Governor Kelly Ayotte tapped 15 people to serve her The newly established Commission for Government Efficiencya panel tasked with finding the most efficient and cost-saving solutions for state government.
Ayotte created the commission, which she named “COGE,” in her first executive order as governor.
She appointed two old allies to lead the commission: former Gov. Craig Benson and Bedford businessman Andy Crews. Benson hired Ayotte to serve as legal counsel in the early days of his single term as governor and later appointed her to serve as state attorney general. Crews has been a frequent donor to Ayotte’s political campaigns.
The other members, announced Tuesday, bring a mix of political and private business experience, including several major donors to Ayotte’s gubernatorial run last year. That includes Al Letizio Jr., a Windham businessman and CEO of AJ Letizio Sales and Marketing, and Bradley Kreick, former CEO of SolutionHealth, the parent company of Southern NH Health and Elliot Health Systems. Letizio and his company contributed $22,000 to Ayotte’s campaign, while Kreick gave $15,000.
Ayotte’s executive order reserved two seats on the commission to be appointed by the president of the New Hampshire Senate and the speaker of the House. Speaker of the House Sherman Packard placed himself on the committee, while newly elected Republican Senator Mark McConkey was the nominee for the state Senate. McConkey owns a small construction business specializing in septic design and installation.
The following were also appointed to the commission:
- John Marasco, director of the New Hampshire Department of Motor Vehicles;
- Kimberly Abare, president of New England Die Cutting;
- Jennifer Parent, an attorney in McLane Middleton, PA;
- Felicia Thomas, vice president of Data Solutions at Planet Fitness;
- Drew Cline, president of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy and chairman of the State Board of Education;
- Dianne Mercier, former president of People’s United Bank;
- Robert Monaco, general manager of Intelligent Manufacturing Solutions;
- Christopher Clement, chief of government relations for McClure Engineering and former commissioner of the state Department of Transportation;
- Brendan Keegan, CEO of bFEARLESS Ventures.
Several COGE appointees have personal or professional ties to Benson, who served as governor from 2003 to 2005. Monaco was an early employee of the technology company Cabletron Systems, which Benson co-founded in the 1980s, and later it was his pick for commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. Benson also sits on the board of directors for Planet Fitness and served as the company’s interim CEO in 2023.
Ayotte has said that members of COGE — which is a play on the Department of Government Efficiency, or “DOGE,” that President Donald Trump created shortly after his election last year — will not receive compensation for their work on the commission. She also said she doesn’t expect the panel to produce savings proposals in time for the next state budget, which lawmakers will work on for the next five months.
In a statement Tuesday, Ayotte said he looks forward to working with the group “to improve government, cut spending and ensure we’re doing everything we can to create value for taxpayers while honoring our unwavering commitment to provide our most vulnerable citizens. “
This is not the first state commission aimed at making government more efficient, with variations stretching back to the 1950s. In his tenure as governor, Benson oversaw an efficiency commission that began its work in 2003. That commission identified more than 400 million dollars in potential savings to state government that would be realized over five years.
But few of that report’s recommendations — which included privatizing the state’s prison system and streamlining state procurement practices — were ever implemented.
