Exec Councilor Ray Burton "combs" district, trolling for votes
The July 22nd Foster's Online tells us that
Executive Councilor Ray Burton took his campaign for re-election to the streets Friday afternoon when he toured Laconia and Belmont in his orange campaign bus.
If re-elected, this would be Burton's 15th term on the New Hampshire Executive Council and his ninth on the Grafton County Board of Commissioners.
"I like to feel I give the district a good combing," said Burton, who hands out combs and campaign literature at each of his stops.
For readers unfamiliar with the position Burton so vigorously campaigns to keep, the NH Executive Council website tells us
The Executive Council of the State of New Hampshire- more commonly known as the Governor's Council has the authority and responsibility, together with the Governor, over the administration of the affairs of the State as defined in the New Hampshire Constitution, the New Hampshire statutes, and the advisory opinions of the New Hampshire Supreme Court and the Attorney General..Each of the five Executive Councilors represents one fifth of the population or approximately 247,000 citizens. Councilors are elected every two years, concurrently with the Governor. The Councilors participate in the active management of the business of the state. They receive assistance from the Commissioner of the Department of Administrative Services and the Attorney General who review requests involving state funds since no expenditure can be legally authorized without the availability of adequate funds.
While he's "combing" the district, which includes Gilford, one wonders if he's more selective these days about who he hauls around in his entourage. Remember this, from the September 2nd, 2005 Concord Monitor?
A longtime campaign worker for Executive Councilor Ray Burton is a convicted sex offender who was arrested again in Concord this week for contact with teenage boys.
Burton, a Republican from Bath, said he knew about Mark Seidensticker's past offense while he used him for campaign work for more than a decade. Last year, law enforcement officials forbade Seidensticker to have unsupervised contact with minors. Burton said he exercised strict personal supervision over Seidensticker during campaign events.
Anybody in an important position such as Ray Burton should use better judgement.
