Herschlag: Why I Am Running Again

I am Allan Herschlag your Ward 2 City Councilor. It has been my privilege to have the opportunity to represent you on the City Council. When I ran for the City Council two years ago I made a number of promises to you.

I promised that I would listen to to you and that I would never forget that it is your money I am spending.

I have worked hard to keep my promises to you. With our Ward 2 State Representative, I have hosted Neighborhood Meetings at the Newell Post Restaurant. You have taken these opportunities to share your thoughts and concerns with me and I have listened to what you have had to say.

At our Ward 2 meetings we have discussed issues that impact many of you. The reintroduction of the PSNH (now Eversource) 317 power line. Road safety improvements and deciding where to place a sidewalk to make pedestrian traffic on Borough Road safer in the future. Discussing how new development will impact our Ward and looking for ways to spur economic development in both Ward 2 and Penacook Village. Additionally we have had members of the city’s staff and the engineering team from PSNH at our meetings.

I am listing three issues that I feel are important in determining the future of our city:

Economic Development - The engine that generates jobs and new tax revenue for our city. The city is now aggressively marketing the Employment Security Building, the Tannery and the Rivco property. But we still need to develop a strategy to market Concord and have a plan in place when someone calls and asks why they should do business here.

But just having new development doesn’t always mean that we have additional revenues to pay for city wide services and school district costs. The use of special tax districts and incentives to developers can help to spur economic development, but when using these development tools it is important that there is a benefit for both the developer and the community. Without new sources of revenue, city council projects listed in our 10 year plan will either have to be delayed or we will have to increase property taxes.

Infrastructure & the Capital Improvement Plan - The city council recently approved $4 million for neighborhood street paving. But even with this additional funding and a .5% tax increase for the next 20 years, at the end of those 20 years there will be streets in our city that won’t have been repaved for more than 50 years. In addition to street maintenance we are looking at replacing the city’s pools, a new community center, upgrades to our water and sewer systems and improvements to our parks. This is only a partial listing of some of the many projects totaling over $276 million in Concord’s 10 year Capital Improvement Plan. So once again you can see how important economic development is to have the necessary resources to pay for these projects.

Drugs- Like the rest of New England, Concord has been hit and hit hard with those who use drugs illegally. In 2012 our fire department identified 23 instances when they responded to overdoses or intentional misuse of medication. By the end of July of this year, the year to year number of responses had risen to 128 with an additional 20 calls that were listed as overdoses being a contributing factor for the original call. The use of these substances now infects every neighborhood in our city. I believe it is important for the city council to identify the use of illegal drugs as a priority. It is an issue that not only effects the individual and their families but an issue that impacts the quality of life of all those who live in and visit our city.

Even with all these issues, Concord is still a great city. We have made much progress since the economic downturn and as a community we are continuing to move forward. Concord is a great place to live, go to school and to work and with your support we can continue to make Concord even better.

I have appreciated your support and I am looking forward to having the opportunity and privilege to continue to represent you on the City Council.

Please be sure to Vote on Tuesday Nov. 3.
Your vote is your voice and it is important that you are heard.