HB643

What problem is this bill attempting to solve? There is no need to expand the number of commissioners at a time of a hiring freeze and constrained state budget.

I firmly oppose HB 643. It has no purpose other than to skew electoral results. It underrepresents constituents in the county’s largest municipalities. It singles out one county for a change that is purely political. It will cost money to implement this change. It is a vengeance bill that has no place in our laws.

I firmly oppose this bill as an attempt at gerrymandering which I believe in unethical and beneath the dignity of the House.

I write in opposition to this bill as it presents significant costs to tax payers, it will be very confusing to implement, and it appears to be completely unnecessary.

Dear Honorable Representatives, I write to express my strong opposition to House Bill 643. Redestricting is normally carried out once each decade to ensure that district boundaries continue to reflect changes in the population. In Grafton Co, in November 2024, we elected Katie Hedberg to represent us as our County Commissioner. We do not need to double the number of Commissioners or spend additional money to select and pay an additional Commissioner. The population of our county has not suddenly doubled in size. There is no need to double the number of Commissioners representing Grafton County or waste taxpayer money on an additional commissioner. I urge the committee to vote against HB643. Sheryl Shirley, Holderness

I am opposed to this bill which I believe serves no useful purpose to the county and the cost analysis shows it will increase county costs by almost $40,000 in 2028 when it expands to 5 Commissioners. I do not believe the redistricting should be done outside the traditional process and could be confusing for voters.

We don’t need to redistribute our state so that you can rig the elections. Let democracy work

Redistricting is a poor use of effort and resources. There are better things to do than redistricting.

I oppose this bill to expand the number of Grafton County Commissioners because I know the GOP would unfairly gerrymander the new districts like they did with the Executive Council.

I write to express my strong opposition to House Bill 643. While I understand the intent behind this bill, I believe it is both unnecessary and potentially harmful to our community, and I urge the committee to vote against it.

It is my strong belief that this is an effort to try and subvert and manipulate voting. I see no reason to expand the Executive Council and am strongly opposed to it.

I write to express my strong opposition to House Bill 643. While I understand the intent behind this bill, I believe it is both unnecessary and potentially harmful to our community, and I urge the committee to vote against it. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Creating unequal districts is unconstitutional. I strongly suspect that all other 9 counties have proportional districts. The districts created in this bill are not equal - each of the 5 districts should have 20% of the population. This bill is an invitation to a lawsuit, which will cost our constituents millions of dollars.

This redistricting is another attempt at gerrymandering by Republicans. It ignores the precedent in NH for 3 comparable districts in each county.

This bill serves no meaningful purpose for the public in Grafton County--and why is redistricting even under consideration outside the normal timeline? We can't afford the projected cost increase of $48,000 in 2028. We do not need this in my county, and I strongly urge opposition.

As a homeowner, business owner and taxpayer in Grafton County, I strongly oppose HB 643-FN, which would expand the number of Grafton County Commissioners from 3 to 5 and would realign the existing Commissioner elective districts. I note that the New Hampshire Association of Counties also opposes this bill. HB 643-FN is a typical Concord attempt to create Big Government solutions to non-existing problems. Nobody in Grafton County is asking for these changes. The taxpayers will be required to foot a $40,000 bill for politicians' empty-headed ideas. If the power brokers in Concord had any honesty or integrity, they would put these questions on the ballot at Town Meeting in every Grafton County town, rather than springing these confusing, unwanted "fixes" on voters who will never know about them until it's too late. The bill would divide people by their supposed party affiliation, rather than create rational districts based on population or geographic proximity. Just to show how out of touch this legislation is, it purports to re-divide the entire County new districts while completely leaving out the Town of Piermont. The bill would also override the will of the Grafton County voters, who adopted a rotating 4-year term for their County Commissioners, which was intended to provide continuity and stability as the Commissioners change. Grafton County also adopted a rotating 4 year term for the county commissioners. This bill eliminates the 4 year term that was adopted to provide some continuity as the Board changes. With zero input from the voters of Grafton County, HB 643-FN needs to die on the vine. It's badly conceived and badly drafted.

There seems to be nothing in our state constitution to deny this abrogation of the voting rights of 45% of the county's population, but if you do this, expect major overthrow of all Republican-leaning counties the next time the electorate turns the other way, and chaos thereafter. As for instance, if tariff wars, higher inflation, and the like remove the currently ruling party in NH next term.

As a former Grafton County Commissioner (R-Rumney, 1986-1994) I strongly oppose increasing the number of commissioner districts in Grafton County. The three current commissioner districts fairly and effectively represent the three population centers of the county. Having four commissioners would hobble the commission's voting process by allowing tie votes without a mechanism for breaking the tie. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" I respectfully urge the committee to vote HB 643 "Inexpedient to Legislate." Thank you.

This expansion is a bad idea. The county is large enough already.

This appears to be a blatant attempt to gerrymander Grafton County. There are currently three, not five, County Commissioners in every other New Hampshire county. In addition, the proposed bill would return to a situation where all County Commissioner terms expire every two years rather than having one term for four years, thus assuring continuity within the Board. As a former County Commissioner (9 years) and State Rep (1 year' resigned to become a County Commissioner), I can say without reservation that the work of a State Rep is short-term and ends at the close of two years, when an entirely new set of LSRs is generated. The work of a County Commissioner does not. Continuity within the Board of Commissioners is vital. That's why the Grafton County Commissioner terms were changed four years ago, and why every other County but one has staggered County Commissioner terms..

Grafton County residents are now and have long been properly represented by 3 County Commissioners. HB 643 is state government overreach and not necessary. I strongly oppose HB 643.

I strongly oppose this legislation, and will interfere with free and fair elections at the county level. Please vote against HB643.

This is a blatant attempt to stack the commission with Republicans so the Democrats lose any representation they have. Do better.

I am a resident of Grafton County, and I believe this expansion of the number of Grafton County commissioners is totally unnecessary. I urge you to Oppose HB643.

Grafton County is effectively run. I am currently an Executive Committee member and am serving my third term in such a capacity. In the past four years, Grafton County has three times has funded the County operations with no increase in taxes. The average annual increase in the past four years is less than one percent despite the county appropriating $9 million to the middle mile broadband initiative. The county census in the nursing home is up by 20% in the past 12 months, which is helping the state meet its zero boarding initiative. The three member commission has been effective and forwarding well thought out annual budget proposals. This bill should be soundly defeated. Rep Jerry Stringham Grafton 3rd district Executive Committee Member, Grafton County