True Leaders Stand Out Front

Here is an example of exemplary leadership: Wendy Thomas helped lead the way in PFAS regulation for our town from day 1.

A true leader does not stand at the back of her pack waiting until it is safe or politically advantageous to advance. That is just one difference between Wendy Thomas and her opponent Bill Boyd.

Wendy championed her cause for clean water in Merrimack from the very beginning. Boyd on the other hand, waited until it was “safe” to address the issue.

Examples abound with Boyd’s reluctance to take a stand for clean water in Merrimack. He is renowned for aggressively shouting at a PFAS information session in 2017 that “the water is not contaminated...do not say the water is contaminated… the water is fine.” In fact, at this meeting he was so irate at a woman speaker that he had to be restrained by another council member.

Another occasion of lack of leadership was when Boyd and the Town Council decided that they were no longer going to have updates on PFAS during the monthly community meetings. They felt “there was nothing they could do about it … and it was taking up too much time.”

Think about that - there was literally poison in our water that was affecting our health and the Town Council felt it was taking up too much time during their meetings.

As early as 2016 members of Merrimack Citizens for Clean Water, Laurene Allen, Carol DiPiero, Kristin Ayers, along with Wendy constantly brought information to the Town Council about their concerns of PFAS being in our water. However it was repeatedly stated by the council that nothing could be done.

We heard later from another council member that the council mocked the women of Merrimack Citizens for Clean Water behind closed doors calling them “fear mongers” and “hysterical.”

There’s the difference between Wendy Thomas and Boyd. Wendy never stood down. She knew the early scientific research and knew that our town was being negatively impacted and that our health was being jeopardized by PFAS.

Time and time again Wendy raised the PFAS issue at Town Council meetings in order to alert and protect our town, yet Boyd sat back and waited until it was “safe to finally speak out” Boyd was even crass enough in 2018 to address a Merrimack’s resident’s concerns about her well being decommissioned by the state due to PFAS contamination by saying “stop your whining… the water is fine.”

Imagine being a woman resident of Merrimack who is concerned about the health of her family, and the value of her house after her well water was poisoned by a local business. She goes to a town council meeting to express her outrage and concern and she and her concerns are summarily and arrogantly dismissed by an elected official - Bill Boyd.

Who was Boyd really protecting? Certainly not the residents.

When there was not enough movement by the town and state addressing our water contamination problem, Wendy organized a peaceful protest against Saint Gobain that resulted in the creation of a Community Advisory Committee (CAC) which allowed town leaders and leaders from Saint Gobain to both come to the table for discussions. Wendy saw that a change was needed and worked hard for that change, she literally helped to bring both sides to the table.

Those are only a few reasons why I will vote for Wendy Thomas. She is a true leader in our community and won’t hide from the hard issues we face.

Join me in voting for her for Merrimack State Rep on April 13th.

Kathy Stack, Merrimack NH