Local governments function more efficiently than state and national governments because they are more civil and focus heavily on public service rather than politicking, former Chairman of the Hanover Board of Selectmen Brian Walsh '65 said in a lecture titled "Democracy at the Local Level," held in the Rockefeller Center on Friday. Walsh shared his insights into translating the solutions and outlook of local governments to a state or national level during the talk.
Walsh served on the Hanover Board of Selectmen, the town's chief decision-making body, from 1996 to 2011. Prior to this, he worked in business, founding and running three startups, including Fujifilm Dimatix in Lebanon. Walsh now works as one of the directors of Americans for Campaign Reform, a group that aims to change campaign finance laws in the United States, and with the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy.
Walsh outlined the most important lessons he learned during his time as chairman, writing on a chalkboard, "Listen and learn, balance is beautiful, content counts, choices have consequences, solve the problem where it can be solved, math matters and better together." Walsh elaborated on each idea using anecdotes from his time in office.
Overall, Walsh's lecture focused less on specific stories and more on the way local governance works differently than state and federal governments.
"Politics now is at the national level, and it's played like blood sport, and it's a real tragedy," Walsh said. "At the local level, it's much more about public service, not about politics."
Civility exists in town politics that cannot be found at other levels, he said.
"There are some people that remember some very contentious issues, but if you think about it, we came out of [the issues] still as a community where people understood each other," Walsh said. "It's because we had a long enough conversation as a community that we could fit a balance in and solve the issue in a way that everyone was involved."
Walsh also said he did not consider himself a politician, but rather considered the time he spent on the board as a service to the community.
"When people have said to me, Oh, you're a politician,' I say, No, I'm not. I'm a public servant,'" he said.
Walsh paraphrased Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu to explain what qualities he thinks are important in a leader.
"The great leader speaks little; he never speaks carelessly; he works without self-interest and leaves no trace," Walsh said. "When all is finished, the people say, We did it ourselves,' and that in its essence is leadership."
Willy Black, a Hanover resident and a friend of Walsh, said that local residents respect Walsh for his service and appreciate what he has done for the town.
"He's been a marvelous leader and a spokesman for the town," Black said. "He never jumps to conclusions, and he always thinks things through."
Black also said she was impressed by Walsh's level-headedness and his willingness to take input from others during the time she spent working with him on the Hanover School Board.
"He's probably one of the most intelligent select-people we've ever had," Black said. "He's never jumped from the center state, and he's always been balanced."
In his introduction, economics professor and Rockefeller Center Director Andrew Samwick emphasized Walsh's role in maintaining strong relations between the Town of Hanover and the College.
"Town-gown relations are better in Hanover than nearly anywhere else," Samwick said. "And one of the persons we can thank for that is Brian Walsh."
Following the lecture, Walsh took questions from the audience about issues ranging from specific incidents in Hanover history to Walsh's opinion on how the national political process should change.
Facing a question from a student regarding how to help change the political rancor that plagues national government, Walsh said that the best thing an individual could do is to get involved.
"Start at the local level and look for the opportunity in your town, your city or your neighborhood," Walsh said. "There are all kinds of jobs that need to be done."
