Strawbery Banke cuts staff for 2009

Only a few months after celebrating the 50th anniversary of its founding, Strawbery Banke Museum is making significant operational changes to avoid major budget shortfalls in 2009. The history museum in Portsmouth is eliminating eight year-round staff positions and cutting seasonal staff by 40 percent while making cuts to all department budgets.

“The global economic crisis has already negatively affected two of the museum’s major sources of revenue—donations to the annual fund and endowment income,” Strawbery Banke president Lawrence Yerdon said in a press release. “The current state of the economy requires us to reduce the museum’s operating costs.”

According to the release, the museum has experienced a 35 percent decrease in endowment income and expects a 30 percent decrease in annual fund income over the next year. Although museum attendance increased by 17 percent in 2007 and continued to climb throughout most of 2008, attendance dropped by 6 percent during the final months of the year.

“The revised operations plan is prudent and necessary to support the operation of the museum given the economic challenges the year ahead will bring,” said Jeffrey D. Gilbert, chairman of the museum’s board of trustees.

Strawbery Banke is one of many museums across the nation cutting staff and budgets to cope with the financial crisis. But Strawbery Banke has vowed not to raise admission prices this year, and more guided tours of the property have been added to the daily program. The museum is also forging ahead with plans to build a new outdoor space for physical activities. Plans for a theatrical production presenting stories of the past this fall are also moving forward.

For more information on Strawbery Banke, visit www.strawberybanke.org.

Hodes, Shea-Porter seek to honor N.H. Senate

U.S. Reps Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter, both New Hampshire Democrats, are co-sponsoring a U.S. House resolution to honor the state Senate for becoming the first legislative body in the nation’s history to have a female majority.

The New Hampshire Senate currently consists of 13 women and 11 men, and nine women are chairing Senate committees. New Hampshire is also the first state to have women chairing both chambers of state government. The speaker of the House is Terie Norelli (D-Portsmouth) and the Senate president is Sylvia Larsen (D-Concord). Mary Jane Wallner (D-Concord) is the House majority leader and Maggie Hassan (D-Exeter) is the Senate majority leader.

Hodes introduced the resolution on Feb. 11. “Becoming the first state in America to elect a majority female legislative body shows that New Hampshire is leading the way for equal opportunity for everyone. Our state is an example for the nation,” Hodes said in a press release.

Shea-Porter and Larsen stressed that the state’s senators were elected due to their leadership qualifications and not their gender. “In this historic year I believe it was the agenda, and not the gender, that caused voters to select this talented slate of Senators,” Larsen said in the release.

The greater Seacoast is loaded with female state senators, including Hassan, Martha Fuller Clark (D-Portsmouth), Amanda Merrill (D-Durham) and Jacalyn Cilley (D-Barrington). Shea-Porter, the state’s first-ever female U.S. representative, is from Rochester; and Jeanne Shaheen, the state’s first-ever female U.S. senator, is from Madbury.

Shaheen is working to develop a companion resolution in the U.S. Senate, according to the release. 

Portsmouth pays $22 million in city wages

Deputy Police Chief Len DiSesa earned more than $161,000 in 2008, topping all city employees in Portsmouth. DiSesa was one of 21 city workers who earned more than $100,000 last year, up from 15 in 2007.

The city’s other top earners in 2008 included City Manager John Bohenko ($141,000), Police Capt. Janet Champlin ($133,000), Police Chief Michael Magnant ($126,000) and Fire Capt. Timothy Collins ($125,000).

Payments for unused sick time and retirement benefits supplemented some of the top incomes. DiSesa announced he will retire in July, and Champlin retired late last year. Their retirement benefits helped them earn more than the police chief.

Among the city workers who made more than $100,000 last year were eight employees of the Police Department and six employees of the Fire Department. Others included Planning Director David Holden, Deputy City Manager Cynthia Hayden, Recreation Director Melvin Wilson, Public Works Director Steven Parkinson, City Attorney Robert Sullivan, and Finance Director Judith Haskins-Belanger.

A total of 615 municipal employees received wages or salaries from the city in 2008. At the bottom of the list was a lifeguard who earned $21. The $22 million paid out in 2008 marked an increase of $1.3 million over the previous year.

Additionally, five Portsmouth school employees made more than $100,000 in 2008. At the top of the list was outgoing Superintendent Robert Lister, who earned more than $167,000. Lister is retiring at the end of the school year and will be replaced by Ed McDonough. Four of the five six-figure school workers from 2008 are retiring this year.  

Gregg withdraws as Commerce Secretary

In a move that stunned members of President Barack Obama’s administration and congressional delegates from New Hampshire, Republican Sen. Judd Gregg has withdrawn from consideration to become U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

Top Democrats in New Hampshire were quick to pounce on Gregg’s withdrawal, saying it demonstrates his unwillingness to work with the new presidential administration even as Obama attempts to reach across the aisle to Republicans.

“At a time when it appeared that Senator Judd Gregg was going to put aside partisan politics to work with the president on fixing our economy, he has instead decided that being in lock-step with conservative Washington Republicans is more important than finding solutions to these serious problems,” N.H. Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley said in a press release.

U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes said he was “surprised and disappointed” by Gregg’s withdrawal. “Senator Gregg would take us back to the years of George W. Bush rather than moving forward with the change agenda that the American people clearly want,” Hodes said in a release. He added that he will run for U.S. Senate when Gregg’s term expires in 2010.

Gregg was Obama’s second pick to fill the post after New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson withdrew from consideration last month. Gregg initially appeared poised to accept the nomination, but changed his mind last week, citing irreconcilable differences with Obama over several issues.

“It has become apparent during this process that this will not work for me as I have found that on issues such as the stimulus package and the Census there are irresolvable conflicts for me,” Gregg said in a prepared statement. “We are functioning from a different set of views on many critical items of policy.”

Democratic Gov. John Lynch, who had appointed Republican Bonnie Newman to replace Gregg in the Senate, said in a statement that he respects Gregg’s decision to withdraw. Gregg thanked Obama for nominating him and thanked Lynch and Newman for their assistance.

symposium presents work of Portsmouth-area scholars

The fifth annual “Life and Death in the Piscataqua” symposium will present the work of Portsmouth-area scholars on Saturday, Feb. 21. Hosted by Portsmouth Historic House Associates, the event will include four lectures from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Masonic Temple at 351 Middle St., Portsmouth.

Jennifer Pustz, of Historic New England, will offer a presentation titled “Voices from the Back Stairs,” examining the roles of domestic servants in New England during the 19th and 20th centuries. Sandra Rux, of the Portsmouth Historical Society, will present “Out of the Box,” describing her research on material culture in Portsmouth through history.

Following a soup lunch, Carolyn Marvin, of the Portsmouth Athenaeum, will present “Hanging Ruth Blay,” an illustrated lecture about the 1768 trial and execution of Ruth Blay in Portsmouth. Finally, Barbara Ward, of the Moffatt-Ladd House, will present “The Moffatts and the Caribbean in the 18th Century,” documenting the family’s shipping activities and slave trading voyages.

The event will benefit the Historic New England Houses, the Warner House, the Wentworth-Gardner and Tobias Lear Houses, The Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion, the Portsmouth Historical Society at the John Paul Jones House, the Moffatt-Ladd House and Stawbery Banke Museum. The cost is $10 in advance, $15 on the day of the event, with lunch included. Call 603-436-3205 to register. For more information, visit www.portsmouthhistorichouses.org.