Robert E. Desrochers, Jr. for Ward 1
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"Those who do not look upon themselves as a link, connecting the past with the future, do not perform their duty to the world." Daniel Webster, 1820
Common Sense Thinking for 21st Century Franklin
• KINDNESS AND COMMUNITY • PROBLEM SOLVING OVER FINGER-POINTING • FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY OVER IDEOLOGICAL COMMITMENTS • STEWARDSHIP AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
I am a retired historian, born at Franklin Regional Hospital in 1970. I went to St. Mary’s School and graduated from Franklin High School in 1988. I received my B.A. in History from UNH in 1993, and earned a Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University in 2001. I taught History for over twenty-five years at colleges and universities all over the country. I devised and carried out independent research projects, and my published work won awards for its rigor, originality, and historical significance. My wife of 28 years is also a historian. We made a conscious decision to send both of our sons to public schools. One will finish medical school next year; the other is halfway through post-graduate studies in Architecture.
Franklin needs steady, focused leadership. I believe it’s important to elect people who know how to ask the right questions, because you can’t solve a problem until you’ve identified it correctly. Historians are trained to analyze data, put it in proper context, and provide logical interpretations based on rules of evidence. These are skills that translate well into government.
I have deep Franklin roots. My father, Bob Desrochers, served on the city council for 12 years. My paternal grandfather, Roger Desrochers, was on the city council from 1972-1980. My mother, Anne Keefe, worked fifteen years as a paraprofessional at Paul Smith, and in the cafeteria at the high school. My maternal grandfather, Bill Stanley, worked as a longtime custodian in Franklin schools. Service to the community is a family tradition, and I felt the call to step up and give back to my hometown.
Moving back to Franklin four years ago, in 2022, was one of the best decisions I have ever made. This is a special place, full of great people. I am proud to call this vibrant community my home.
What I Stand For:
Full and Fair Funding of Public Schools
The single-most important thing we can do to guarantee Franklin’s future is to support our public schools. Schools should change with the times. But we should not waver in our historical commitment to government-funded, publicly accountable schools. It’s one of the best ideas Americans ever had. It has served us well for centuries. There are those today who would like to defund public schools to death. This is a preposterous idea without a clear or workable plan for the future. Our schools will be as good as we are willing to make them, in and out of the classroom, on campus and at home. I think we need to provide robust support for academics, trades, sports, and extra-curricular activities -- they all contribute to well-rounded, healthy kids. We are the ones we've been waiting for.
Tax Cap and Fiscal Responsibility
If Franklin cannot learn to live and thrive under the tax cap as it is currently deployed, then we might have to learn to live without it, as the city did for nearly a century, from 1895 until 1989, when the cap was adopted. We should start using the tax cap as intended by its creators, who provided language for targeted spending on capital improvements above the cap in order to make necessary investments and save taxpayers money. Pragmatism and problem-solving is what Franklin needs most, not reflexive thinking and rigid ideological commitment to 37 year-old dogma. Nobody has all the answers, but nobody is coming to pave our streets or fix our aging infrastructure for us, either. Inertia is not our friend. It's time to get going!
Cost Downshifting and Property Taxes
We need to start reversing the perverse incentives driving local property assessments sky-high. Cost downshifting is real, and exerts tremendous pressure on our ability to practice budgetary restraint, while also providing services to residents. The people we send to Concord should deliver for us – not for themselves and their own pet projects. I will hold our state representatives accountable, particularly when it comes to helping us offset rising costs of public education. Mandated special education costs alone amount to millions of dollars each year. That's money that could be budgeted for things like paving roads or providing property tax relief. We need synergies between state and local government. We need more help than we’re getting.
Natural Resources and Economic Development
We are learning new ways to live with, and profit by, the blessings of the natural world. As I go around talking to people in Ward 1, a number of folks say the same thing: We are lucky to live in such a beautiful place! Establishing a new relationship with the Winnipesaukee River has been the most exciting thing to happen to Franklin since the mills left. We must continue to make smart investments in recreational and economic opportunities arising from our rivers, hills, and trails. We must also protect Webster Lake. That means healthy waters and shores, but it also means ensuring that the character of the lake community is not overrun by outsized, unchecked, or irresponsible development.
Franklin Forward
A truly democratic politics should not be about outsized personalities, and in a non-partisan election, people are afforded an opportunity to think beyond political binaries. I believe the people of Franklin want to see continued signs of economic growth and revenue generation. They want to see smart, sustainable development. They want to see adult-sized commitment to our schools, our infrastructure, our tax dollars, and to the quality of life this amazing community makes possible. They want to have good lives, and they want to raise children in a community where there is hope for the future.
I moved back here to be close to my family, but I wouldn't have even considered it, if I didn't see good things happening in my hometown. I grew up here in the 1970s, at the tail end of a long period of prosperity that began after World War II. And I was here in the 1980s to see real decline. One of my first jobs as a teenager was picking up bricks from dilapidated buildings downtown.
For a long time, it seemed like Franklin was running to stand still and losing ground. That has begun to change now. There is renewed energy in the city. Some of the welcome faces are new, others are the same folks who have been carrying the load for decades. We owe it to them, to ourselves, and to the rising generations to keep moving forward. I support downtown rejuvenation and all our local non-profits, including the many people who give their time, energy, and ideas. It takes a lot of different people doing lots of different things to make a vibrant community. Like yarn on a bobbin, volunteers are essential to the fabric of Franklin. We are all in this together. I believe in this place, and I want people here to believe in themselves.
If you are a Ward 1 resident, I welcome the opportunity to talk about your concerns and hear your ideas. I am asking for your trust, and I am asking for your vote. Thank you for reading, and thanks in advance for your support. I want to hear from you! Email me at: robertedesrochersjr@gmail.com. I will do my best to respond to each and every inquiry. Kindly remember, however, that there are lots of you, and only one me.
I am happy to deliver campaign signs upon request, but what I really need you to do is VOTE! I served as Ward 1 Moderator for last year's municipal election, when voter turnout was 27%. We can do better than that!