Long-time Sullivan County Commissioner Ben “Bennie” Nelson, a Newport Republican, is being challenged by Springfield Democrat Jim Bednar for the District 2 commissioner’s seat in the Nov. 3 election.
Bednar, 71, said “service and community” are the two characteristics that have defined his life and career, which included 40 years with the U.S. Agency for International Development managing projects in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
He describes his run as coming out of retirement for a fourth time.
“I just keep coming back to do something for the community,” Bednar said in a phone interview. “I am committed to service to the community. I’ve done that all my life and now is the time to make a difference in Sullivan County.”
Nelson credits his bipartisan approach and working across party lines with solving county government problems and creating programs and policies that help residents.
While Bednar acknowledges that the completed $75 million nursing home renovation and addition has made it a “wonderful place,” he believes the commissioners are focusing too much on the complex in Unity, which also includes the jail and community corrections center, and not enough on the whole county.
“We have a $45 million budget that seems to be developed by coming in with a big proposal, then cutting it down and saying, ‘We did well to cut it.’ What I offer from my experience working on big contracts and with big staffs is I can help manage the budget and get it under control,” Bednar said. “I want to prioritize where money should be spent to benefit a broader part of Sullivan County.”
Bednar was also critical of the decision last June by the delegation of state representatives to cut the Transitional Reentry and Addiction In-Lieu-of-Sentencing (TRAILS) program before approving a budget. In a mostly party-line vote, the delegation’s Republican majority slashed the program from $750,000 to $250,000, effectively putting an end to it.
TRAILS is a three-month intensive substance use recovery program run at the county jail.
“It was unfortunate they just quickly slashed something out of the budget without thinking of the implications,” Bednar said, adding that it will be difficult to restore the program and hire staff with so much uncertainty.
Bednar said the affordability factor, with high property taxes making it difficult for young people to find a way to stay in New Hampshire, is a big part of the problem.
“Young people don’t see a way forward, and this is troubling. Anything we can do to bring down the budget is important,” he said.
Bednar also noted that Republican George Hebert, the third commissioner, who is not up for re-election, has endorsed him and Democrat Benjamin Nelson of Claremont, a candidate for the District 1 seat.
“It just seems to be a signal that it is time for a change, and I think I can make a difference,” Bednar said.
A message left for Hebert about his endorsement, which Benjamin Nelson confirmed, was not returned.
Bennie Nelson has served more than 15 years as a commissioner. He and his wife Becky own Beaver Pond Farm in Newport.
Nelson said he was also disappointed in the cut to TRAILS, especially after the Executive Finance Committee, in one of its final budget sessions last spring, agreed that TRAILS needed to be studied before any decision was made. He said judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and others were discussing the merits of the program. Republicans who supported the cut claim it was underutilized when matched against the cost.
“The study process was underway and we got caught flat-footed” by the delegation vote, Nelson said.
TRAILS was a way to set people up for success, he added.
“We were no longer warehousing them. It is more of a rehab mindset. We are trying to send a better product out than what went in.”
Nelson said he believes the commissioners have been good stewards of the taxpayers’ money and provide more and better services than municipal governments or the schools.
As an example, he said the county received about half of the funding for the $75 million nursing home project from state and federal sources, working with legislators from both parties. The project fought through pandemic material price increases and some political disagreements before being approved with the last piece of funding by delegation in November 2022.
“That is what I am most proud of, being able to work with both Democrats and Republicans to get things done,” said Nelson.
Nursing home residents now are just two per room, and each room has a bathroom and shower. There is also a large sitting area at the entrance where family members can gather to enjoy lunch or other activities.
“It just looks a lot nicer,” Nelson said.
The commissioners also have to address inadequate Medicaid reimbursement from the state, which is about 76% of the cost of care, Nelson said.
“We have to deal with that so it is not just the schools who are getting hosed by Concord,” Nelson said.
Cuts to the county grants, which fund several social service agencies, are something Nelson and Bednar disagree on.
“They are all great organizations, but we have to remember, people are hurting,” Nelson said.
Having been criticized on the issue by both sides, Nelson said, “I think I’m where I need to be.”
The delegation at its budget meeting in June restored almost $50,000 in grants, bringing the funding to the commissioners’ recommendation of $109,000 in the approved budget for the current fiscal year. That is about half from the previous year.
“The county is second in the state for food insecurity and food banks that get assistance from the county were cut,” Bednar said. “It just doesn’t make sense.”
In other contested county races, Republican Renee Simino is facing Democrat Je Austin for Register of Deeds, and Republican Rodd Ward and Democrat Loren David Howard are running for Register of Probate. County Attorney Christine Hilliard and County Treasurer Michael Sanderson are running uncontested, as is James Ethan Yazinski, a candidate for Sullivan County Sheriff.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
