" for decades by the widening project.

"The (Interstate) 93 impact affects our town uniquely," he said. "Now with the east/west corridor, we're now down to the traffic being fundamentally tied right here in our town."

Democratic candidate Kristi St. Laurent, a 13-year resident, also referenced the I-93 impact.

"I think it's an ongoing challenge that Windham is facing with 93," she said. "It is funded, it's not funded. It's funded, it's not funded."

St. Laurent talked about how the project impacts both Cobbett's Pond and Canobie Lake, and legislators from Windham have to be "diligent" on maintaining the two water bodies and keeping them healthy.

In 2010, St. Laurent ran against Jim Rausch for state senate.

Also speaking about the highway was Rep. Kevin Waterhouse, another Republican incumbent.

Waterhouse is a clerk on the Public Works and Highways Committee.

He spoke about the work done to make the project more feasible and affordable, such as getting the federal government to back the state with GARVEE bonds.

Windham's school overcrowding concerns were first referenced by incumbent Republican Rep. Walter Kolodziej, who said that school building aid is not coming to the state in the short term, and likely not in the long term.

Democratic challenger Neil Fallon blasted the town's high property taxes, saying that people retiring are going to be forced out of town.

Waterhouse told voters to look at the school board to find where those property taxes are coming from.

Carolyn Webber, a Democrat who served in the state legislature in 2009 and 2010, said that retirment is one of the top problems facing the town.

The fourth GOP incumbent, Rep. Mary Griffin, said that the town needs to accomodate people who do not have jobs and have no money.

"(We need) living quarters for these people that do not have anything," she said. "This is America. We should all be working together."

None of the state representative candidates were opposed to expanded gaming in New Hampshire, with some saying a casino will create jobs or offset other expenses.

High tuition costs in the state also came under fire.

Kolodziej defended the $50 million cut to the higher education system, saying that there were no "sacred cows" during budget cuts.

He called the cost of tuition "obscene," saying that no kid should go to school and pay more than $20,000 per year.

Waterhouse repeated the term, saying that the universities would take cuts if everyone was going to be cut to balance the budget.

St. Laurent said that she left New Hampshire to go elsewhere for her undergraduate and graduate degrees.

"Had it not been for my husband, I wouldn't be back here," she said. "With our high cost of tuition, we have a net migration of our young population."

McMahon suggested a full audit be done at a school like the University of New Hampshire.

Fallon said that schools in the state should be put on a diet.

"I would force them to take a look at their operational costs, their costs for professors, (and) work with them to try to get this (cost) down," he said.

Fallon added that he doesn't believe the university system is doing a good job educating students for the jobs in the 21st century.

In his closing statement, Fallon joked that being a Democrat in Windham is like being an "endangered species."

"My reason for running is to give you a choice," he said.

In a lightning round, the candidates mostly followed party lines on abortion, voter ID, universal healthcare and the re-election of William O' Brien (R-Mont Vernon) as Speaker of the House.

The event was moderated by James Pindell of WMUR. Longer questions were narrowed down to just four following a lengthy delay caused by a building alarm.

State senate candidates also spoke on similar state and local topics for about 45 minutes.

Incumbent Sen. Jim Rausch (R-Derry) said that he is working behind the scenes to find other suitable properties for the National Guard to build an armory.

A controversy erupted in Windham when information came out that the National Guard was looking at the Applewood Links golf property, which is a valuable piece of commercial real estate for the town should a developer purchase the property from the state.

His Democratic opponent in District 19 is Chris Reisdorf, who like Rausch is a Derry resident.

Originally from Michigan, Reisdorf said that he is running based on issues of taxation for seniors.

While he hasn't run for state office, Reisdorf said that he has different ideas, and added that he was actually registered Republican when he came to the state until he saw that the GOP had "fallen off the face of the Earth" it had moved so far right.

The two were split on expanded gaming, with Residorf saying that he is really not for gaming while Rausch said that he absolutely supports gaming in a southern location, referring to Rockingham Park as the possibility.

Rausch added that he would like to dedicate the revenue from gaming to pay off I-93 bonds.

Reisdorf answered that health and housing for citizens are among the biggest problems facing the state, while Rausch said it was the difficulty in Concord of who to see on a particular day.

"When those citizens come in, the problem they face is their biggest problem," he said. "I think every year changes. We do definitely have budgetary problems right now, so you have to make choices."