McLean uses knowledge from school board in run for state representative

GILFORD — Democrat Bob McLean is currently on the Gilford School Board, and what he learned there led him to join the race to Concord.

McLean is running for a seat in the Statehouse, serving Gilford, Gilmanton and Laconia Ward 2. While the Democratic primary on Tuesday, Sept. 8, is uncontested, he knows it would be a huge win to secure one of the four seats for the district in the General Election Tuesday, Nov. 3, with only two incumbents on the ballot.

Who is Bob McLean?

McLean moved to New Hampshire, when he was 12, and has been in Gilford, since 1994, where he and his wife raised three children. He is a builder, working construction with his brother, something he’s done most of his life. Most of their work is in the northern Lakes Region, but they’ll build all over the area.

He has worked in hospitality, as he was once employed at Hart’s Turkey Farm Restaurant, as catering manager for New Hampshire Motor Speedway, food director for Meadowbrook Musical Arts Center (now BankNH Pavilion), and facilities manager for a large restaurant chain.

Why he's running

McLean is on the school board, and also the town budget committee as a school board representative.

“It’s a lot of time and a lot of work, but it’s also a lot of eye opening as to how municipalities fund themselves and run,” McLean said. “You get into union issues with teachers, and also get into that with the police department. You look into the insurance costs when looking at the budget, and you can’t predict them. It really has been eye-opening and beneficial.”

This is McLean’s third run. He said, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he started paying attention to the news more than he ever had, and he was especially shocked by the Jan. 6 insurrection.

“I was questioning where our country was headed, and soon thereafter, it was like the Free State-aligned people in our state here were trying to sell off Gunstock, and there was a big commotion,” McLean said. “Citizens for Belknap got involved, and I started going to all those Gunstock Area meetings, and began to understand.”

This was 2022, and he wasn’t yet on the school board. He started learning about school vouchers, just introduced for people with lower incomes.

“There really is very little transparency as far as the results from these people once they go into the voucher program. You can’t really get much feedback from them about how effective the program is,” McLean said. “It’s just basically taking money out of the education fund and giving it to citizens who don’t want public education.”

McLean said now, there is a bill for people to use a voucher, and still attend up to three classes at their public school.

“All these things don’t really make sense to me,” McLean said. “If you’re really concerned about education, why are you taking money out of education? And at the same time, they’re adding more administration duties to the school district.”

Education

“Being on the school board, I am very aware of what they’re doing,” McLean said of state government. “Their goal is to dismantle the public education system in New Hampshire, and it obvious how they are going about it.”

McLean sees this firsthand on committees, and said the biggest issue he's seen is the school district serves two towns. Students from Gilmanton and Gilford attend Gilford High School.

When Gilmanton residents got their tax bills after reassessment last year, McLean said they were up in arms about the education portion. Residents called the Gilmanton School Board asking what they could do.

“I was the chair of the committee of the area agreement, and they sent us what they would like to see happen, and we sent them back what we think would be appropriate,” McLean said. “In the first case, they have a really good area agreement right now. We kept telling them this isn’t our fault; this is what’s coming down from the state.”

McLean said people see high tax bills, and their kids go to Gilford High, so they think that Gilford is the reason the education tax is so high. He said when they pay a higher tuition to send their kids to high school, Gilmanton made cuts in their own school system, and called that a shame, because Gilmanton schools prepare their students well.

“It has been such a good arrangement but, in my opinion, it is the goal of the states to put these new legislations out there, to get these towns and cities that share a school district to start fighting with one another,” he said. “Blaming one another. Finger pointing.”

If elected, McLean would push to roll back the voucher programs. He said it doesn’t make sense someone who wants to go to a private school can receive thousands of dollars in voucher money, but a student going to Gilford School District doesn’t receive adequacy money.

“We get no adequacy payments from the state in Gilford,” McLean said. “We do get other money for improvements and safety concerns.”

Taxes

Since McLean has been running for office, the state got rid of the Interest and Dividends Tax. He said this had been around for about a century, and the only people it affected were high earners.

“It’s not a tax cut that really affects ordinary working people.”

McLean said the amount for corporate taxes was also decreased, so big companies come in, and don’t have to pay taxes on their profits. He doesn’t know how this benefits anyone in the Granite State.

“They’re just cutting the state’s revenue and then turning around and saying, 'Well, we don’t have the money to fund your local programs, because we don’t have the money to do it,'” McLean said. “But no one’s asking them to cut these sources of revenue. They’re just doing it as part of their dismantling of the government.”

McLean said the state also reduced Room and Meals Tax. He said a large portion is paid by out-of-staters who come to New Hampshire and use hotels and go out to dinner.

“Having this tax is better than a tax that is just focused on the residents.”

Energy conservation

While on the school board, McLean said they approved about $90,000 to refit the school with LED lighting and controls for efficiency. The next year, when numbers came through, the town saved $300,000 in energy costs.

“A lot of people are against spending any money, because their taxes are so high. But now, if you look at it, it just seems like more sense that it should be the direction we are moving,” McLean said. “Especially with the cost of energy. We are relying on mostly natural gas for our electricity in the state, even though we have a nuclear power plant. Most of that goes out of state.”

McLean thinks the state should look into solar power, and thinks the state has plenty of property to set it up, and invest. He recommended contracting with solar energy companies so the state can get a percentage toward the state’s overall energy bill.

“It’s not going to be a huge investment; we just have to have an agreement to do it,” McLean said.

McLean said just turning on the news and seeing massive floods and weather events shows there is something serious going on in the environment. He said costs are only rising across the board.

“Ways to save money,” he said. “Being smart. Looking at the future. It’s sort of like anything that comes up that you have to spend money on, people are afraid to spend money on it. Then a year or two later, they’re like, 'Oops, we made a mistake. Now, it is costing us three times as much.'”

Housing

McLean said affordable housing needs to be addressed between the town and the state. He noticed so many condominiums popping up all over the Lakes Region, which is good for out-of-staters, but not for those working here.

“We need some sort of rent control housing,” McLean said. “It doesn’t have to be cheap things, but they can be condensed together.”

McLean recognized builders are looking to make profits, so they need to find ways to incentivize this.

LGBTQ+ rights

“Life, liberty and pursuit of happiness is what we are about, so if they want to live their life as the opposite sex and that is what they do to pursue happiness, that is what we are all about,” McLean said. “Why not?”

McLean doesn’t think the topic of transgender rights should be controversial, saying bathroom doors, and stalls, can lock.

When it comes to transgendered males playing in women’s sports, a topic that's come up nationwide, he wonders “how far is it going to go?”

“At first, it was a demonstration when a bunch of parents were really getting loud and obnoxious, because there was a transgender player on the other team in girls sports a couple years ago,” McLean said.

While on the school board, McLean recalls a parent and school board member calling for the board to boycott a game because a transgender athlete was playing against them.

“I was sort of baffled,” McLean said. “So, you’re going to cancel all of the kids from playing soccer because of your belief in this?”

McLean went to the game, and said he not only didn’t pick out who the athlete was, but didn’t really care to look into it. He said there were state representatives at the game who he felt were there for a political talking point.

“They weren’t violent or anything, but these are people who never would have gone to a high school soccer game in their lives, unless it was to make a point.”

How McLean will lead

“I am not going to make much of a difference at the Statehouse, unless I get 10 or 20 other people like me from our party to go in and break up what’s happening down there,” McLean said.

McLean is all about transparency, and said if someone feels strongly about an issue, they can get in touch with him, and he will listen. He feels he will be a good candidate due to his past and involvement, but recognizes he needs help.

“People should vote for me because I’ll be honest, do what is in the best interest of the most people, and I will let them know what I am doing and why I’m doing it.”