OPINION

THE SOAPBOX

Stand up. Speak up. It’s your turn.

Whether the issue is crime, taxes, homelessness, the opioid crisis or education, the fact is that Mayor Joyce Craig is failing Manchester residents.

In the coming days, I will highlight each area of concern for Queen City residents and explain why our incumbent mayor deserves a failing grade. The information will then be a part of a larger digital campaign to educate voters.

The first issue to be highlighted is crime.

Despite promising to address crime while running for mayor, Joyce Craig has failed to adequately do so since taking office. She sought to downplay concerning spikes in crime in the media until she could no longer ignore the flood of negative headlines. That is not the leadership we need to find real solutions.

Under Mayor Joyce Craig:

Crime is spiking in the Queen City, but Mayor Craig spent months downplaying its severity until she could no longer do so [WMUR-TV, 7/12/19].

The homeless have taken over our downtown’s streets and city’s parks at an alarming rate [Multiple articles and photos can be provided].

The downtown alderman has begged for help as shop and restaurant owners report that crime and homelessness is significantly hurting businesses and quality of life in the area [Email from Ward 3 Alderman Tim Baines to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen 8/18/19].

Opioid overdose deaths are increasing [NHPR, 9/10/19].

Graffiti covers our buildings, roads, and bridges [Multiple photos can be provided].

While on the campaign trail in October of 2017, Joyce Craig made several promises on how she would address crime. It is important to now revisit them.

With regards to all of the items she lists as her plan, either she has failed to accomplish them or they were not effective in adequately addressing crime in the Queen City as she had suggested they would be. The fact is that despite promising to do better, she has failed to do so.

While talking with voters around our city, most tell me they believe we are headed in the wrong direction. Manchester residents are fed up with the lack of leadership they have seen out of City Hall since Joyce Craig took office, especially on the important issue of crime. That must change.

Crime is spiking in our neighborhoods. The homeless have taken over our downtown and their tents fill our parks. Graffiti covers our buildings as vandalism goes unchecked. Despite her attacks on her predecessor and pledges to adequately address this issue when running for office, Joyce Craig has failed us. For most of her tenure, rather than working toward solutions, Joyce tried to downplay crime in the Queen City. She ignored the problem for political purposes until it got so bad that she was forced to at least pretend to deal with it. That isn’t leadership. The reality is that Joyce Craig has failed us. We are not better off today than we were when she got elected. In fact, we are even worse off.

Victoria Sullivan is a candidate for Mayor in Manchester.