NEW HAMPSHIRE WEEKLY / POLITICAL DIARY / LAURA A. KIERNAN

Lawmakers might want to share this decision

Democracy sure can have its attractions

By Laura A. Kiernan, Globe Correspondent, January 3, 1999

No certified political junkie (I count myself among them) could resist a shot at digging into New Hampshire politics during what promises to be an unpredictable, volatile and juicy ride into the millennium. So, after a sojourn along the polite airwaves of public radio, and then into the crash and burn world of all-news television, I've come back to the staying power of black and white. The Diary resumes its place in New Hampshire Weekly with the same bottom line it had when it first occupied this space: no spin, just the facts, a little reading between the lines, and some fun.

Democracy sure can have its attractions

Voters, start paying attention, because come as early as May -- if one senator gets his way -- you may cast a ballot and make the final call on how to end the Claremont case and the public school financing crisis. Governor Jeanne Shaheen likes an idea generated in Michigan that would have the Legislature approve Plan A and Plan B from a long menu of tax options now before them. House and Senate members, back at work this week, have to make their decisions by April 1, the court-imposed deadline for action. Voters would then be asked to choose.

Putting it to the people is by no means a done deal, but it would provide excellent political cover for all concerned -- especially Democrat Shaheen, who has pledged to veto any new broad-based taxes. Her legal counsel, Judy Reardon, said Shaheen doesn't think a broad-based tax will fly with the voters, but, if it does, "the governor believes in democracy."

Newly-minted state Senator Clifton Below (D-Lebanon), point man on the Michigan plan, paid a courtesy call on House Speaker Donna Sytek (R-Salem) last week and described their meeting as "good." While most of the State House was in a holiday impasse, Below, freshman Senator Mark Fernald (D-Sharon) and veteran House member Elizabeth Hager (R-Concord) were busy tuning up a bill combining an income tax and a statewide property tax on vacation homes and industry.

Below, who served three terms in the House, says he will immediately seek a court opinion on the constitutionality of presenting any tax plans to the voters. He says May 11 -- alternative town meeting day -- would be a good time for the balloting. The state could provide a voters' guide on both plans.

Sounds simple? Not quite. Not everyone thinks the Legislature should turn over the business of making decisions to the voters -- at least not right away. "We're elected to govern," Sytek told us. Others say the voters should have a say on what could be a fundamental change in state policy. But however you come down on the issue, after years of wrangling, as one insider put it, the time has come to put this baby to bed.

Meanwhile, what's up at the palace?

Well, maybe if Democrat Dick Swett had unseated Republican US Senator Bob Smith back in 1996, he could have been part of history -- scrutinizing all that Monica stuff, deciding whether to impeach President Clinton. But, it looks to us like Swett is a whole lot better off with the loser's gig -- US ambassador to Denmark.

A recent edition of the Concord Monitor featured a color photo of Swett, resplendent in white tie and tails, a horse-drawn carriage and plumed riders behind him, as he entered the summer palace of Denmark's Queen Margrethe. In an accompanying article, Swett's wife, Katrina, writes about their "fairy tale" day with royalty. "We kept saying to each other, 'Once in a lifetime,' 'Unforgettable' and 'Wicked cool,' " she recalled.

Indeed it is. Katrina Swett, pictured in a gray satin gown and white gloves, said their ride to the queen's place, past rows of "beautiful Danish children," made her feel like she was on the set of a "romantic historical movie." She let us in on some Danish history and life with their brood of kids in their new home -- a Copenhagen mansion.

All this was a lot nicer to read than say, the Starr report. Send more!

P.S.: Have we heard anything from the US ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago, Terry Shumaker, formerly of Bow?

Safety issue raised in Nashua campaign

Sick kids and parents worried about possible soil contamination at a city playing field have become an emotional issue in the otherwise quirky race to recall the mayor of Nashua.

Mayor Donald Davidson denies charges that his administration withheld information from parents who complained that kids were showing up with mysterious rashes, nausea and sore throats after football practice at Lincoln Park. His opponent in the Jan. 12 runoff, Alderman at Large George Pressly Jr., claimed Davidson kept a lid on results of tests that showed soil at the park -- which used to be a landfill -- contained levels of a substance that could cause eye, nasal and lung irritation. Davidson said a city consultant took the tests for review and advised there was no need to alert the public. Two signs were posted at Lincoln Park saying the field was "closed for renovations." The city was awaiting more test results last week. The mayor says experts have told him there is no danger.

Nashua's Pop Warner football president, Shelley Francoeur, who filed the first complaint, says the city has been too slow to act. The kids who got sick are OK now, but she wonders whether anything could show up in the future. Until there are some answers, Francouer says, "we're not going away."

Clinton gets invite for February dinner

The invitation is out -- but not confirmed -- for President Clinton to be the star attraction at the state Democratic Party's 100 club dinner in February, its major fund-raiser. Party chairman Jeff Woodburn says nobody he knows is hesistant about the invitation. "Let them come after us. We have the people on our side," Woodburn said.

Meanwhile, on the road to the year 2000 presidential primary, Vice President Al Gore's wife, Tipper, will be in New Hampshire on Jan. 14 for a state Senate Democratic caucus fund-raiser.

On the Republican side, the GOP's primary kickoff dinner -- the beauty pageant for its presidential hopefuls -- has been moved back from February to early spring. Will the much talked about governor of Texas, George W. Bush, make an appearance? State GOP chairman Steve Duprey says the change was a scheduling mix-up but it does give possible presidential candidates more time to think about coming. That includes Bush, US Senator John McCain, New York Governor George Pataki, the Big Apple's mayor Rudy Giuliani, and the ever popular Elizabeth Dole.