New Candidates Emerge For Concord Mayor, City Council, And School Board In Latest Filings

CONCORD, NH — During the past 48 hours, several candidates have jumped into municipal races, ensuring more competitive races, including a contested mayor’s race and a crowded slate of at-large Concord City Council candidates.

Kate West, the former SAU 8 Zone A board of education member who was removed in January, three months after moving out of her apartment and out of the district, has filed to run for mayor.

In the filing, her past address of Jackson Street, an apartment where she no longer lives, was listed when registering. This may be because the deadline for changing registrations with the supervisor of the checklists was Sept. 5. West moved out of her apartment in September 2022, a month before it was sold to a couple from Massachusetts. Months later, the two-family building was still vacant.

The SAU 8 charter requires Zone seat holders to live in the district they serve. When a formal vote was taken establishing the residency of all board members, West was nowhere to be found and removed by an 8-0 vote of the board.

Tom Croteau, a former school board member, agreed to fill out the remainder of the term.

West, according to published reports in January, was crashing with Ward 10 City Councilor Zandra Rice Hawkins while she found another place to live with her daughter. She has been an active young Democrat in the city during her time in politics, protesting at police displacement of homeless camps and supporting the crossdressing art teacher at McAuliffe Elementary School when he was placed on leave. West, who is white, complained at a May diversity and inclusion meeting that all the city council members were white, as were all the people involved in decision-making and positions of power in government, according to a story about the meeting.

West did not return emails seeking comment about her race.

Also Read

• 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

Financial Advisor Files In Ward 6

A new candidate has filed to run in Ward 6 in the South End.

Jason Belyea is a financial advisor who lives on Monroe Street. The New Hampshire native has lived in the city for about a decade and worked in financial services for about a quarter of a century.

Belyea said he became concerned about city expenses and taxes in recent years, noting places like Bow were always considered expensive, not Concord. But now, the city was out of reach for many new homeowners like him.

“Property taxes were the first thing that triggered me,” he said. “We have some real problems. Nobody can afford to live in Concord, and I want to know why.”

Belyea has served for the last 15 months on the board of The Friends Program and expressed gratitude for the work of the nonprofit.

“I’ve always been civic-minded,” he said, “but surrounded by those people … they are amazing. They work hard; they just run with it. It’s so cool.”

Belyea said if elected, he would like to get a “clear look at expenditures” while also focusing on representing constituents. He said his working-class background — growing up in Plymouth with parents “who worked very hard” as a teacher and construction worker, gave him first-hand knowledge of how to fill that role.

Thinking about running for office in Concord in 2023? Let Patch know! Email me at tony.schinella@patch.com.

Soucy Runs Again In Ward 8

Filing again to run for the open Ward 8 seat is Dennis Soucy.

Soucy, who has been living off Airport Road for more than 40 years, attends church at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish and has worked for decades at various jobs in the city. His wife, Carol, is a native of Ward 8 and is well-known, too. In recent years, he has slowed down a bit after a six-year bout with cancer.

“I wasn’t feeling well; in a way, it was a good thing I didn’t win (in the past),” he said. “But I’ve had more people say to me, ‘Why don’t you run for city council again?’”

After three unsuccessful matches, Soucy did not challenge Matson during the last election and told her she was doing a great job. But with an open seat, at 72, he felt it was time to try one more time.

If elected, he would support more housing in the city — he openly loves the new Steeplegate Mall proposal for between 490 to 630 units and a redevelopment of the area. Soucy also wants to see more jobs in the region. he noted companies were expanding to Sheep Davis Road, which he thought was positive.

Other Incumbents File; At-Large Gets Crowded

As expected, Ward 5 City Councilor Stacey Brown filed to run for a second term.

Also, Ward 3 City Councilor Jennifer Kretovic, who was toying with a citywide run, filed to run again in Ward 3.

Taylor Hall, who ran for mayor in 2021, garnering about 22 percent of the vote, filed to run at large. He makes the fifth candidate to jump into the at-large race, competing for two seats.

Zone B School Board Gets Another Candidate

A second candidate has filed for a Zone B school board seat, representing Wards 5, 6, and 7.

George Bruce “Gib” West of Ridge Road filed Tuesday to run. With more than three decades in the Contoocook Valley School District as a high school English teacher and later administrator, the long-time educator said running would be “consistent with the work to which I have dedicated my career.” West has a Master’s in social work and a Bachelor’s in psychology, education-English.

“I am running for a seat on the school board to collaborate with a team of like-minded individuals who are committed to investing their energies in support of our district’s students,” he said. “I believe that public education is one of the most essential institutions dedicated to developing the critical skills, resilience, health and well-being of our children.”

Candidate Signups, So Far

These candidates have signed up to run for the following offices:

Mayor: Byron Champlin and Kate West

At Large (2 seats, 4-year terms): Nathan Fennessy, Taylor Hall, Matthew Hicks, Judith Kurtz, and Kevin Porter

Ward 1: Brent Todd

Ward 2: Michele Horne

Ward 3: Jennifer Kretovic

Ward 4: Karen McNamara

Ward 5: Stacey Brown

Ward 6: Jay Belyea

Ward 7: Keith Nyhan

Ward 8: Ali Sekou and Dennis Soucy

Ward 9: None

Ward 10: Zandra Rice Hawkins and Jeffrey Foote

All Ward seats and the mayor are two-year terms.

Ward 2 is an open seat this year. Along with Horne, Rob Kleiner has also announced he will be running. Councilor Patricia McLaughlin has stated she will run for reelection in Ward 6.

Signup Info

Candidates for the board of education can file on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. through Monday, Sept. 18. The filing will take place at the SAU 8 district office at 38 Liberty St. The filing fee is $5.

Three seats are up in November: Zone A, representing Wards 1, 2, 3, and 4; Zone B, which covers Wards 5, 6, and 7; and Zone C, for Wards 8, 9, and 10. All three terms end on Dec. 31.

The treasurer position is also up for a three-year term.

To serve, a candidate must be a registered voter of the Concord School District and domiciled in the school voting zone. According to the district’s charter, zone members cannot serve if they fail to maintain a domicile (residency) in the district.

Filing by candidates for the mayor’s race, city council, and ward officials also run through Sept. 18. The fee is $5 to run for mayor and city council; $1 for a ward official.

Filing will be held at the Concord City Clerk’s Office at 41 Green St. from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. On Thursday, the clerk’s office is open until 6 p.m. On the last day of filing, the clerk’s office will be open until 5 p.m.

Candidates can also obtain ballot access via a signature petition drive.

Potential candidates must live in the city and the ward they are a candidate in to be elected.

Free Profiles & Debates

Once again, for the 2023 election cycle, Concord NH Patch will offer candidates free profiles before the election and will team up with partners to bring voters debates for competitive races.

Concord TV has agreed to allow Patch to use its studios for recorded debates between the candidates. The nonprofit will also be posting the videos on its YouTube.com site. The New England Take podcast, based out of Concord, will also share the information with its audience.

More information about debates will be forthcoming.

Candidates will also be allowed to put together a free Patch Candidate Profile. Fill out the g-doc here, after nominations have been confirmed.

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