Bettencourt: My Final Pitch

By DJ Bettencourt

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

On Tuesday, you will head to the polls to make some very important choices about the future of our community.

When it comes to Salem’s budgeting, I would respectfully ask for a seat at the table as a member of the Budget Committee. For the past several years, the Budget Committee has been the fiscal conservative conscience of our town’s spending. While voters have not always approved their budget adjustments at Deliberative Session, having a Budget Committee that asks probing questions, makes informed recommendations and holds the Board of Selectmen and the School Board accountable is critically important to our community’s fiscal health. There are some that believe the Budget Committee is a nuisance and should simply be a rubber stamp for higher taxes and spending. I strongly reject that view and believe the committee must maintain its independence and oversight function.

However, I also believe that the goal of the Budget Committee must be to find an appropriate balance between maintaining and expanding our high quality of life and keeping Salem affordable for all of our citizens. While I am an unapologetic fiscal conservative, I reject approaches to budgeting that only answer “yes” or “no” in every instance. In that sense, I have become more nuanced in my thinking since my years serving Salem in the New Hampshire Legislature. Rather, my view is that we must set core principles for our community and work toward achieving those principles. We need big picture thinking. That is why I have no patience for any wasteful, inefficient or excess spending. Every dollar that is misused detracts from the important priorities in our community.

What are my priorities? I believe in strong schools, a strong infrastructure and a support system for our seniors and needy residents. I also believe that the men and women who keep us safe and provide for the public safety in Salem must be respected and supported. Finally, I believe in a tax rate that is affordable for all citizens and allows them to live in and prosper in our community.

I have been asked, why are you running for Budget Committee? The answer is simple. I want my children to have the same wonderful experience growing up in Salem that I enjoyed. As parents and leaders, we owe it to them to give them the highest quality of life possible. We are approaching a very exciting time in the history of our community but we must be thoughtful as we budget. What do I mean? As you recall, I served as the Majority Leader of the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 2011-2012 during one of the worst financial crises in state history. Years of excess spending, irresponsible revenue estimates and endless tax increases resulted in a nearly billion dollar deficit. The spending cuts and priority setting that followed, while necessary, was enormously difficult and sometimes painful. As I reflect on that experience with the benefit of hindsight and greater maturity, I am struck by how easily it could have been avoided if the state had only been much more responsible in its spending in the years prior to the crisis. I want to serve on the Budget Committee to ensure that Salem remains one of the best communities in New England while also ensuring that we never experience a similar fiscal crisis to the one the state faced a few years ago.

I have greatly enjoyed the opportunity to re-engage on a public policy level with my fellow neighbors in Salem. Because of the dialogue that has developed over the past several weeks, I have a much better appreciation regarding the issues and challenges facing our community. I humbly ask you to consider allowing me the chance to be a problem solver for Salem by electing me to the Budget Committee on Tuesday, March 8.

DJ Bettencourt lives in Salem.