Rick Watrous for Merrimack County Commissioner

I would appreciate your vote for Merrimack County Commissioner.

This spring, after many years of public service, Liz Blanchard decided not to again run for Merrimack County Commissioner. This happened at about the same time that I realized that three terms as a State Representative was enough. It has been an honor to serve Concord’s citizens, but I was ready to move on to a new challenge and a different type of public service. So on the first day of the June filing period I filed to run for County Commissioner of District One.

There are three county commissioners who oversee the administration of the county and its properties. District One comprises Concord, Boscawen and Webster. For the past six years—as part of the Merrimack County legislative delegation—I have reviewed and voted on the county’s budget. Our county is in good shape: it has an AA long term bond rating, a beautiful new nursing home, and a new county jail.

This summer I have been sitting in on the commissioners’ meetings, talking with various department heads and touring the county’s facilities. With Commissioner Blanchard and County Corrections Superintendent Ron White I visited Sullivan County jail where they have a model community corrections program that has drastically lowered their recidivism rate since being implemented in 2011. At the state prison and many county jails, fully half of the inmates are there for a second or third time, while Sullivan County has reduced its recidivism rate to less than 20 percent.

Sullivan County’s innovative program—which has been drawing attention nationwide—takes place in a minimum security setting and is designed to successfully return offenders to their families and communities by giving them needed substance abuse treatment, counseling and life skills so they are less likely to break the law and return to jail. It’s a win/win: participants in the program receive needed treatment and learn how to become productive members of society, and the county spends less money incarcerating its citizens. We should have a community corrections program in Merrimack County that employs the approach that has proven so successful in Sullivan County.

The Merrimack County administration has already taken steps in this direction. We are fortunate to have the old jail sitting empty (right next to the new jail in Boscawen) that could be modified for such a program. As a member of the County Delegation, I voted to repair the roof of the old jail so the building remained usable. And as a member of the Corrections Committee I voted in August to have an architectural firm prepare a report on rehabbing the old jail for a community corrections program.

If that report supports the feasibility of rehabbing the old jail, the legislators voting on the next county budget will have to be convinced that this is a wise use of county money. As a county commissioner I will use my experience working with members of both sides of the aisle to move forward with a program that will help those in jail become productive members of our community, and at the same time save taxpayers’ money.

My State House record includes six years of serving on the House Judiciary Committee, where I was a strong supporter of the Right-to-Know, marriage equality and women’s reproductive rights. I led the long effort that returned control of the Concord School District charter to the citizens of Concord. I am an active advocate of open government and ethical behavior by government officials. In 2014 I was named Legislator of the Year by the Concord Grange.

As County Commissioner I will see that your tax dollars are well spent, that county business is conducted ethically, and that county facilities are run efficiently and effectively to serve the citizens of Merrimack County.

On Tuesday, Sept. 9, please ask for a Democratic ballot and vote for Rick Watrous for your County Commissioner.

Rick Watrous is a Democratic State Representative for Concord