This year, New Hampshire voters have at least five choices for their next governor. My choice is Jon Kiper. Like me, Jon is a millennial and a parent. And like me, Jon supports swift action to address our state’s housing crisis. It’s not enough to relax zoning laws or dedicate a couple million to temporary shelters. Jon agrees with me that our state needs to implement creative ways of building more housing, immediately. Our state is already on the older side, and young people continue to leave in droves for more affordable parts of the country. As boomers slide into retirement, where will their RNs and LNAs be living? How much will it cost to age in this state when even our county nursing homes struggle to offer a competitive wage for health care workers?

Jon has proposed that the state officially declare a housing emergency. Imagine if there was some natural disaster in our state which resulted in the sudden homelessness of hundreds of people. Would the governor not leverage the National Guard and other state resources to provide housing as quickly as possible? But today we have many hundreds, perhaps thousands, of unhoused individuals throughout the state whose plight is altogether ignored. Our housing crisis is an emergency and must be treated as such. In politics we often accept the lesser of two unsatisfactory options. I’m excited about Jon’s candidacy because he exceeds my greatest hopes for a gubernatorial candidate. Jon Kiper is the people’s candidate.

Amanda Bouldin

Manchester