Candidates For Concord Mayor Offer Similar Views At Debate: Video

CONCORD, NH — When Concord voters go to the polls on Nov. 2, they will need to decide whether to award an unprecedented eighth term to its incumbent mayor or give a challenger, whose main reason for running is to fight apathy, the chance to serve.

Incumbent Mayor Jim Bouley faced off against challenger Taylor Hall during a one-hour debate sponsored by Patch, Concord TV, and WKXL and recorded at Concord TV studios on Thursday.

Hall, an admitted relative newcomer to the city, said he made the decision to run two years ago after hearing that the mayor and his unsuccessful challenger only spent $5, the filing fee, during their campaigns.

“My wife and I had both remarked how much apathy that had and how upsetting that was to us,” he said. “One thing that drew us to one another was our interest in local politics and being part of our community and bettering our community. It was so upsetting to see that level of apathy.”

Bouley said it was “an honor and privilege” to serve and he and the city council had accomplished a lot — and people were noticing. Real estate publications have highlighted the city’s hot market while projects such as the Sewalls Falls Bridge and Main Street renovation have been promoted by construction magazines and others, like disability rights orgs.

“The list goes on and on,” he said. “We have had tremendous success over the past several years and I’ve been very fortunate to be part of that.”

Substance abuse, homelessness, housing, economic development, political reforms, and other issues were discussed with both candidates agreeing on most of the issues facing the city.

Both candidates, as an example, said more should be done to assist those in need with Bouley saying there should be a point person to assist the homeless with a mental health or transportation issue.

“We’re all but one paycheck, potentially, away from homeless,” he said.

Hall agreed and said more should be done long-term to assist those in need. But he found it disturbing that some camps were broken up including one off Manchester Street, the old Concord Drive-In property, which is slated for development.

“Does that really solve the problem?,” he asked. “That just displaces the problem. It doesn’t solve it. I look at things like that and I just scratch my head.”

Bouley countered that calls by private property owners needed to be answers and campers needed to be removed.

Both candidates said they would like to continue to keep control of the budget as well as property tax increases while also working toward increasing economic development. Bouley said one of the biggest issues facing the city was the downshifting of retirement costs by the state to the city. Hall said he would like to see more money requested from the state to support the city, due to all the services used by the state. He also said the city should be more aggressive with parking scofflaws who owe around $750,000 in fees. Neither candidate supported defunding or disbanding the police. While there was a cost involved, Bouley said he supported body cams for officers while Hall was against it — one of only a few issues they disagreed on.

Hall has been one of only two challengers to Bouley who has not been arrested, charged, or convicted of a crime but he was cited in 2018 for violating the “hands-free” law in New Hampshire. When asked about all of the deaths and crashes due to distracted driving, he said using his cellphone while driving was a mistake. The charge was later placed on hold without a finding, meaning it was dropped.

Bouley was asked about questions of transparency when it came to his lobbying firm, Dennehy & Bouley, and why he was not explaining why he recused himself from meetings. He said he should but denied any conflict of interest with any of his lobbying clients during his time as mayor and also pointed to the creation of an Ethics Committee that happened during his tenure. In April, the city made changes to the committee, adding term limits to its members. It has not been dissolved.

Hall, however, said some voters were concerned about whether Bouley was going to bat “hard enough, with the state, for the city of Concord,” and whether his lobbying hurt the city. Bouley countered that, sometimes, his job assisted the city, pointing to the Legislature’s decision to build a new psychiatric hospital in Concord right on Clinton Street. His meetings, he said, led to a decision to move the new hospital to a wing of the existing hospital, set off from the street.

Both agreed that housing was one of the most difficult issues facing the city with Hall, a new owner of a multifamily home, saying he was leaning toward turning part of it into an Airbnb instead of an apartment. He later changed his mind. Zoning issues, too, and lack of access made purchasing a home more difficult. Bouley said without places for people to live, economic development was hindered. He pointed to the cost of land and competition for available units as well as labor like plumbers and cabinetmakers as being scarce. At the same time, interest rates were still low. Bouley also pointed to zoning — including increased density especially with buildings and lots near city services like water and sewer. Lowering fees, too, he said, was something the city was eyeing.

On political reforms, Bouley said the city was well-run with a strong city manager and would not want to change to a strong mayor system. He laughed at the description of the city having a “weak mayor.” Bouley said, looking to the south, Concord did not want to become like Manchester and Nashua, which had become very partisan. Hall he was “a little confused” about how the system worked since the mayor was elected to a weak seat but during the debate, took a lot of credit for things getting done. He agreed with a strong city manager system though and stressed the need for keeping the city elections nonpartisan. Both agreed with paying the mayor and city councilors a small stipend instead of a salary. Also, both Bouley and Hall agreed the Concord city council should not have oversight over the SAU 8 school district budget. On whether or not the Merrimack Valley School District should be folded into the Concord School District, something the city would need to be involved with, Hall said he did not know enough about the issue while Bouley said the city was in a unique situation, having two school districts, which posed a lot of issues.

“I never understood why we have (two) school administration units,” he said. “It’s a challenge.”

Both candidates also supported the construction of a new clubhouse as well as maintenance at the Beaver Meadow Golf Course, which is owned by the city. Hall said residents in the city do not use everything they pay for. Bouley said parks and recreation is one of the city’s assets that is appealing to everyone. The course, he said, was an asset, not just a course. Both also said maybe the city should consider shrinking the course to nine holes and selling off some land for development to offset the $6.3 million in cost for a new building and maintenance. Hall called it “a great idea” while Bouley said since the land was acquired by land-water conservation funds — so new acquisition would have to be floated somewhere else, despite all the other land already set aside in conservation.

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