For those of us who live in Executive Council District One, Tuesday is going to be a critical day of decision. It’s hard to overstate how important it will be to choose Ray Burton’s successor to that essential position in state government.
Let me clarify that for a minute: New Hampshire, the most populist of the original thirteen colonies (now states), is the last state to have a truly powerful Executive Council. The majority of the Council can move a Governor’s executive agenda forward, or stop it in its tracks. Governor and Council must approve thousands of contracts between the state and its providers, or essential things just won’t get done.
Ray Burton was an exceptional man on the Council. Mike Cryans, who worked with Ray for seventeen years as a Grafton County Commissioner, will also be an exceptional man on the Council. He is, like Ray, a profoundly decent man who wants to serve the people in his district, whatever their party affiliation. He is a thoughtful and humble person who combines political sensibility with the determination of a long distance runner (which he is). During his many years of public service, he has understood that the needs of District One sometimes get overlooked in Concord, and, like Ray, he has worked to keep the country to the North in the conciousness of those who work in Concord.
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Mike has shown in his campaign that he is willing and able to work harder than anyone. He has put on an election effort that would have exhausted anyone, visiting every city and town and talking to almost every voter. He has won the endorsements of Ray Burton’s family. He has shown that he is the man to take over the job that Ray did so well, and for so many years.
Now it’s up to us, the voters, to elect Mike Cryans to the Executive Council.
