Candidates on the economy

Friday, February 19, 2010

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2010 Hollis Town Meeting
To see continuing coverage of town meeting issues in Hollis, click here.

Spencer Stickney

Office sought: Hollis selectman

Age: 40

Address: 17 Proctor Hill Road

Years of residency: In Hollis over 13 years. NH native, with descendents going back over 100 years

Education: GED, Northlands Job Corp. 1987

Employment: Co Owner of Pioneer Tree Service LLC. Hollis

Political history: Historical District Commission 2009-present, Heritage Commission 2009-present, Town Forest Committee 2010.

Affiliations: Currently a member and Director for the Nor’ Easters Snowmobile Club. Hollis, NH

Family: Divorced with 2 children currently living with my soul mate and our 4 children.

Name: Peter Band

Office sought: Hollis Selectman

Age: 52

Address:72 Main St, Hollis

Years of residency: Nine in Hollis, 27 in NH

Education: B.S. Management UMass-Lowell 1985, MBA Southern NH University 1996

Employment: Senior contracts negotiator, Lockheed Martin Corporation

Political history: Selectman, 2004-2007, (Chairman 2007), 2008 – present, Current Selectmen’s rep to Budget Committee, Liason to Police Dept., Highway Safety Committee, previously served on Planning Board, Tax Equity Committee.

Affiliations: Active member of local church

Family: Married 28 years to Lynne, a computer science professor; one daughter Sarah, an attorney in Washington, DC.

Name: Mark A. LeDoux

Office Sought: Hollis selectman

Age: 55

Address: 64 Dow Road

Years of residency: 8 years

Education: University of Oklahoma, BA in Letters Cum Laude, 1975; Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego 1979 Juris Doctorate; Stanford University Executive Program for Small Business Executives 1986, Palo Alto, California.

Employment: Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, Natural Alternatives International, Inc. - Public Corporation traded on NASDAQ under the symbol NAII. WE are engaged in research, development and production of nutritional dietary supplements for multi-national and smaller clientele in our facilities in San Diego County and in Lugano, Switzerland. Recent global sales volume of approximately $75 million per annum.

Political history: Elected 2007 to Selectman.

Affiliations: Member, Hollis Brookline Rotary Club; President, The Marie Le Doux Foundation, a private family foundation; chairman of the board, Council for Responsible Nutrition, Washington, D.C.; Member, YPO San Diego & YPO New England; chairman of the Board of Natural Alternatives International Europe, S.A., Lugano, Switzerland Member, Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce

Family: Married to Julie Lavender for 22+ years, three children: Jean-Marc is 18 and is a Junior at the King’s College in New York City Christian is 14 and is home schooled with emphasis on science and mathematics and learning Italian Amiee is 8 years old and is also home-schooled.

Does the current economy change the way a town should negotiate contracts with its employees? Why, or why not? Please be specific.

Spencer Stickney:

Yes, it does. Just like economic times in the past as well as those to come. We all try, as we should, to give our employees as much as the position they carry warrants. I believe just like in the private sector, we like to give people as much as we can when times are good. By the same token when times are tough, we ask those people to buckle down with the rest of us and bear through it.

I know that the public and private sector are not the same, but the mindset is the same. You want to be fair to the employees. At the same time, we need to act on behalf of the taxpayers who have entrusted us, to make the best deal possible for the town. We are facing hard times, and it is important for everyone to acknowledge these times so that we can effectively negotiate terms and conditions that are right for towns people and their employees.

Mark Ledoux:

The current economy is not as great an influence on how a town should negotiate contracts with employees as is the new law governing the life and long-term impact of those collectively bargained contracts.

New Hampshire passed a law, which is known as the Evergreen Statute, so that all contracts entered into for represented personnel after a date in July of 2008, fall subject to the statute, which is RSA 273-A:12. Therefore, all contracts being reviewed or negotiated at this time are not just valid for their normal contract period, but have portions which can be extended for considerable time given this new RSA. Consequently, key provisions governing health care costs and other issues such as merit or longevity increases in compensation need to be fully valued and discussed with taxpayers in light of this new law, prior to the routine adoption of ‘contracts’ with employees. Of course, the economy also plays a significant role in identifying the relevant pay scale for the job being performed, as well as the significant pressure to generate benchmarks of performance that are easily measured and which have an impact on ultimate wages being offered by the municipality.

Peter Band:

The current economy cannot help but change the way a town negotiates contracts with its employees. The Economic Collapse of 2008 and the resultant fallout has greatly affected the townspeople of Hollis. As a selectman and a neighbor, I often have conversations about the difficult choices people are facing; layoffs, pay cuts, lack of health insurance, foreclosures, inability to pay taxes. The town is managing its way through this trying time. This is the second year that we have crafted a flat operating budget. Difficult choices and tradeoffs have been made along the way to accomplish this. About 75 percent of the operating costs of the town are personnel related; therefore, it is critical to hold these costs steady to minimize the tax impact. We have frozen wages and are involved in a challenging collective bargaining process. The town of Hollis has always provided a good working environment with a competitive compensation package for our employees. We will continue to do so. We believe that it is the right way to manage and brings out the best performance in our people. The reality we now face is one of shared sacrifice. We believe that our employees understand this, as difficult as it may be.