© 2025 New Hampshire Public Radio

Persons with disabilities who need assistance accessing NHPR's FCC public files, please contact us at publicfile@nhpr.org.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
‘Leave space’ in your driveway and donate your unwanted vehicle today!

Business, political leaders named to serve on Ayotte's government efficiency panel

Sherman Packard stands at the front of Representatives Hall in the New Hampshire State House.
Zoey Knox
/
NHPR
New Hampshire House Speaker Sherm Packard is one of 15 members on the new state Commission on Government Efficiency, created by Gov. Kelly Ayotte.

Gov. Kelly Ayotte has tapped 15 people to serve on her newly created Commission on Government Efficiency, a panel tasked with finding more efficient and cost-saving fixes to state government.

Ayotte created the commission, which she referred to as “COGE,” in her first executive order as governor.

She named two longtime allies to lead the commission: former Gov. Craig Benson and Bedford businessman Andy Crews. Benson hired Ayotte to serve as his legal counsel in the early days of his single term as governor and later nominated 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 A.J. 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 New Hampshire Senate president and the speaker of the House. House Speaker Sherman Packard put himself on the commission, while newly elected Republican Sen. Mark McConkey was the appointee for the state Senate. McConkey owns a small construction business specializing in septic design and installation.

Also named to the commission are:

  • John Marasco, director of the New Hampshire Department of Motor Vehicles;
  • Kimberly Abare, president of New England Die Cutting;
  • Jennifer Parent, a lawyer at 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 government relations officer for McClure Engineering and former commissioner of the state Department of Transportation;
  • Brendan Keegan, CEO of bFEARLESS Ventures.

Several people named to COGE have personal or professional ties to Benson, who served as governor from 2003 to 2005. Monaco was an early employee of the tech company Cabletron Systems, which Benson co-founded in the 1980s, and was later 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 the 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 receive no compensation for their work on the commission. She has also said she does not expect the panel to produce proposals for savings in time for the next state budget, which lawmakers will be working on for the next five months.

In a statement Tuesday, Ayotte said she looks forward to working with the group “to streamline government, cut spending, and ensure we’re doing everything we can to create value for taxpayers while honoring our unbreakable commitment to provide for 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 own term as governor, Benson oversaw an efficiency commission that began its work in 2003. That commission identified more than $400 million in potential savings in state government to be realized over five years.

But few recommendations of that report — which included the privatization of the state’s prison system and streamlining of state procurement practices — were ever actually implemented.

Top stories of the day, every day - subscribe today!

* indicates required

Related Content

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.