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KEENE POLICE UNION'S ENDORSEMENT OF JOHN LYNCH STRIKES A NERVE IN THE BENSON CAMP...

Benson deflects police union criticism
IAN BAGLEY
Sentinel Staff

Gov. Craig R. Benson and his staff said Monday he did not propose using earnings from police retirement accounts for other purposes last year, as some critics have charged.

"It's unfortunate if they are still saying that, but it just isn't true," press secretary Kevin H Smith said.

The difference over the matter, which has begun to influence Benson's re-election campaign, may stem from differences over how one defines retirement accounts for police.

On Aug. 20, the Keene Police Officer's Association announced its endorsement of Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Lynch, and specifically mentioned the governor's proposal.

"Two years ago, Craig Benson promised the Keene Police Officers and police officers across the state he would not use their retirement funds for any other purpose," the union said in a news release.

"Then, as governor, he tried to raid their retirement accounts to balance the budget," the news release states.

In an interview last year, John Stewart, the president of the Keene Police Officer's Union, called the proposal a "slap in the face to all of law enforcement who supported him during his campaign for governor" in 2002.

The proposal, which the state legislature rejected last summer, would have drawn $32 million from a special account to pay for health benefits for retirees.

According to Keith Herman, a policy advisor to the governor, this special account is created whenever retirement funds earn more annual interest than 9 percent. The extra earnings go into the account, he said.

The governor proposed taking the $32 million from a portion of the special account reserved for a group of state employees, Herman said.

This group does not include police, fire, or municipal employees, he said.

On Monday afternoon, Benson aides said they sent letters to police chiefs throughout the state in an effort to clear up what they considered a misunderstanding.

"They can't plead ignorance at this point, because it has been explained to them," Smith said.

Herman suggested that the alleged raid on police retirement accounts was not the real reason for the endorsements of Lynch.

"I think there's something more to do with it than that in their decision not to support the governor, and I wish they were honest about that," he said.

Representatives from the Keene Police Officers Association could not be reached for comment this morning.

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