Opinion: Want a Better County Commission? Maybe Cut Their Pay by Half
Unlike Florida, 'Live Free or Die' State Relies on Volunteerism To Get Results
The author worked as a reporter and editor for the New Hamsphire Union Leader newspapers for 17 years. During that time, he learned that state residents were pathologically stingy about government spending and stubbornly independent, sometimes willing to buck their own party at the polls.
Residents considering whether to triple county commissioner pay should consider an alternate political philosophy, one that says high pay can actually detract from the quality of a government.
Money as a motivator tends to attract people who want to run for office for all the wrong reasons, at least that’s how they see it in a state like New Hampshire. The closer government is to a volunteer institution the better it will represent the people in its jurisdiction, the reasoning goes.
You say that this is just a Yankee transplant pushing Yankee notions? Well, you are only half right. The author may be a Yankee, but N.H. is an outlier among Northern states…in some ways, almost Southern.
New Hampshire has no state income tax and no sales tax. It’s state motto is “Live Free or Die.” It’s a right-to-bear-arms state with a strong libertarian streak. Although its congressional delegation is at the moment all centrist Democratic, it’s local governance tracks as conservative with a Republican governor and Republican majorities in the state House and Senate.
The second most powerful politicians in New Hampshire after the governor are the five members of the Executive Council, which is analagous to the Clay County Commission. The executive councilors provide a check on the governor by approving state contracts and high-level appointments.
The Clay County commissioners do much of the same thing, though, unlike the N.H. executive councilors, they actually have the power to hire and fire the county manager, too. The governor of New Hampshire is, of course, an elected position.
So, how much is the annual salary of a New Hampshire executive councilor? They earn $18,699, roughly half of the $37,000 pay for a Clay County commissioner.
A simple rendering of the data will show the relative weight of their responsibilities, with N.H. being a vastly more complex beast, complete with a National Guard, a university system and an international border.
So, by the logic of those who think Clay commissioners deserve a heftier wage now, what would we pay them were Clay’s population and economy ever (God forbid) to equal those of N.H.?
And it’s not that New Hampshire has a lower cost of living, the average home price and average rental are both significantly higher.
By the way, we should also note that the governor of N.H., Kelly Ayote, earns $180,000, about $46,000 a year less than Clay County Manager Howard Wannaker.
In fact, at $226,000 a year, Wannamaker earns more in a year than 44 U.S. governors, including our own Ron DeSantis. As bizarre as this may sound, it is somehow customary to pay municipal managers in Florida more than the people running entire states (though, to be fair, governors have the use of a mansion as part of their benefits package).
Also of note: New Hampshire state representatives and state senators earn a whopping $100 a year, plus mileage and tolls.
If high salaries were an indicator of quality government leadership, it’s a wonder the state of New Hampshire functions at all.
The opposite is actually true. Over time, N.H. somehow managed to maneuver itself into the role of national kingmaker. The quadrennial New Hampshire Primary is a major, major influence in the selection of which Democrat and which Republican will face each other in any given Presidential Election.
As candidate DeSantis learned, much to his regret in 2024, when polling showed he had abysmally low support there. New Hampshire Republicans stuck with Trump.
Problem is you can only find people who can afford not to work. So I have a friend who would be fantastic but can’t do it or even consider due to cash. So you get retirees etc. when some younger folks might give some vitality and ideas.