Bob Washburn, Merrimack District 30 State Representative Candidate

Patch Candidate Profile, Robert Washburn Sr.

Age (as of Sept. 1, 2024)

79

Town or City of Residence

Concord (53 years)

Position Sought

NH House District 30 (Wards 5,6,7, & 8)

Family

Ranee (wife) two adult children (Heather & Robb)

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

Education

Bryant College (now Bryant University) BS in Business Administration

Occupation

Former Controller, NH Housing Finance Authority; Robert C. Washburn, CPA LLC; Washburn Financial Group, LLC (fee-based investment advisory firm); Hunter's Corner, Concord Monitor (column); Current Washburn Consulting Group, LLC

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

Concord City Councilor (10 years); Concord Planning Board (2 years); Concord City Charter Commission; NH Board of Accountancy (member, chairman, secretary)

Campaign website

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Locally, we have a rogue School Board trying to locate a new middle school in an inappropriate area with a five-year declining student population evidenced in the bonding agreements. Yet, using the Davis Demographics Report, shows a fraudulent number of students that the board should have known to be grossly erroneous. Whoever signed the application under penalty of perjury may have a legal issue to deal with. The board, upon learning of a counter group, hired a high-priced Manchester law firm using taxpayer funds to fight the petition movement. There is a fine line difference between amending and revising the school district charter. If elected, I will introduce legislation to allow the school district charter to be revised by petition. You will notice signs on lawns supporting the current board president also have an anti-petition sign falsely claiming the need to ?Save Our Schools.? What is needed is a sign proposing to ?Save Our Property Taxpayers? or better yet ?Save our Students.?

The most significant issue before the legislature in 2025 will be the budget. Starting off with a $160 million shortfall and adding the YDC settlement funding, school funding, and recently approved salary increases for state workers, it will be a very tight budget. As a former state employee, I pledge not to vote for a budget balanced on the backs of state employees and state retirees.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

My opponent recently moved from Bow to Concord after being a longtime Bow resident and was elected and reelected to the NH House from Bow. I?m sure Bow residents will be overjoyed to gain an additional representative if he is elected from Concord. He has a rating of voting with his party 97% of the time, which means he ?crosses over the aisle:? only 3% of the time. Partisan gridlock at the national and state levels serves as a major impairment to good governance. If a member of the opposite party has a good idea, I will not hesitate to support it. While he has been employed in the city for a long time, he has never been involved in the local arena of Concord issues.

On and off the city council, I have and will always be a dependable critic of feckless government spending and irresponsible actions of local government officials. In the current Concord delegation, no voice stands up for the taxpayers who are footing the bill. A case in point is the construction of the new legislative parking garage. You know the current water-filled hole near the Annex. A proven developer offered to build the garage for a $1 profit and was turned down after submitting a record of completing state buildings on time and under budget. Now consider a parking garage does not require rocket science to design, but the architecture firm hired is a Vermont firm, as is a Vermont construction firm.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform:

The reason you never hear of homeless encampments in Bow and Hopkinton is because they shift their state-mandated homeless responsibilities to Concord. As a representative, I will also be a member of the county delegation, which approves the county budget. While Merrimack County generously supports non-profits attending to the needs of the homeless, it should share the homeless expense born by the Concord taxpayer alone by having Bow and Hopkinton assume their rightful share through the county property tax rate. Concord currently budgets $450,720 for non-profits and rental assistance.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this position?

When I left the council, the Concord Monitor commented that I had been the perfect foil for City Hall. Soon after my departure, the city manager?s contract was not renewed. I am not a go-along-to-get-along individual. If I see a wrong, I want to right it. I have been a proven voice for Concord residents and am ready to be your voice in whatever comes before the House, a task that has long been missing.

The best advice ever shared with me was?

Be considerate to those on your way up because you may need their help on your way down.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

Fentanyl is a scourge on our youth and every parent and grandparent?s nightmare. China ships the raw materials to Mexico where it is manufactured and pressed into pills on machines provided by China. Most of the contraband comes through ports of entry, but a significant amount comes through our open borders. No sanctions have been brought against the cartels or China. The NH AG has joint task forces but there are limitations on its effectiveness. I would propose the penalty for trafficking in narcotics resulting in death be life imprisonment without chance of parole.

If you support good governance, campaign contributions can be sent to Friends of Bob Washburn, 84 Branch Tnpk, Unit 88, Concord, NH 03301.