The Forensic Election Audit Team established by the Attorney General’s Office to look into potential election fraud in Windham filed its report on July 12, confirming the accuracy of the state’s recount of the Rockingham District 7 state representative’s race. The team found “no basis to believe that the miscounts found in Windham indicate a pattern of partisan bias or a failed election,” the report states.
The state’s recount had shown that seven of the eight candidates for the District 7 seat picked up about 300 votes each, while the person asking for the recount, Democrat Kristi St. Laurent, lost 99 votes. The discrepancy from the initial count prompted the official audit.
The team concluded that the large discrepancy between election night totals and both hand counts was due to folded ballots and human error.
Shifting Out Of Hospitality
We have written about the job-shifting that has occurred since the COVID-19 pandemic struck, with people deciding either that they preferred working from home or felt obligated to stay home because of the lack of child care. Others found that the job layoffs gave them a chance to reassess what they wanted to do and they have held off on returning to work while seeking careers that more closely match their talents or needs.
One segment of the workforce where that is especially true is the hospitality industry. Many people who lost their jobs in restaurants, hotels, and bars decided to move into new careers in sales, shipping, mortgage-financing, and other businesses that were thriving during the pandemic. Some economists say it could mark a lasting shift in the labor market for hospitality staff.
Many hospitality businesses are offering higher wages, signing perks, and flexible hours to attract workers or bring back longtime cooks, servers, and hotel staff looking for more predictable schedules and better pay and benefits.
Need For Affordable Housing
Apart from more satisfying work, potential employees often are prevented from taking jobs because of a lack of affordable housing in communities that rely upon tourism.
“We are seeing a growing awareness of the connection between an adequate supply of housing and a strong state economy,” according to Dean Christon, executive director and chief executive officer of New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority. “If employees have an adequate range of housing options near where they work, the state’s businesses will be able to attract and retain the workers needed to keep our economy thriving.”
Carmen Lorentz, executive director of Lakes Region Community Developers, said communities are beginning to recognize that zoning ordinances need to provide more flexibility. “There’s a realization that businesses are better off when they have a local workforce,” she said, suggesting that the New Hampshire Legislature can assist by extending tax increment financing to residential development. It allows municipalities to borrow money in advance of a project for infrastructure improvements, and then pay off the debt with the increased property tax revenue that results.
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