Mark Alliegro: An invitation to meet with the Campton state representative

To The Daily Sun,

Some of you may have been following this story and read a letter from a Campton resident in the May 5 issue of The Laconia Daily Sun. This letter is meant to serve as an update and an announcement. First, some context:

When I ran for office in 2020, I said that I would arrange for regular office hours so that constituents could meet with their state representative one-on-one, in person. After the election, I requested use of Campton's Town Hall Community Room for this purpose, for one to two hours per week, during regular business hours. After all, Campton has only one state rep., and that one state rep. serves only Campton. Moreover, the Town Hall Community Room sits empty the vast majority of the week.

I spoke with Town officials, and was told "no." Fortunately, a Campton resident heard about this and decided to submit a petitioned Warrant Article for Town Meeting, which passed with a solid majority. But not without a time-consuming floor battle. There were attempts to impose charges for cleanup (Campton has such messy citizens!), and to force me to obtain special insurance and/or post a bond. The argument was made by a former state rep. that the district might be redrawn in the future, as if the arrangement would be invalidated by the theoretical addition of a few people from Thornton into Grafton District 7. Sadly, this is the same kind of contorted acrobatics I see in Concord all the time. The debate went on until a first-time Town Meeting attendee rose and pointed out the folly of continuing to battle over a small and reasonable request. We should all be grateful to that individual, as well as the others who exercised reason and voted "yes" on Article 4. I thank you for making my job a little easier.

In the future — how far, no one can say — there will be another state representative for Campton, maybe even from another party. That state rep. should offer the same involvement and service to Campton's constituents. It just goes with the job. He or she will now be able to do so with less hassle. If I accomplish nothing else during my time in office, I will at least have provided that service, and I confess I am proud of that.

Please bring your questions, concerns, and ideas to me 3:30-4:30 p.m. on Monday afternoons, starting June 14. I won't promise answers to everything, but I'll do my best.

Mark Alliegro

State Representative, Grafton District 7