Letter: Our best choice for governor
In 2024, New Hampshire voters have at least five choices for their next governor. My choice is Jon Kiper.
Like me, Jon is a millennial. Like me, Jon is a parent. And like me, Jon supports aggressive and swift action to address our state’s housing crisis.
It’s not enough to relax zoning laws at the municipal level. It’s not enough to dedicate a couple million to temporary cold shelters for the unhoused. Jon agrees with me that our state needs to develop and implement creative ways of building more housing—immediately. Our state is already on the older side, and young people continue to leave in droves for more affordable parts of the country. What will bring them back? What will keep the next generation home?
As the boomers slide into retirement, where will their RNs and LNAs be living? How much will it cost to age in this state when even our county nursing homes struggle to offer a competitive wage for healthcare workers?
Jon has proposed that the state officially declare a housing emergency. Imagine if there was some natural disaster in our state which resulted in the sudden homelessness of hundreds of people. Would the governor not leverage the National Guard and other state resources to provide housing as quickly as possible?
But today we have many hundreds, perhaps thousands, of unhoused individuals throughout the state whose plight is altogether ignored. Our housing crisis is an emergency and must be treated as such.
Another issue on which Jon and I agree is the legalization of cannabis. Jon has developed a creative policy proposal for the use of cannabis revenues: use it to address housing, homelessness, mental health, and substance misuse disorder. In fact, Jon is the only candidate to publish developed policy proposals of any kind.
By addressing the most pressing quality-of-life issues in our midst, cannabis revenues are essentially reinvested to expand the workforce, reduce reliance on government benefits, reduce crime rates, and attract more people to our state. It just makes sense.
There has been some debate in the legislature as to whether cannabis, if legal, should be sold in a state-run model similar to the Liquor Commission, or if it should be left to the private market. I have always favored the latter, reasoning that there are many in our state adversely affected by the War on Drugs who deserve an opportunity to benefit from the legalization of cannabis.
However, Jon has reasoned that a state-run model is the best method for funneling a “restitution,” of sorts, to those who have suffered from the War on Drugs. And in retrospect, I see that it is almost insulting to expect that someone whose criminal record limits their employment options, or someone who has suffered economically from losing a breadwinner to incarceration, should obtain their “restitution” through the arduous process of starting a small business and hoping to one day see profit. Jon’s concept is common sense—and provides comparatively immediate justice.
In politics we are often faced with accepting a lesser of two unsatisfactory options. I’m excited about Jon’s candidacy because he exceeds my greatest hopes for a gubernatorial candidate. He’s the underdog, surely, but he is focused on the issues that matter most to the citizens of our state, and I believe this will be reflected when voters go to the polls. I’m grateful that he is willing to make the personal sacrifices necessary to campaign for this position, and I look forward to supporting him in every way possible. Jon Kiper is the people’s candidate.
Rep. Amanda Bouldin
Manchester