October 1, 2008 Hollis/Brookline Rotary Club Breakfast Speech I am the only candidate running in this Senate race who has experience in three levels of government: state, county, and local -- and I have 30 years of it. I've been a Republican -- first elected in 1970 -- and I've been a Democrat (I made the switch in 1984). Fed Up But now, I am fed up with both parties and have decided to go back to a longstanding traditional method of getting nominated for the general election ballot through the petitioning process. I have gathered more than enough nominating papers, and I qualified for the November ballot on Sept 2, 2008 and was certified by the Secretary of State. In the past, I tried hard to make the two-party system work by participating at the nuts and bolts level. I received the top award of the Democratic Party for my service to the party in 1995; I received the Max Silber Community Service award from the Greater Nashua United Way. I have continued to work at the local level in a nonpartisan way to meet the needs of the electorate and get them involved. I have actively encouraged good people to run for office, regardless of their party affiliation. To me, it's all about doing the right thing and adhering to New Hampshire's constitution. Putting 'the party' before principle does not work for me, and since too many legislators put their party first, I decided to switch gears and continue serving the people, but as an independent candidate. When I was state chair of Common Cause of New Hampshire in the 70's, I learned from John Gardiner, the founder, and Archibald Cox, the Watergate Special prosecutor and subsequently the national chair of Common Cause, that Money and Secrecy are the two strongest enemies of our democratic system of government. They still are. No where is that clearer than at the local level. Most people cannot afford to run for public office because of the high cost of campaigning. Right now, the commission to study the feasibility of public financing of campaigns is holding hearings about the Granny D bill which passed in this last session of the legislature. I was a cosponsor of this bill and testified last week before the commission. The money required by candidates running in contested primaries is unconscionable Finding a source for the money to fund this important concept, without tapping the general fund, is the job of the commission. It is ironic that the primaries to choose the nominees of the parties are paid for by the taxpayers. The money spent for holding party primaries would go a long way to provide funds for campaign expenses for candidates to get their story out to the public. The money required by candidates running in contested primaries is unconscionable. In the last few years this amount has averaged about $100,000 in state senate races. The insidious part of this unprecedented figure is to tempt the parties to discourage competitive contests. This year the focus shifted to protecting incumbents and discouraging challengers. The Republicans could not recruit candidates, at least in part because of the cost to run, and the Democrats actively discouraged competition for their nomination. I respect my two opponents in the District 12 race. But the two-party system is not working the way it should for them, either. For instance, I think partisan party politics is why it has taken so many years to resolve the school funding problem raised by the Claremont cases. Neither party has been able to come together on this thorny issue. The court told them that the state had to provide an adequate education and the sufficient funding behind it, but both parties are still trying to figure out ways not to meet this state obligation, for a variety of mainly partisan reasons. This is only one of many examples of both parties dropping the ball. Campaign Finance reform has been a focus for me all the years I have served. I support Public Financing of campaigns. We have heard over and over about the need for campaign finance reform. It is an issue at every level. When I collected nominating papers to run for this office, I did not have to run in the primary. I had the opportunity to talk to ordinary people and invariably I heard from them," I want to be independent." I believe I am blazing a new trail Independents need to be heard. Independents need their own candidate in the General Election. I had thought collecting 750 signatures would be hard. I found out that collecting more than 1200 was easier than I thought. The reception was very positive. The number of undeclared voters is growing by leaps and bounds. It is clearly an accelerating trend. There are more undeclared voters than in either party. In my town, there are more undeclared than Republican and Democrat combined. The polls show this trend. It goes hand in hand with campaign finance reform and general electoral reform. I believe I am blazing a new trail. Now that straight ticket voting has finally been abolished in this state and almost everywhere else, the independent candidate and the independent voter, I believe, are the wave of the future. It just makes sense. The parties are not offering good choices-- only the lesser of evils. And there is little difference between the way they operate. More and more they see themselves as dictators to their electorate and less and less servers of the common good. I am fed up with parties. I believe this is the change we need. At the local level we have done away with parties and choose and operate local government in a nonpartisan fashion. Candidates for alderman and selectmen and school board do not need party labels. In fact, it is important to reject them in our town and city governments. It is time to reject them at the state level. I want to demonstrate that competent and dedicated candidates can be recruited and elected without party labels. Campaigns do cost money. I need to be able to tell you what qualifies me for this office. I have to tell you what I have done. I have to tell you what motivates me, but it doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. I have to tell you what I propose to do if elected. I hope to prove that it can be done with boots on the ground, shoe leather, and now, in this age, the internet. With the help of the Rotary and the service organizations, and the non-profit sector it can happen without being beholden to party chiefs, self interest groups, or pandering media. Common sense tells you it is ridiculous to spend $100,00 for a job that pays 100 per year. It is a conflict of interest for party chiefs to be employed by Pacs to choose your candidates for you and then use your tax dollars to elect them with vulnerable voting machines. Other Initiatives Here are some other initiatives I propose to do if elected. I will seek to assure that the approximately one million dollars that I and others worked so hard to get included in the Governors budget to replace the Ryan White funds for community health care agencies last year is maintained. This will be an incredibly tough budget year. Everyone in this room knows we will have to cut in the order of 150 to 200 million (maybe more) unless we can find new revenue. For many years, Ryan White funds came from the federal government through an agreement with Massachusetts. Last biennium, the agreement was terminated (modified) and approximately $1,000,000 of that money had to be raised through the general fund of New Hampshire. My third important initiative will be addressing toxics in the environment, building on my experience on the Environment and Agriculture committee. I monitor the administrative rules on waste management and propose statutory changes. Global warming, and funding LChip will be priorities. Another initiative I will pursue is Education. Having served many years on the Brookline School Board and the Hollis/Brookline Cooperative School Board, I recognize the need to review and modify rules governing Cooperative School Districts. I was a leader in the House back in the seventies for educating special needs children. I played a significant role in passing the first statutes that required the education of physically, mentally, and emotionally handicapped children. I see home schooling of children as a significant contributor toward providing adequate education and I support funding it. Partisan considerations have prevented solutions to these problems ever since the Claremont decisions and before. I think my independent perspective will contribute to progress on the funding of the adequate education standards we have enacted. Voting-integrity issues and redistricting will also be a focus. It has been an enriching experience for me to work on community issues that encompass both the city of Nashua and my towns. I will do everything I can to continue to advocate for our interests in the State Senate as I have in the House. If you elect me your Senator in November, I will continue to speak truth to power, and be an independent thinker and do it as an "Independent Moderate" representing District 12 in the New Hampshire Senate. ----------- Nashua Telegraph, July 31, 2008 Longtime rep eyes Senate seat as independent By HATTIE BERNSTEIN, Staff Writer  hbernstein@cabinet.com   BROOKLINE Longtime state Rep. Betty Hall is planning to run for the state Senate as an independent, challenging Democrat Peggy Gilmour and Republican Paul LaFlamme for the District 12 seat being vacated by Nashua Democrat David Gottesman.  The district includes Hollis, Mason, Brookline and Wards 1, 2, 5 and 9 in Nashua.  Hall, 87, has served in the state House of Representatives since 1980, beginning her tenure as a Republican and switching to the Democratic Party four years later.  A lifelong Republican until the early '80s, Hall said the "conservative revolution" was her motivation for changing parties.   She cited the politics of Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater and President Reagan as examples of the thinking that led her to become a Democrat.  "I was voting more often with the Democrats than with the Republicans, and it was only fair 'truth in labeling,' " she said of changing parties.  Hall generated a lot of attention and criticism in April by sponsoring a nonbinding resolution to support impeachment charges against President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. The proposal was tabled by the N.H. House, but her sponsorship and support spurred many letters to the editor of The Telegraph on both sides of the issue.  Hall enters the District 12 race with almost three decades in the state Legislature.  She was a member of the Education Committee for two terms and also served on the Environment and Agricultural Committee and the Constitutional Revision Committee.  In addition, Hall has served on a number of town committees, including a 15-year tenure as chairman of the finance committee, nine years on the school board and one, three-year term on the board of selectmen.  In 2002, she sold the Brookline tote-bag manufacturing company she ran with her husband for 50 years.  Hall said she has no plans to "ever retire" and believes that political activity and service keep her young.  "I've always been independent," she said during a telephone interview. "Both the Republicans and Democrats are not doing what they need to do to turn the country around."  To get her name on the ballot this fall, Hall needs 750, verified voter signatures from her district.  She said she is seeking about 800, in case some signatures are not valid.  According to election law, she must submit the signatures to the supervisor of the checklist by Aug. 6. In turn, the checklist supervisor is obligated to verify the names and return the petitions to Hall by Aug. 27.  The vetting process ends Sept. 3, when Hall is required to turn over the verified signatures to the secretary of state.  Asked what she thinks about her competition, Hall used the word "respect" several times.  "I have a great deal of respect for my competition. I've known Peggy Gilmour for years. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Paul LaFlamme," she said.  Hattie Bernstein can be reached at 673-3100, ext. 24, or hbernstein@ cabinet.com. Nashua Telegraph, June 28, 2008 Two make helping people a grand affair What is it they say about grandmas – that their job is to spoil the grandkids, to let them get away with little things they can't at home, maybe saying yes to that little toy in the store, realizing that mom or dad would probably say no?  Yeah, something like that. And it worked. Yes, we loved mom and dad and counted on them every day, but we also had that extra-special love for grandma, didn't we?  A great example is Brookline's famous Hall family, which goes back generations in the little town, where pretty much everyone knows the name. Its matriarch, Betty B. Hall, is perhaps the best known of the clan, given her 50-plus years serving on nearly every political, civic and advocacy board around – not to mention her remarkable 14 terms representing her town in the New Hampshire House.  Hall was a little past 50 when one of her 12 grandchildren, Ted Hall Jr., was born. As grandmas do, she doted and spoiled, watching him grow into the fine young man she often chatted with across the dinner table. across the dinner table. Staff photo by corey perrine Ted Hall, 35, of Merrimack and his grandmother Betty, 87, of Brookline,  both serve on the Harbor Homes board of directors. Today, Betty Hall is 87, Ted Hall about to turn 35, and at least once a month, they still sit down across the table from one another. But instead of the meat and potatoes, they now pass ideas, suggestions and advice back and forth.  Betty and Ted are probably the only grandmother and grandson around who serve together on the board of directors of a large agency.   What's become an ideal blend of fresh, forward-thinking young ideas and seasoned, invaluable experience began just over two years ago, when Ted joined his grandmother on the board of Nashua nonprofit Harbor Homes, which also governs its several partner agencies in southern New Hampshire.  "The hardest part has been remembering not to call her 'Gram' at the meetings," Hall said as he and his grandmother laughed.   Betty Hall, who became a household name starting with her early service on the Brookline School Board (before the district's consolidation with Hollis) and her years as a Brookline selectman, entered the world of social nonprofits in the early 1970's as the first president of Milford Regional Counseling Services.  When a new advocacy group for homeless people and those with mental-health issues began forming in Nashua a few years later, Hall was one of several movers-and-shakers who jumped in to guide the agency – which would eventually be named Harbor Homes – through its infancy and into maturity.   "We were very informal at the beginning," Hall recalled. "There were just a few of us; we met at each other's kitchen tables."  Ted enjoys hearing the history. "Now, (the board) is a complex, integrated operation that's a model for other cities," he said.   The Halls – Ted, fit and impeccably groomed in his high-end business suit, and Betty, sporting her trademark casual outfit befitting a hard-working, no-nonsense woman – are at once a study in contrasts and similarities.   Ted, a corporate executive, is athletic; he does triathlons to stay in shape. Betty is – or was until just recently – an avid bicyclist. Everyone knows about her manually powered campaign vehicle – a decorated bike topped with a banner that, depending on wind direction, made pedaling either a struggle or a breeze.   She estimates she covered more than 1,000 miles in state Senate District 12, which is made up largely of the hilly, Souhegan Valley towns, when she ran for that office in the early '90s.  Both have a big spot in their hearts for their fellow citizens, especially those who depend on others for their lives and livelihoods.   When faced with solving board issues, they choose vastly different routes – Betty, perhaps, taking the scenic path while Ted charges down the highway – but when day is done, they're side by side at the finish line with the best possible solution for their constituents in hand.  "I thought, 'uh-oh,' " Ted said with a laugh.  Betty said she knew her grandson as a smart, hard-working kid with strong potential, but not until he was in college did she realize just how much potential. "Suddenly I noticed, this boy is going to do something big, something important in his life," she said.   "I knew his expertise in the business world could help this board tremendously."  Ted, meanwhile, said "talking business" with his grandmother gave him more insight into just what it is she does. "I knew about the politics, of course, but I really didn't realize how many organizations and causes she was connected to over the years," he said.   "Frankly, I was amazed."  Does Ted, who was appointed board chairman a year ago, require that his grandmother address him as "Mr. Chairman" at meetings?  "Oh no, 'Ted' works just fine," he replies rather quickly, smiling at Betty before she can interject.   Just about every board has a heated debate now and then. Have Betty and Ted ever faced off in a spirited back-and-forth?  "Well, no . . . but there are times we disagree on things," Betty said in the matter-of-fact tone of a time-tested politician/activist.  Added Ted, "it's not so much me not agreeing with her, but she will certainly tell me when she disagrees with me."  "Yes, I will, but I always respect the opinions of others . . . and I especially appreciate hearing young people's perspectives," Betty answered.  Ted: "Which is why she's so valuable on boards like this . . . from her, we all learn the importance of staying focused on our mission and those we're serving.  "What's really inspiring to 'kids' like me," Ted continued, "is that she gets right to the heart of issues and takes action.  "She isn't afraid to do the right thing." Dean Shalhoup's column appears Saturdays in The Telegraph. He can be reached at 594-6523 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com. Concord Monitor, March 19, 2008 87-year-old firebrand resolved to oust Bush Legislators to vote on impeachment plan By SARAH LIEBOWITZ Monitor staff KEN WILLIAMS / Monitor staff Rep. Betty Hall, a Democrat from Brookline, (right) talks with Majority Leader Mary Jane Wallner at the State House yesterday. The first time Rep. Betty Hall had the opportunity to vote in support of a presidential impeachment, she declined. It was 1973 and Hall, only two years into what would become a lengthy legislative career, found herself surrounded by New Hampshire lawmakers debating a resolution urging the impeachment of then-President Richard Nixon. Opposition was overwhelming: The proposal garnered 11 votes, Hall said. Thirty-five years after refusing to support the Nixon resolution, Hall, a Brookline Democrat who celebrated her 87th birthday yesterday, is leading the charge for a different impeachment proposal. In a resolution urging Congress to begin impeachment proceedings against President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney - which is scheduled for a House vote this week - Hall outlines her case, arguing that Bush and Cheney violated international treaties "by invading Iraq without just cause or provocation" and that they misled Congress to gain authorization for the war. The resolution, Hall said earlier this week, is "probably the most serious effort I've been engaged in in my long period of service." In addition to condemning Bush and Cheney's behavior in the run-up to the war, the resolution cites the detentions of "enemy combatants" at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; warrantless wiretapping; and the "pattern and practice of threatening litigation" against those who refuse to install voting machines "that require votes to be counted in trade secrecy." "We don't know the truth," Hall said. "Impeachment is about finding the truth." Just as the Nixon resolution inspired detractors, Hall's proposal has outspoken opponents. "I have never seen a document more vitriolic and more inflammatory," Rep. David Hess, a Hooksett Republican, testified at a public hearing last month. The resolution won minimal support from the legislative committee charged with studying it: A majority of that committee recommended the full House reject the proposal. But Hall, colleagues and relatives say, has never been one to wither in the face of opposition. "Betty Hall is the right one to do it because when Betty Hall gets something in her head and wants to do it, she doesn't back down because maybe it's unpopular," said Rep. Liz Hager, a Concord Republican. "She is certainly tenacious." In Brookline, where Hall has lived for decades, her support for the resolution likely isn't turning many heads, said Peter Webb, the town moderator and Hall's longtime neighbor. "Betty's always been a freethinker and one who stood up for her principles," he said. "She's an extraordinary mix of determination, independence, intelligence and grace," said Webb, who recalled Hall welcoming his family to Brookline nearly three decades ago. Experience with conflict Hall's life has been punctuated by military conflicts. She was born in an American military hospital in Germany, the daughter of a U.S. Army officer who served as the administrator of a military district in that country in the wake of World War I. Although they moved back to the United States when Hall was an infant, her family remained close to friends in Germany. Her father's position in the Army took the family all over the United States, eventually landing him at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for further engineering education, Hall said. From there, her father began his academic career, winning a position at MIT and later becoming the dean of Columbia University's engineering department. When World War II broke out, Hall's father became undersecretary of the Navy. Perhaps more than most, her family had witnessed the buildup to the conflict. Hall's parents were visiting Germany when Adolf Hitler came to power, "and they knew that the world was going to change," she said. The early death of Hall's mother - Hall was 16 at the time - provided Hall entree to intellectual society. She often accompanied her father to social events and acted as hostess when he entertained at their home, meeting eminent scientists, such as Enrico Fermi, a Nobel Prize winner who helped build the first nuclear reactor, and Harold Urey, another Nobel Prize winner. At first, Hall followed in her father's engineering steps. After graduating from Barnard College, she went to engineering school before taking a job manufacturing vacuum tubes for radar equipment. Marriage took her to Ohio, where her husband was training to fight overseas. Hall's New Hampshire life began after the war's conclusion. The conflict ended before her husband shipped overseas, and the young family settled in New Hampshire, where her husband's family was from. They bought their Brookline home, where Hall still lives, from Hall's grandmother, and Hall's husband went to work for Textron, which manufactured parachutes during the war, she said. Soon after, the Halls struck out on their own with Hall Manufacturing, a manufacturer of tote bags and other stitched products. The company was in business for 50 years before Hall shuttered it in 2001. For more than a decade after the death of her husband, Hall ran the company on her own. Amid work and community activities, Hall raised five children. She now has 12 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Becoming political It was in Brookline - where Hall served on the school board and the board of selectmen - that her political career began. "She started with being on just about every local board that there is," said her son, Sidney Hall. "She's just been active for as long as I can remember." In 1971, she began serving in the Legislature. Although she's now pushing for the impeachment of a Republican president, Hall began her House tenure as a Republican. She was recruited to run by Walter Peterson, a former Republican governor. She switched parties in the early 1980s, after realizing that "I was voting more often with the Democrats than the Republicans," Hall said. Hall became active in Democratic politics, organizing voters in nearby towns. But she never considered herself a party insider. "I was always a maverick," she said. Such an attitude was on display last year, when Hall challenged Ray Buckley for the position of Democratic Party leader in New Hampshire. "My main motivation in running for that is that I don't like anyone to have a free ride," Hall recalled Buckley initially had the backing of the party establishment and was considered a shoo-in for the chairmanship, until his candidacy was compromised by allegations that he had possessed child pornography. Law enforcement officials later cleared Buckley, and he went on to win the chairmanship. Over the years, Hall's political involvement has extended beyond the State House. One of her four sons was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, and Hall adamantly opposed the conflict. She worked for Common Cause, a nonprofit devoted to curbing the influence of money on elections and government decisions. Hall proudly displays a photograph that captured one of her acts of protest. In March 2004, Hall was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after refusing to move farther back from a Nashua intersection that Bush's motorcade was due to pass. When Hall refused to move, the police simply picked her up, chair and all, and carried her to a cruiser. A judge later ruled in Hall's favor. She's worked on presidential campaigns, and she still has a "Dean" sticker on her car, reflecting her support for Howard Dean in the 2004 Democratic primary. This year, she supported Dennis Kucinich, who has pushed for Bush's impeachment. Hall also ran unsuccessfully for state Senate three times, once losing on the flip of a coin. When she ran in the mid-1980s, she campaigned by riding her bicycle more than 1,000 miles through the 26 towns in her district. Whether or not Hall's constituents share her political leanings, she's considered a hard worker. "She's very energetic, tries to keep people happy," said Clarence Farwell, a Brookline selectman who has known Hall for decades. "I have nothing to say but praise." Now in her 14th House term, Hall has championed myriad causes over the years, pushing for cage-free eggs and environmental issues. She's become increasingly concerned with the security of New Hampshire's vote-counting system; she worries that "we're outsourcing our elections to private corporations." "I think sometimes it might be a good time to stop," said Hall, who likely plans to run for re-election. "But I've got too much unfinished business." Her impeachment resolution stands to place her in the spotlight - and to generate considerable criticism. "It's good for posterity, but it will be probably loudly condemned by the other party," said Rep. Paul McEachern, a Portsmouth Democrat who supported the impeachment resolution against Nixon and who still serves in the House. The Bush resolution is on the House schedule for this week, but Hall hopes to push it to next week, when lawmakers might have more time to debate the issue. In the meantime, she is keeping up her grueling schedule, which often begins before dawn and continues through evening meetings, her son said. Last night, she was due to be the featured panelist on a constitutional forum, which Kucinich was scheduled to join via live connection. "She usually gets us inspired with something that she's working hard for, like this impeachment cause, and her sons and daughter come to help as much as we can," Sidney Hall said. "We work for a few days at a time with her and she wears us out."

October 1, 2008

Hollis/Brookline Rotary Club Breakfast Speech

I am the only candidate running in this Senate race who has experience in three levels of government: state, county, and local -- and I have 30 years of it.

I've been a Republican -- first elected in 1970 -- and I've been a Democrat (I made the switch in 1984).

Fed Up

But now, I am fed up with both parties and have decided to go back to a longstanding traditional method of getting nominated for the general election ballot through the petitioning process. I have gathered more than enough nominating papers, and I qualified for the November ballot on Sept 2, 2008 and was certified by the Secretary of State.

In the past, I tried hard to make the two-party system work by participating at the nuts and bolts level. I received the top award of the Democratic Party for my service to the party in 1995; I received the Max Silber Community Service award from the Greater Nashua United Way. I have continued to work at the local level in a nonpartisan way to meet the needs of the electorate and get them involved. I have actively encouraged good people to run for office, regardless of their party affiliation. To me, it's all about doing the right thing and adhering to New Hampshire's constitution. Putting 'the party' before principle does not work for me, and since too many legislators put their party first, I decided to switch gears and continue serving the people, but as an independent candidate.

When I was state chair of Common Cause of New Hampshire in the 70's, I learned from John Gardiner, the founder, and Archibald Cox, the Watergate Special prosecutor and subsequently the national chair of Common Cause, that Money and Secrecy are the two strongest enemies of our democratic system of government. They still are. No where is that clearer than at the local level. Most people cannot afford to run for public office because of the high cost of campaigning. Right now, the commission to study the feasibility of public financing of campaigns is holding hearings about the Granny D bill which passed in this last session of the legislature. I was a cosponsor of this bill and testified last week before the commission.

The money required by candidates running in contested primaries is unconscionable

Finding a source for the money to fund this important concept, without tapping the general fund, is the job of the commission. It is ironic that the primaries to choose the nominees of the parties are paid for by the taxpayers. The money spent for holding party primaries would go a long way to provide funds for campaign expenses for candidates to get their story out to the public. The money required by candidates running in contested primaries is unconscionable. In the last few years this amount has averaged about $100,000 in state senate races. The insidious part of this unprecedented figure is to tempt the parties to discourage competitive contests. This year the focus shifted to protecting incumbents and discouraging challengers. The Republicans could not recruit candidates, at least in part because of the cost to run, and the Democrats actively discouraged competition for their nomination.

I respect my two opponents in the District 12 race. But the two-party system is not working the way it should for them, either. For instance, I think partisan party politics is why it has taken so many years to resolve the school funding problem raised by the Claremont cases. Neither party has been able to come together on this thorny issue. The court told them that the state had to provide an adequate education and the sufficient funding behind it, but both parties are still trying to figure out ways not to meet this state obligation, for a variety of mainly partisan reasons. This is only one of many examples of both parties dropping the ball.

Campaign Finance reform has been a focus for me all the years I have served. I support Public Financing of campaigns. We have heard over and over about the need for campaign finance reform. It is an issue at every level. When I collected nominating papers to run for this office, I did not have to run in the primary. I had the opportunity to talk to ordinary people and invariably I heard from them," I want to be independent."

I believe I am blazing a new trail

Independents need to be heard. Independents need their own candidate in the General Election. I had thought collecting 750 signatures would be hard. I found out that collecting more than 1200 was easier than I thought. The reception was very positive. The number of undeclared voters is growing by leaps and bounds. It is clearly an accelerating trend. There are more undeclared voters than in either party. In my town, there are more undeclared than Republican and Democrat combined. The polls show this trend. It goes hand in hand with campaign finance reform and general electoral reform. I believe I am blazing a new trail.

Now that straight ticket voting has finally been abolished in this state and almost everywhere else, the independent candidate and the independent voter, I believe, are the wave of the future. It just makes sense. The parties are not offering good choices-- only the lesser of evils. And there is little difference between the way they operate. More and more they see themselves as dictators to their electorate and less and less servers of the common good. I am fed up with parties. I believe this is the change we need. At the local level we have done away with parties and choose and operate local government in a nonpartisan fashion. Candidates for alderman and selectmen and school board do not need party labels. In fact, it is important to reject them in our town and city governments. It is time to reject them at the state level. I want to demonstrate that competent and dedicated candidates can be recruited and elected without party labels.

Campaigns do cost money. I need to be able to tell you what qualifies me for this office. I have to tell you what I have done. I have to tell you what motivates me, but it doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. I have to tell you what I propose to do if elected. I hope to prove that it can be done with boots on the ground, shoe leather, and now, in this age, the internet. With the help of the Rotary and the service organizations, and the non-profit sector it can happen without being beholden to party chiefs, self interest groups, or pandering media. Common sense tells you it is ridiculous to spend $100,00 for a job that pays 100 per year. It is a conflict of interest for party chiefs to be employed by Pacs to choose your candidates for you and then use your tax dollars to elect them with vulnerable voting machines.

Other Initiatives

Here are some other initiatives I propose to do if elected. I will seek to assure that the approximately one million dollars that I and others worked so hard to get included in the Governors budget to replace the Ryan White funds for community health care agencies last year is maintained. This will be an incredibly tough budget year. Everyone in this room knows we will have to cut in the order of 150 to 200 million (maybe more) unless we can find new revenue. For many years, Ryan White funds came from the federal government through an agreement with Massachusetts. Last biennium, the agreement was terminated (modified) and approximately $1,000,000 of that money had to be raised through the general fund of New Hampshire.

My third important initiative will be addressing toxics in the environment, building on my experience on the Environment and Agriculture committee. I monitor the administrative rules on waste management and propose statutory changes.

Global warming, and funding LChip will be priorities.

Another initiative I will pursue is Education. Having served many years on the Brookline School Board and the Hollis/Brookline Cooperative School Board, I recognize the need to review and modify rules governing Cooperative School Districts. I was a leader in the House back in the seventies for educating special needs children. I played a significant role in passing the first statutes that required the education of physically, mentally, and emotionally handicapped children. I see home schooling of children as a significant contributor toward providing adequate education and I support funding it. Partisan considerations have prevented solutions to these problems ever since the Claremont decisions and before. I think my independent perspective will contribute to progress on the funding of the adequate education standards we have enacted.

Voting-integrity issues and redistricting will also be a focus.

It has been an enriching experience for me to work on community issues that encompass both the city of Nashua and my towns. I will do everything I can to continue to advocate for our interests in the State Senate as I have in the House. If you elect me your Senator in November, I will continue to speak truth to power, and be an independent thinker and do it as an "Independent Moderate" representing District 12 in the New Hampshire Senate.

-----------

Nashua Telegraph, July 31, 2008

Longtime rep eyes Senate seat as independent

By HATTIE BERNSTEIN, Staff Writer
hbernstein@cabinet.com

BROOKLINE Longtime state Rep. Betty Hall is planning to run for the state Senate as an independent, challenging Democrat Peggy Gilmour and Republican Paul LaFlamme for the District 12 seat being vacated by Nashua Democrat David Gottesman.

The district includes Hollis, Mason, Brookline and Wards 1, 2, 5 and 9 in Nashua.

Hall, 87, has served in the state House of Representatives since 1980, beginning her tenure as a Republican and switching to the Democratic Party four years later.

A lifelong Republican until the early '80s, Hall said the "conservative revolution" was her motivation for changing parties.

She cited the politics of Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater and President Reagan as examples of the thinking that led her to become a Democrat.

"I was voting more often with the Democrats than with the Republicans, and it was only fair 'truth in labeling,' " she said of changing parties.

Hall generated a lot of attention and criticism in April by sponsoring a nonbinding resolution to support impeachment charges against President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. The proposal was tabled by the N.H. House, but her sponsorship and support spurred many letters to the editor of The Telegraph on both sides of the issue.

Hall enters the District 12 race with almost three decades in the state Legislature.

She was a member of the Education Committee for two terms and also served on the Environment and Agricultural Committee and the Constitutional Revision Committee.

In addition, Hall has served on a number of town committees, including a 15-year tenure as chairman of the finance committee, nine years on the school board and one, three-year term on the board of selectmen.

In 2002, she sold the Brookline tote-bag manufacturing company she ran with her husband for 50 years.

Hall said she has no plans to "ever retire" and believes that political activity and service keep her young.

"I've always been independent," she said during a telephone interview. "Both the Republicans and Democrats are not doing what they need to do to turn the country around."

To get her name on the ballot this fall, Hall needs 750, verified voter signatures from her district.

She said she is seeking about 800, in case some signatures are not valid.

According to election law, she must submit the signatures to the supervisor of the checklist by Aug. 6. In turn, the checklist supervisor is obligated to verify the names and return the petitions to Hall by Aug. 27.

The vetting process ends Sept. 3, when Hall is required to turn over the verified signatures to the secretary of state.

Asked what she thinks about her competition, Hall used the word "respect" several times.

"I have a great deal of respect for my competition. I've known Peggy Gilmour for years. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Paul LaFlamme," she said.

Hattie Bernstein can be reached at 673-3100, ext. 24, or hbernstein@ cabinet.com.

Nashua Telegraph, June 28, 2008

Two make helping people a grand affair

What is it they say about grandmas – that their job is to spoil the grandkids, to let them get away with little things they can't at home, maybe saying yes to that little toy in the store, realizing that mom or dad would probably say no?

Yeah, something like that. And it worked. Yes, we loved mom and dad and counted on them every day, but we also had that extra-special love for grandma, didn't we?

A great example is Brookline's famous Hall family, which goes back generations in the little town, where pretty much everyone knows the name. Its matriarch, Betty B. Hall, is perhaps the best known of the clan, given her 50-plus years serving on nearly every political, civic and advocacy board around – not to mention her remarkable 14 terms representing her town in the New Hampshire House.

Hall was a little past 50 when one of her 12 grandchildren, Ted Hall Jr., was born. As grandmas do, she doted and spoiled, watching him grow into the fine young man she often chatted with across the dinner table. across the dinner table.

Staff photo by corey perrine

Ted Hall, 35, of Merrimack and his grandmother Betty, 87, of Brookline,
both serve on the Harbor Homes board of directors.

Today, Betty Hall is 87, Ted Hall about to turn 35, and at least once a month, they still sit down across the table from one another. But instead of the meat and potatoes, they now pass ideas, suggestions and advice back and forth.

Betty and Ted are probably the only grandmother and grandson around who serve together on the board of directors of a large agency.

What's become an ideal blend of fresh, forward-thinking young ideas and seasoned, invaluable experience began just over two years ago, when Ted joined his grandmother on the board of Nashua nonprofit Harbor Homes, which also governs its several partner agencies in southern New Hampshire.

"The hardest part has been remembering not to call her 'Gram' at the meetings," Hall said as he and his grandmother laughed.

Betty Hall, who became a household name starting with her early service on the Brookline School Board (before the district's consolidation with Hollis) and her years as a Brookline selectman, entered the world of social nonprofits in the early 1970's as the first president of Milford Regional Counseling Services.

When a new advocacy group for homeless people and those with mental-health issues began forming in Nashua a few years later, Hall was one of several movers-and-shakers who jumped in to guide the agency – which would eventually be named Harbor Homes – through its infancy and into maturity.

"We were very informal at the beginning," Hall recalled. "There were just a few of us; we met at each other's kitchen tables."

Ted enjoys hearing the history. "Now, (the board) is a complex, integrated operation that's a model for other cities," he said.

The Halls – Ted, fit and impeccably groomed in his high-end business suit, and Betty, sporting her trademark casual outfit befitting a hard-working, no-nonsense woman – are at once a study in contrasts and similarities.

Ted, a corporate executive, is athletic; he does triathlons to stay in shape. Betty is – or was until just recently – an avid bicyclist. Everyone knows about her manually powered campaign vehicle – a decorated bike topped with a banner that, depending on wind direction, made pedaling either a struggle or a breeze.

She estimates she covered more than 1,000 miles in state Senate District 12, which is made up largely of the hilly, Souhegan Valley towns, when she ran for that office in the early '90s.

Both have a big spot in their hearts for their fellow citizens, especially those who depend on others for their lives and livelihoods.

When faced with solving board issues, they choose vastly different routes – Betty, perhaps, taking the scenic path while Ted charges down the highway – but when day is done, they're side by side at the finish line with the best possible solution for their constituents in hand.

"I thought, 'uh-oh,' " Ted said with a laugh.

Betty said she knew her grandson as a smart, hard-working kid with strong potential, but not until he was in college did she realize just how much potential. "Suddenly I noticed, this boy is going to do something big, something important in his life," she said.

"I knew his expertise in the business world could help this board tremendously."

Ted, meanwhile, said "talking business" with his grandmother gave him more insight into just what it is she does. "I knew about the politics, of course, but I really didn't realize how many organizations and causes she was connected to over the years," he said.

"Frankly, I was amazed."

Does Ted, who was appointed board chairman a year ago, require that his grandmother address him as "Mr. Chairman" at meetings?

"Oh no, 'Ted' works just fine," he replies rather quickly, smiling at Betty before she can interject.

Just about every board has a heated debate now and then. Have Betty and Ted ever faced off in a spirited back-and-forth?

"Well, no . . . but there are times we disagree on things," Betty said in the matter-of-fact tone of a time-tested politician/activist.

Added Ted, "it's not so much me not agreeing with her, but she will certainly tell me when she disagrees with me."

"Yes, I will, but I always respect the opinions of others . . . and I especially appreciate hearing young people's perspectives," Betty answered.

Ted: "Which is why she's so valuable on boards like this . . . from her, we all learn the importance of staying focused on our mission and those we're serving.

"What's really inspiring to 'kids' like me," Ted continued, "is that she gets right to the heart of issues and takes action.

"She isn't afraid to do the right thing."

Dean Shalhoup's column appears Saturdays in The Telegraph. He can be reached at 594-6523 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

Concord Monitor, March 19, 2008

87-year-old firebrand resolved to oust Bush

Legislators to vote on impeachment plan

By SARAH LIEBOWITZ

Monitor staff

KEN WILLIAMS / Monitor staff

Rep. Betty Hall, a Democrat from Brookline, (right) talks with Majority Leader Mary Jane Wallner at the State House yesterday.

The first time Rep. Betty Hall had the opportunity to vote in support of a presidential impeachment, she declined.

It was 1973 and Hall, only two years into what would become a lengthy legislative career, found herself surrounded by New Hampshire lawmakers debating a resolution urging the impeachment of then-President Richard Nixon. Opposition was overwhelming: The proposal garnered 11 votes, Hall said.

Thirty-five years after refusing to support the Nixon resolution, Hall, a Brookline Democrat who celebrated her 87th birthday yesterday, is leading the charge for a different impeachment proposal. In a resolution urging Congress to begin impeachment proceedings against President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney - which is scheduled for a House vote this week - Hall outlines her case, arguing that Bush and Cheney

violated international treaties "by invading Iraq without just cause or provocation" and that they misled Congress to gain authorization for the war.

The resolution, Hall said earlier this week, is "probably the most serious effort I've been engaged in in my long period of service." In addition to condemning Bush and Cheney's behavior in the run-up to the war, the resolution cites the detentions of "enemy combatants" at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; warrantless wiretapping; and the "pattern and practice of threatening litigation" against those who refuse to install voting machines "that require votes to be counted in trade secrecy."

"We don't know the truth," Hall said. "Impeachment is about finding the truth."

Just as the Nixon resolution inspired detractors, Hall's proposal has outspoken opponents.

"I have never seen a document more vitriolic and more inflammatory," Rep. David Hess, a Hooksett Republican, testified at a public hearing last month. The resolution won minimal support from the legislative committee charged with studying it: A majority of that committee recommended the full House reject the proposal.

But Hall, colleagues and relatives say, has never been one to wither in the face of opposition.

"Betty Hall is the right one to do it because when Betty Hall gets something in her head and wants to do it, she doesn't back down because maybe it's unpopular," said Rep. Liz Hager, a Concord Republican. "She is certainly tenacious."

In Brookline, where Hall has lived for decades, her support for the resolution likely isn't turning many heads, said Peter Webb, the town moderator and Hall's longtime neighbor. "Betty's always been a freethinker and one who stood up for her principles," he said.

"She's an extraordinary mix of determination, independence, intelligence and grace," said Webb, who recalled Hall welcoming his family to Brookline nearly three decades ago.

Experience with conflict

Hall's life has been punctuated by military conflicts.

She was born in an American military hospital in Germany, the daughter of a U.S. Army officer who served as the administrator of a military district in that country in the wake of World War I. Although they moved back to the United States when Hall was an infant, her family remained close to friends in Germany.

Her father's position in the Army took the family all over the United States, eventually landing him at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for further engineering education, Hall said. From there, her father began his academic career, winning a position at MIT and later becoming the dean of Columbia University's engineering department.

When World War II broke out, Hall's father became undersecretary of the Navy. Perhaps more than most, her family had witnessed the buildup to the conflict. Hall's parents were visiting Germany when Adolf Hitler came to power, "and they knew that the world was going to change," she said.

The early death of Hall's mother - Hall was 16 at the time - provided Hall entree to intellectual society. She often accompanied her father to social events and acted as hostess when he entertained at their home, meeting eminent scientists, such as Enrico Fermi, a Nobel Prize winner who helped build the first nuclear reactor, and Harold Urey, another Nobel Prize winner.

At first, Hall followed in her father's engineering steps. After graduating from Barnard College, she went to engineering school before taking a job manufacturing vacuum tubes for radar equipment. Marriage took her to Ohio, where her husband was training to fight overseas.

Hall's New Hampshire life began after the war's conclusion. The conflict ended before her husband shipped overseas, and the young family settled in New Hampshire, where her husband's family was from. They bought their Brookline home, where Hall still lives, from Hall's grandmother, and Hall's husband went to work for Textron, which manufactured parachutes during the war, she said.

Soon after, the Halls struck out on their own with Hall Manufacturing, a manufacturer of tote bags and other stitched products. The company was in business for 50 years before Hall shuttered it in 2001. For more than a decade after the death of her husband, Hall ran the company on her own.

Amid work and community activities, Hall raised five children. She now has 12 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Becoming political

It was in Brookline - where Hall served on the school board and the board of selectmen - that her political career began.

"She started with being on just about every local board that there is," said her son, Sidney Hall. "She's just been active for as long as I can remember."

In 1971, she began serving in the Legislature. Although she's now pushing for the impeachment of a Republican president, Hall began her House tenure as a Republican. She was recruited to run by Walter Peterson, a former Republican governor.

She switched parties in the early 1980s, after realizing that "I was voting more often with the Democrats than the Republicans," Hall said.

Hall became active in Democratic politics, organizing voters in nearby towns. But she never considered herself a party insider. "I was always a maverick," she said.

Such an attitude was on display last year, when Hall challenged Ray Buckley for the position of Democratic Party leader in New Hampshire.

"My main motivation in running for that is that I don't like anyone to have a free ride," Hall recalled

Buckley initially had the backing of the party establishment and was considered a shoo-in for the chairmanship, until his candidacy was compromised by allegations that he had possessed child pornography. Law enforcement officials later cleared Buckley, and he went on to win the chairmanship.

Over the years, Hall's political involvement has extended beyond the State House.

One of her four sons was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, and Hall adamantly opposed the conflict. She worked for Common Cause, a nonprofit devoted to curbing the influence of money on elections and government decisions.

Hall proudly displays a photograph that captured one of her acts of protest. In March 2004, Hall was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after refusing to move farther back from a Nashua intersection that Bush's motorcade was due to pass. When Hall refused to move, the police simply picked her up, chair and all, and carried her to a cruiser. A judge later ruled in Hall's favor.

She's worked on presidential campaigns, and she still has a "Dean" sticker on her car, reflecting her support for Howard Dean in the 2004 Democratic primary. This year, she supported Dennis Kucinich, who has pushed for Bush's impeachment.

Hall also ran unsuccessfully for state Senate three times, once losing on the flip of a coin. When she ran in the mid-1980s, she campaigned by riding her bicycle more than 1,000 miles through the 26 towns in her district.

Whether or not Hall's constituents share her political leanings, she's considered a hard worker.

"She's very energetic, tries to keep people happy," said Clarence Farwell, a Brookline selectman who has known Hall for decades. "I have nothing to say but praise."

Now in her 14th House term, Hall has championed myriad causes over the years, pushing for cage-free eggs and environmental issues. She's become increasingly concerned with the security of New Hampshire's vote-counting system; she worries that "we're outsourcing our elections to private corporations."

"I think sometimes it might be a good time to stop," said Hall, who likely plans to run for re-election. "But I've got too much unfinished business."

Her impeachment resolution stands to place her in the spotlight - and to generate considerable criticism.

"It's good for posterity, but it will be probably loudly condemned by the other party," said Rep. Paul McEachern, a Portsmouth Democrat who supported the impeachment resolution against Nixon and who still serves in the House. The Bush resolution is on the House schedule for this week, but Hall hopes to push it to next week, when lawmakers might have more time to debate the issue.

In the meantime, she is keeping up her grueling schedule, which often begins before dawn and continues through evening meetings, her son said. Last night, she was due to be the featured panelist on a constitutional forum, which Kucinich was scheduled to join via live connection.

"She usually gets us inspired with something that she's working hard for, like this impeachment cause, and her sons and daughter come to help as much as we can," Sidney Hall said. "We work for a few days at a time with her and she wears us out."

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