Commissioners cry foul over state rep's 'Taj Mahal' nursing home attacks

To the editor:

Here we go again, forced to answer another inaccurate Letter to the Editor from Rep. Cliff Newton (R) from Rochester as he tries to justify he (sic) as his fellow Republicans' "no vote" on the long needed nursing home replacement for Riverside Rest Home.

His first statement that there was no public meeting of the Commissioners' master plan apparently ignores that there were 19 public meetings in front of the Delegation with minutes recorded on the Strafford County website, 12 meetings in front of various political and public organizations, and 24 public Commissioners meetings all regarding the master plan. The interesting part is Rep. Newton attended most of these meetings.

The nursing home project has languished for over 2 years as almost every vote that has taken place resulted in every Republican voting no. The majority of the Delegation has voted in favor of the project, leaving the project just 3 votes short of the two-thirds majority necessary for funding.

Odd that Rep. Newton discusses the $1.9 million the County put forward toward design calling it wasted, despite a majority approval by the Delegation. In reality the Republican "no" vote made the County not eligible for $15,353,548 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding contracted from the State of New Hampshire. That's right...Rep. Newton's leading the charge to vote NO cost us, the Strafford County taxpayers, over $15 million in available funding.

We are not clear what a "nothing burger" is that's quoted in Rep. Newton's letter. Maybe you could expand your vocabulary from the solo word "no" to forward creative ideas that you would support. One thing we can agree with Rep. Newton is let's stop the divisive attacks and sit down to improve the living situation where 4 residents use 1 bathroom; 42 residents use one shower/tub room; and most residents live the summer without air conditioning. Let's build a building that meets current Medicare regulations for construction without possible exposure to asbestos and Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

- Strafford County Commissioners,

George Maglaras, chairman

Robert Watson, vice chairman

Deanna Rollo, clerk