Most readers are aware by now that there isn’t much ‘Grok readership in Ward 2, Nashua. Just look at the serial absence of representation in City Hall and the House, election after election, going back several cycles. Having “marked myself safe” from Alderman Dowd before last fall’s election, I can share good news: all of NH can mark itself safe from Mr. & Mrs. Newman, as they are not running for reelection. Amen to that! Unfortunately, there is little hope for districts that have proven themselves lost at sea.
The 3rd Rep, Linda Ryan, who actually answers emails and sometimes votes the right way, will be the new “senior member” of next year’s presumptive rep trio. The candidates that the enemy camp has raised up to replace the Newmans are really not strangers to the enemy camp machine. One of them is Renae Lias, who is the wife of school board member Claffey. Don’t let the use of her own last name fool anyone. “NTU in-law” is what Lias should be called, as Claffey is a retired teacher. Let’s talk about the other candidate, who is Camille Pattison.
Pattison, whose million-dollar McMansion was newly redistricted from snooty Ward 3 into working-class Ward 2, was probably recruited to run for office. When Beth Scaer brought her candidacy to my attention, it was one of those “Hey, look at this” moments; her fiscal agent (FA) happens to be Mrs. Newman!
Anyone can be anyone’s fiscal agent. Maidment is FA to Mr. Stephen. Ms. Melanie Levesque regularly uses her sister, Cindy Perkins. Alderman Kelly has used Debora Pignatelli. Candidates in a variety of higher offices on both sides of the aisle have used each other, former office members, and themselves. As for the latter, one might note that a senate race in a low-hanging fruit district, such as the one that includes Ward 2, is usually a six-figure expense, and Kevin is always his own FA.
As for rep races, let’s put aside special elections and large towns (like Hudson, Merrimack, Salem, Bedford, and Londonderry) that have a multitude of candidates running for a multitude of seats because it’s apples and oranges compared to Ward 2 or any other Nashua district. I find it amusing that any enemy camp rep candidate, incumbent or not, would NEED a fiscal agent. Then again, there could be indoctrinated candidates with a common core education who can’t balance a checkbook. One would be inclined to think that a candidate like Camille Pattison would not think fiscal agency is rocket science. Let’s look at a few things in her profile.
One thing that quickly got my attention was her ties with the NRPC and several other PLANNING items on her resume. Don’t all those things involve money and its bidirectional flow? Those things involve a lot more accounting skills than a Ward 2 rep campaign in a solid blue district. The “Meet Camille” page says, “Camille Pattison is an experienced community leader and government professional who lives and volunteers in Nashua. She brings expertise in both land use and transportation planning, organizational management, and economic development. “
How many people want to be represented in the House by someone who can’t even bother to be their own fiscal agent, yet wants to participate in major decision-making?
This is a candidate who is clearly running to be a tool for the mayor and his henchmen. Mr Cummings comes to mind when I read the words “economic development.” When I see the words “transportation planning,” I think of that “commuter rail boondoggle” that 2023 mayoral candidate Mike Soucy denounced and all those government electric vehicles in Nashua. When I see the “land use” part of the planning, I picture a very dangerous occupant of a seat voting on next year’s housing, zoning, and data center bills that have an even bigger impact on places miles outside her zip code than on infrastructurally saturated Ward 2. Danger, Will Robinson!
As I said before, Ward 2 has repeatedly proven itself an unwinnable district in House and alderman races, and there are two holes in the Republican ballot. In November, voters should choose Shawn Martin and be like the late Dusty Springfield. Do some wishing and hoping and thinking and praying… that Camille Pattison is the Dem who loses.
