Executive Council candidates Dave Wheeler and Melanie Levesque debate in Antrim
Published: 10-29-2024 12:03 PM |
In the final candidates’ forum at Antrim Town Hall on Wednesday, residents heard from the candidates for Executive Council District 5 – incumbent Republican Dave Wheeler and Democratic former state legislator Melanie Levesque.
The district includes Antrim, Bennington, Francestown, Greenfield, Greenville, Jaffrey, Lyndeborough, Mason, New Ipswich, Rindge, Temple and Wilton.
In the space of about an hour, candidates fielded questions submitted by the crowd on various topics, though moderators cautioned the crowd that while the candidates had agreed to answer a variety of questions, some would not be under their purview as an executive councilor, where their role is primarily to approve or disapprove large contracts and state appointments.
Partway through the forum, Levesque, a former state representative and senator, had to leave for another planned event and was represented at the forum table by one of her support team members, Michael Atkins, with the consent of Wheeler.
One of the main areas of contention between the candidates was questions about the possibility of a broad-based tax.
Wheeler said he had signed the pledge against implementing any new broad-based tax, and would stick to that. He said Levesque, conversely, had in the past, voted in favor of an income tax.
Levesque argued against that assertion, saying that what she had voted for was a family medical leave bill. The bill, which Gov. Chris Sununu vetoed in 2019. The bill would have allowed employers to divert 0.5% of wages per week per employee to create the medical leave fund.
When asked about a new law passed in New Hampshire that requires proof of citizenship such as a birth certificate or passport to vote, in addition to the existing requirement for a Real ID, Levesque said, “I call that voter suppression,” noting that for a number of years, she didn’t have access to her physical birth certificate, which made it more onerous to vote.
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Wheeler said the state needs to make it “easy to vote, and hard to cheat,” saying that you need a Real ID for many things, including boarding an airplane.
When asked about the state’s Education Freedom Accounts, sometimes called vouchers, which allow state funds to be used on individual students, whether or not they attend public schools, Levesque said they were mainly benefiting people who were already attending alternate forms of schooling and privately paying for them. She said people should have the right to pursue educating their children however they wanted, if they paid for it. She said she had concerns about oversight, and the EFAs being used in support of private religious schools.
Wheeler said the money “belongs to the student,” and that “educational choice fosters perfection, and no choice fosters mediocrity.”
When asked about current Secretary of Education Frank Edelblut, Atkins brought up prior criticisms of Edelblut, including his lack of an education background and the fact that none of his own children went through the public school system, as they were home-schooled.
Wheeler said Edelblut has been “excellent” in his role, and his business background making him a “system and procedures” man. He praised Edelblut’s assistance in rewriting assessment tests, his support of new technology center improvements, and his frugality.
Answering a question about his voting history of denying federal funding for institutions like Planned Parenthood, Lovering Health Center and Equity Health Center, which provide abortion care among other services, Wheeler said that even though the centers separate the funding they receive from their abortion care, they are still intertwined.
“It’s the same building, the same secretary, the same staff, the same electricity,” Wheeler said.
Levesque pointed out that the measures to separate the funding from abortion care were satisfactory to the federal government, but not to Wheeler, and said that these operations provide other preventative and life-saving care, often to low-income people.
On minimum wage, Wheeler said allowing the free market to dictate was the best way to go, noting that most everyone is paying above the federal minimum wage. Levesque said that the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour was obviously insufficient, and there had to be a balance sought that was satisfactory for both employees and employers.
Regarding the possibility of a passenger rail system for New Hampshire, Wheeler said the matter has been studied, and not only would it come with a high cost to build, it would not be able to sustain itself solely on its own ticket sales and would have to be supplemented by the state every year after, and he didn’t support it. He said the state’s existing bus routes were sufficient and self-sustaining.
Atkins said Levesque does support passenger rail in Manchester and Nashua.
Residents can vote for the Executive Council, along with other state seats, in the Nov. 5 election.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244, or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.