MANCHESTER, N.H. – Ward 5 will have a new Board of School Committee (BOSC) member, and they won’t be elected…at least for now.
On Tuesday night, the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BMA) accepted with regret the resignation of Ward 5 Board of School Committee member Jeremy Dobson, leading to a debate that has simmered for weeks on what will happen next.
In November, Dobson was re-elected to his seat on the BOSC and a few weeks later, Manchester Ink Link learned that he had closed on a house in New Boston and expected to be moving out of Manchester once he could sell his house here.
Normally, the alderman from a specific ward where the BOSC vacancy has occurred is the one to nominate a replacement, which the BMA then voting for or against that nominee. However, any alderman can nominate a candidate and there have been instances where more than one nominee is put before the board to fill any vacancies.
Ward 4 Alderman Jim Roy asked if this was a special case since Dobson resigned from his seat before he was scheduled to take it in January, meaning the residents of Ward 5 would have an entire term with a BOSC member they did not vote for.
Ward 5 Alderman Tony Sapienza noted that only two people signed up to run for the Ward 5 seat, with the other candidate, Lisa Freeman, dropping out due to the expectation that she would move out of the city in the near future. As of Tuesday, she has not yet moved out of the city and is now the chair of the Manchester Republican Committee.
Sapienza said he would bring forward a name for nomination at the BMA’s next meeting later in December. When At-Large Alderman Joseph Kelly Levasseur asked the point of appointing someone for the remainder of Dobson’s current term, Sapienza noted the BMA’s rules that require any appointment to be laid over until a second meeting before confirmation, with that second meeting not coming until the full term would begin in January.
Ward 6 Alderman Sebastian Sharonov said he could see both sides of the argument, noting the tradition to appoint replacements as well as the time frame between the appointment and the next scheduled election.
Members of the board asked City Clerk Matt Normand whether the city could hold an election rather than appoint a replacement under the city’s charter, with Normand replacing that the charter only states that the BMA will appoint a replacement until an election is held, not specifying when the election takes place.
He elaborated that normally the election referenced in the charter occurs every two years, but he would follow the will of the BMA if it ordered him to hold an election sooner to fill a BOSC seat, adding that an election for an individual ward would cost $5,000 (not including any primaries) and a city-wide election would cost $60,000.
After the BMA voted to accept Dobson’s resignation with regret, Roy asked for a vote on a special election.
That vote failed 8-4, with Roy, Sharonov, Levasseur and Ed Sapienza (Ward 8) voting in favor.
In addition to that, here are some other things that occurred during Tuesday’s meeting and earlier in the night, with individual stories for as many of these items as possible coming to Manchester Ink Link in the next few days.
- Tension arose when Intown Manchester Executive Director Sara Beaudry attacked Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig during public comment. Beaudry felt that the city attempted to undermine the organization after accounting irregularities were found and did not give the organization American Rescue Plan funding despite its inability to hold fundraising events during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the new business section of the meeting, Craig noted the organization was financially mismanaged prior to the pandemic and the organization received Paycheck Protection Plan loans while also laying off staff in 2020 and the city paid employees who had not been paid by the organization. Levasseur claimed that the organization’s contract with the city had expired in 2015, something Craig stated was inaccurate. Downtown business owners during the public comment section of the evening stated that they have seen an increase in needles and other filth without the support of Intown Manchester’s regular cleanup efforts.
- Several people during public comment accused Manchester Director of Homeless Initiatives Schonna Green of trying to stop people from feeding the city’s homeless population. One homeless veteran who now resides in Manchester but became homeless in Boston said if she had become homeless in Manchester she would have died. After the meeting, Green told Manchester Ink Link that the allegations were wrong and her job is to help the city’s separate public and private homeless support organizations collaborate and organize to better help those in need of temporary or permanent shelter.
- The BMA approved $2.3 million to develop affordable housing units in Manchester through grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
- The BMA approved a recommendation by the BMA Committee on Public Safety to deny a waiver request for police detail fees for a block party on Holt Avenue, citing the party would run several hours, including during night hours and that it would take place on a busy street. Scheduled for Dec. 12, the party is intended to raise funds for Manchester police.
- Proposed ward line adjustments will go to the BMA Committee on Bills on Second Reading following a special public hearing on Tuesday. Ward 2 Moderator Nicholl Marshall asked the board to adjust a proposed border change that would move him out of Ward 2 and into Ward 6 and Alderman Barbara Shaw (Ward 9) asked that the proposed area south of I-293 that would be moved from Ward 9 into Ward 8 should remain within Ward 9 and several blocks in between Shasta Street, South Lincoln Street, South Hall Street and Doris Street should be moved from Ward 9 into Ward 8 instead. The new ward lines are expected to be finalized before the end of the year.
