By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – Gov. Kelly Ayotte nominated some familiar faces to return to both the State Board of Education and the Business Finance Authority on Wednesday.
The new Republican governor has tapped Andrew Cline of Bedford for reappointment to the State Board of Education and Stephen M. Duprey of Concord to another term on the Business Finance Authority.
Duprey, a commercial real estate developer and the former editorial writer for the New Hampshire Union Leader, is also chairman of the Pease Development Authority. Cline is also president of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy. They could be confirmed in three weeks when the Executive Council next meets.
Cline would serve a term through January 2029.
Ayotte has also tapped Ann Lane of Durham to an at-large seat on the State Board of Education which had been held by James F. Laboe of Hopkinton. Laboe is not likely going far, however. She nominated him to serve in the District 2 post on the State Education Board.
The governor has also nominated Cheryl Coletti-Lawson of Henniker to the BFA succeeding Jason Syversen of Dunbarton. Both Duprey and Coletti-Lawson would serve on the BFA through Nov. 3, 2027 if confirmed by the five-member council.
The council formally accepted the resignation Wednesday of Harry C. Brown of Stewartstown from the Connecticut Lakes Headwaters Citizens Committee, and the governor nominated Keith Robinson of Pittsburg to serve through Aug. 14, 2026.
Among some other nominations the governor named Aaron Dupuis of Epping and Terry Gupta of Merrimack to the Volunteer NH Board of Directors, (Dupuis for another term), Andrew Martineau of Bow to the Board of Trustees to the NH Retirement System, Timothy Eldridge of Effingham to the Board of Registration of Funeral Directors and Embalmers, Donald Frechette of East Wakefield to the Personnel Appeals Board, Salman Malik of Londonderry to the Board of Dental Examiners, Richard Merkt of Westmoreland to the Executive Branch Ethics Committee and William L. Irvin of Windham to the Pharmacy Board.
They all still need confirmation votes from the council which next meets Feb. 26.
