Nearly A Dozen Concord Candidates Fail To File Financials On Time

CONCORD, NH — Eleven city council and mayoral candidates failed to file financial forms on Tuesday as required by the city charter.

Three times during the municipal election season, candidates are required to file paperwork showing money raised or spent — twice before the election and once after. For 2023, the first filings were due by the end of the day on Tuesday. Financials must also be filed on Oct. 31. The after-election filing for 2023 will be due on Nov. 21.

Mayoral candidate George Jack, Ward 2 candidate Michele Horne, Ward 3 candidate Jennifer Kretovic, who is unopposed, Sarah Beauregard of Ward 4, both Jay Belyea and Paula McLaughlin in Ward 6, Jonathan Cate and Dennis Soucy in Ward 8, Andrew Georgevits and Kris Schultz who are running for the open Ward 9 seat, and Jeffrey Foote in Ward 10 failed to file financial paperwork Tuesday.

City Clerk Janice Bonenfant said some candidates, including Foote, Horne, and Kretovic, informed her they would be late with their filings. The clerk’s office planned on reaching out to candidates on Wednesday and the rest of this week.

Even if a candidate spent no money on their efforts between the signup period and Oct. 10, like Ward 1 Brent Todd, who is running unopposed, Ward 7 candidate Keith Nyhan (who reported only spending $5, to sign up to run), and Kate West, who is running for mayor, paperwork still needed to be filed.

Some Candidates Are Raising, Spending Thousands

While most candidates have raised and spent less than $1,000 on their efforts, which is standard, as that amount covers signs and literature, others are raising some serious dough.

Byron Champlin, who is running for mayor, has raised the most money of all candidates in 2023, so far, more than $5,130. He spent about $2,800 on signs, printing, and campaign supplies, leaving him with around $2,300.

According to the filings, Noemi Wierwille, the challenger in Ward 5, has raised the most for city council candidates, nearly $4,700. She had spent more than $1,700 on yard signs, a Wix website, palm cards, postcards, and office supplies.

Kevin Porter, one of five candidates running for two at-large city council seats, raised more than $3,500. After purchasing yard signs, palm cards, stickers, and a website, he has about $1,100 left.

Jim Schlosser, the challenger in Ward 7, posted $3,280 in receipts, including $2,025 in loans to his campaign. He spent more than $1,900 on printing, a website by Wix, and about $16 in fees to Act Blue, the Democratic fundraising site.

At large candidate Judith Kurtz raised nearly $2,900. After purchasing yard signs, “thank you” notes, T-shirts, printing, and paying her Act Blue fee, she has around $250 on hand.

Ali Sekou, who is running for the open Ward 8 seat, raised $2,340, including an $800 loan to his campaign. He spent about $780 on palm cards and signs. On Wednesday, he amended his submission to include the funding of a website on Wix, about $170.

Matthew Hicks, who is also running at large, is self-financing his campaign and spent $1,076 on signs and his filing fee.

Zandra Rice Hawkins, the Ward 10 councilor, filed paperwork showing $1,013.55 in receipts while noting nearly $768.55 was rolled over from her previous campaign two years ago. She, too, spent the bulk of the money on signs as well as fees to Act Blue.

Ward 5 Councilor Stacey Brown reported $990 in donations — including a $300 loan to her campaign. She spent $835 on a Wix site, flyers, and postcards, online fees, including Act Blue, meeting expenses, postage, and a T-shirt.

Nathan Fennessy, the at-large incumbent, raised $350 and spent $665 on door hangers and his filing fee.

Rob Kleiner in Ward 2 raised $50 in a single donation but spent nearly $500 on signs, postage, a hand stamp, and his filing fee. He also received an $81 in-kind donation, sign wickets, from outgoing Ward 2 Councilor Erle Pierce.

Ward 4 Councilor Karen McNamara reported $400.11 for signs.

Another at-large candidate, Taylor Hall, spent $220 on his campaign, including signs, office supplies, and the filing fee.

Community Leaders Are Chipping In

Unlike past years, when campaigns were relatively lowkey affairs and candidates self-financed their campaigns, several of the city’s politerati and movers-and-shakers are kicking in donations to the candidates.

Many contributors and campaign assistants come from Ward 5, including Auburn Street and Ridge Road, or “Mortgage Hill,” as it was known decades ago, due to all the very nice and fancy homes.

Meredith Cooley of the Concord Greenspace Coalition made $351 in donations to Kurtz and also set up Sekou’s website as an in-kind donation.

Former Concord School Board member Liza Poinier donated to Kurtz, Rice Hawkins, Schlosser, and Sekou.

Ruth Perencevich, a library assistant with SAU 8, donated to both Ward 5 candidates, Brown and Wierwille, as well as Champlin, Kurtz, Schlosser, and Sekou.

Thomas Raffio of Bow, who runs Northeast Delta Dental, also gave a donation to Sekou.

None of Sekou’s donations came from inside Ward 8.

Allison Grappone also gave money to Kurtz, Schlosser, and Sekou.

Only two donations to Schlosser’s campaign were from within Ward 7. He also made $100 donations to Sekou and Wierwille.

Also kicking $50 to Rice Hawkins was Ryan Hvizda, a local real estate agent. Marc Nozell of Merrimack, the spouse of state Rep. Wendy Thomas, D-Merrimack, donated $30 to Rice Hawkins.

Gerri and Ron King, active city Democrats, made a donation to Champlin; Gerri King also made a donation to Brown.

While Wierwille received nearly a dozen donations from Ridge Road, where she lives, and Auburn Street, more than half of her donations were from outside New Hampshire. She received donations from California, Colorado, Massachusetts, her native Minnesota, Oregon, and New York.

About two-thirds of Porter’s donations, making up about 80 percent of the funds, were from out of state.

All but one of Champlin’s donations were from within New Hampshire, with only six of his nearly three dozen donations being from outside of Concord.

Pierce donated $193.73 to Champlin while Tim Sink, the president of the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce, an org Champlin has been very active with, also made a donation.

Sign Companies Clean Up

Keystone Printing of Manchester has made a pretty penny printing pamphlets, palm cards, door hangers, and signs for Concord candidates.

According to the filings, the company received around $6,700 from candidates in the first filings.

SignsOnTheCheap.com received around $3,200 from three candidates for signs.

Why Does The Filing Matter?

Financial filings matter because voters have a right to know who is funding campaigns.

But there is another reason to fill out the paperwork: Candidates won’t get seated if they win and don’t file.

Bonenfant said any candidate who wins their election but has not filed their financial paperwork would not be allowed to serve, according to the city charter.

Concord school board candidates are not required to file financial forms.

Also Read

• Noemi Wierwille, Concord City Council Ward 5 Candidate
• Karen McNamara, Ward 4 Concord City Council Candidate
• An Open Ward 2 Concord City Council Seat Brings Out Newcomers: Watch
• Taylor Hall, At Large Concord City Candidate
• Byron Champlin, Mayor Of Concord Candidate
• Stacey Brown, Concord City Council Ward 5 Candidate
• City Of Concord: 2023 Election Info
• Ward 5 Concord City Council Candidates Talk Trash, Taxes, Engagement
• Dennis Soucy, Concord City Council Ward 8 Candidate
• Kassey Cameron, Zone C Concord School Board Candidate
• Nathan Fennessy, Concord City Council At Large Candidate
• Some Concord Council Candidate Signs Not In Compliance With NH Law
• Judith Kurtz, Concord City Council At Large Candidate
• Jennifer Kretovic, Concord City Council Ward 3 Candidate
• Rob Kleiner, Concord City Council Ward 2 Candidate
• Matthew Hicks, Concord City Council At Large Candidate
• Kevin Porter, Concord City Council At Large Candidate
• Concord School District Hosts 2 Meetings Concerning New Middle School
• Concord’s Longest-Serving Mayor Named 2023 Citizen Of The Year
• More Concord Candidates Explain Why They Are Running In 2023
• More Concord Council Candidates Jump Into The Fray On Last Filing Day
• As Final Filing Day Approaches, Concord Municipal Races Get Crowded
• New Candidates Emerge For Concord Mayor, City Council, School Board
• Dad Upset About Crossdressing Art Teacher Runs For Concord School Seat
• Candidates Enter Concord City Council Races On First Day Of Filing
• New Candidates Emerge In 2023 Concord Races As Signup Date Approaches
• Champlin Confirms Concord Mayoral Run; Some Out, Others Thinking
• Second At Large Concord City Councilor Considers Mayoral Run
• Concord At-Large Councilor Champlin Eyes Mayoral Run
• Herschlag: Our Mayor Is Not Seeking Another Term
• Concord’s Longest Serving Mayor Won’t Seek Re-Election In November

Do you happen to have a news tip? Please send it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella's YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel. Check out the #FITN2024 NH Patch post channel and follow our politics Twitter account @NHPatchPolitics for all our campaign coverage.