Rotary Log for meeting August 2, 2018
Today we experienced some rare civil discourse regarding the upcoming mid-term elections. More on that later. President Cleo presided. VP Leo handled travelling microphone duties.
Following a robust rendition of “America,” and an invocation by John Rice, guests and visiting Rotarians were introduced.
Basil and Louisa
Those who signed in include Basil’s “more-than-a-roommate” wife, Louisa Richardson; Barbara Miller’s guest, Todd Sigmond; past-president James Petersen’s daughter, Natalie; Peg Millar’s grandson; and visiting Rotarian, Roger Fritz from the Concord, Mass., club. It was noted immediate past-president Ben sat with the “fifty-fifty cartel” table. Must be interested in winning the raffle—typical banker!
Next, Dave Holden started announcements by informing us about today’s first political candidate meeting of the upcoming election season. A brief background of the candidates was given and ground rules for questions were set. Joanie Dickinson asked for more soda can tabs to support the Interact Club.
Jon Flagg followed with what appears to be a new weekly segment for Cleo’s presidency, a Rotary Minute. Apparently, a treasure trove of club memorabilia, a veritable time capsule, has been discovered. It goes all the way back to the club’s founding in 1923.
Some Items displayed included a large table cloth bearing the Rotary insignia, Rotary banner, glassware, club flags, and posters. There was even a poster from 1989 when Mort Schmidt was president. That’s going back in time!
Jon attempted to enthrall us by reading from an August, 1954, Rotary Log. The story indicates 83 members were in attendance including an unusually large number of visiting Rotarians. Could the meeting have been the club’s old clam bake. We even used to put on an annual play! The most recent one was last month’s annual changing-of-the-Rotary-guard celebration. You know, the one about the “White Island 9.” And the fake news (or was it “artistic license”) about “missing the boat” and “saviors,” but I digress.
Interestingly, the old log listed absent members by name and classified them as “AWOL.” Not surprisingly, the issue was raised whether Jon could use this presentation as a make-up in light of his penchant for being AWOL. Sorry, Jon, no luck with that one!
The 50/50 raffle followed next and member Cathy Nickerson won $58—no match!
The Program.
Dave informed us that 11 Democrats, two Republicans and one Independent are running for New Hampshire’s Second Congressional District. Our own Stella Scamman introduced one of the Republican candidates, Eddie Edwards. A Navy vet, Edwards is a former South Hampton Chief of Police and a former Chief of the NH Liquor Commission, Division of Enforcement. He now runs a local business. Edwards has resided in New Hampshire the last 30 years and has raised a family here. His first exposure to Portsmouth came while serving in the Navy at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. He has remained since.
Edwards was born in Georgia and experienced a very difficult childhood at the hands of a drug-dealing abusive father. His brother followed in his father’s footsteps and is now incarcerated for murder. Eddie chose another path, thanks to his grandmother. She taught him the notion that, whatever becomes of him, it is of his own doing. He would have to own it. She also taught him about love, forgiveness, self-reliance and independence. In his words, the mere fact he was born in the U.S. was essentially the equivalent of winning the lottery.
As Edwards puts it, in the US, everyone gets a swing of the bat—no matter whether you start out life at 1st, 2nd or 3rd base. Eddie took that swing, swung for the fences and apparently hit a home run.
His political philosophy is essentially conservative. This apparently was spawned at a very early age. Edwards cut lawns earning about $75 a week, $45 of which he gave to his parents to help cover home costs. The U.S. Navy provided him the opportunity to serve his country. While in the service, he developed those skillsets of character and responsibility that propelled him to this point in his life.
He is running because of his love of country. Presently, there are 1.3 million men and women serving in the US military—essentially 1% of the population. And yet, in his words, we cannot seem to take care of them even with our $13 trillion economy. He believes we need to change all that.
Edwards’ idea of change is to return centralized power to the people. He is a strong believer in term limits. He noted that one congressman was ensconced for more than 50 years until brought down by a sex scandal.
A significant problem in his view is the immense power given to administrative government agencies. Administrative agency positions are not obtained via election, but appointment and traditional employment hiring procedures. There is no direct public control of these individuals. Edwards believes that should be changed. He knows this through personal experience as one who wrote regulations for the N.H. state Liquor Commission. He controlled more than 6,000 businesses through his work with the Division of Enforcement.
In answer to some of the questions posed, Edwards believes the Russians did interfere with the 2016 election process. He also believes the President’s words have been taken out of context and the President should be entitled to defend himself. Regarding veterans, the U.S. currently spends $150 billion to maintain 900 military installations throughout the world. The U.S. currently makes up 6% of the world population, but shoulders 94% of global defense. He believes we should be able to address veterans’ needs if we can defend so much of the world.
Our next candidate, Chris Pappas, was introduced by Tony Delyani. Pappas is a lifelong Manchester resident and current owner of the Puritan Restaurant. It’s the home of Manchester’s best chicken fingers for those of us who know! He is the direct benefactor of his grandfather who came here from Greece and started the restaurant in 1917.
Chris is a strong believer in servant leadership. He choses to lift people up rather than focus on the bottom line. At the age of 22, he ran for state legislator, serving two terms. He followed that with a position on the Executive Council starting in 2012, due to his perceived right shift in the Council’s composition. He is most proud of saving funding for the state’s chapter of Planned Parenthood and Medicaid expansion that serves about 53,000 state residents.
Regarding his platform, he has many ideas. He is a proponent of passenger rail and renewable energy to counter global climate change of which he is an adherent. Regarding D.C., he views it as awash in big corporate money and corrupt. He believes the President is dividing the country and that Congress must function as a check on executive power.
Pappas pays particular attention to constituent calls. He feels he can achieve positive change in the chaotic D.C. environment through his ability to work across the aisle. That was a skillset honed during his time in the state legislature.
Pappas supports the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) as well as coverage for those with pre-existing conditions. Drug costs need to be brought down. He views healthcare as a right, not a privilege—something he provides his employees in harmony with his beliefs.
Pappas wants campaign finance reform and feels that Citizens United should be overturned. He views Washington as a place of zero sum gain. There is a need for a functional system that can address some of the more pressing problems of our time. Especially the opioid epidemic.
In response to a question about the ACA, he believes the individual mandate should be reinstated. He wants drug price increases capped and more competition created among healthcare plans and Medicare expansion. His generalized solution involves engaging all stakeholders.
In response to another question regarding low employment, he believes the h2b visa program cap should be raised. We need to address the scarcity of employees for businesses that traditionally use foreign workers to fill jobs U.S. citizens don’t want.
Regarding higher education, he wants to see the cost of a college education reduced, particularly in New Hampshire. He’d like to see student loan rates lowered and increases in spending for technical education programs such as nursing. Lastly, he also believes in term limits. Pappas is a centrist and believes in collaboration with members of other political parties.
Until next time . . ..
Respectfully submitted, Mark Lorusso
Photos by Jim Rini
