For Coen, It's Steady as She Goes

Mark Coen, the president of Page Belting in Concord, was first elected to the Concord City Council in 2006, filling out the remainder of the term of then-councilor and Allenstown Police Chief Jim McGonigle, and since that time, the candidate for a third full term said he was proud of what he and the council have accomplished, so far.

At the time, Coen said, the city was about to enter a severe recession and no one really knew what was going to happen. He said the officials “pulled our reins back” and were very conservative about spending. The city focused on improving its bond rating which is now, “very high,” he said, and that has saved taxpayers money on debt expenses for much needed capital expenses while also being prudent with its finances.

“Prior to the Great Recession,” he said, “it was just writing checks … it was just spend, spend, spend.”

Now, he said, the board and city are focused on capital projects not just on the front-end, when a project is conceptualized, but during the course of the project’s life cycle and use, including maintenance costs, whether it’s a new building or a fire truck.

Coen said that fiscal restraint and prudence can be seen in the recent decision to refurbish the city’s pools and to the new community center proposal, in which many different community stakeholders had a role in putting together ideas on what it should be without really looking at the cost, “what it is going to be to continue to fund it, run it going forward … it’s that type of dialogue (we need to have).”

City Manager Tom Aspell, Coen noted, had done a good job and brought in the kind of people who like at projects in that way, he said. He added that he was “really excited” about the progress on the Main Street construction project, and said it was great to see places like The Works busy as well as families with kids walking on Main Street.

“It’s one of the long-term goals of the city,” he said. “I want to continue working on that as well as being prepared for the unexpected and making sure that things are carried through in a timely manner.”

Coen pointed to how quickly the hole on I-93 was filled by the state and its contractors along with the help of employees with the Concord General Services Department, who were at the scene and finding a way to quickly move water away from a collapse pipe to other runoffs in the area of Storrs Street. He said that the Concord 250 events had given “a better historical perspective to the citizens of Concord, why we are, who we are, it was great to be involved and being here in Concord, at this time.” Coen also commended his colleagues and the quality of the work they were making representing the city. He called it, “Exciting for me … it’s purely as Democratic as you can get. Everyone brings something to the table … people have their interests and bring their knowledge, input, and that’s been great.” Coen also praised Mayor Jim Bouley for running a comfortable meeting where everyone felt welcomed to testify, making citizens feel as relaxed as possible.

While he offered praise for the city and its leaders, there is also room for improvement. The social ills that the cityis experience are everywhere else, too; but it’s not cut and dry, he added, saying, “We try to help with the resources that are available … but no one has the answers.” It’s not perfect on the council, he noted, but the direction the city was heading in was healthy.

“We’re one of the top cities of our size in the United States,” he said.

During the next four years, if elected, Coen said, he wanted to make sure basic services that city provides stay at a high level; things like and water supply, sewer, infrastructure, paving projects in the neighborhoods. Hopefully, he said, the economy will hold well and revenue streams will also hold up.

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