Concord City Council, School Board Update

Nov. 5, 2013, will be the most competitive Concord City Council election in modern memory, with more than a third of the 27 candidates that filed to run for various offices, signing up on the last day.

Six of the city’s 10 council ward races will be competitive race along with six candidates running at-large and three filing for mayor.

Two jump into mayor’s race

Incumbent Concord Mayor Jim Bouley, who is seeking his fourth term, will have competition this year in a rematch with John Cook, a retired state employee, and Chris Booth, an opponent of the police department’s new Bearcat armored vehicle, who also ran for U.S. Senate in 2010.

Cook, who received 15 percent of the vote in 2011, had been telling people he wasn’t going to run again. But at 4:45 p.m., 15 minutes before the filing closed, he showed up and put down his $5 to run again, saying he hadn’t seen the city so disconnected in nearly four decades of residency.

“You can’t wrestle if you don’t weigh in,” he said about running again. “I walk downtown nearly seven days a week and I see things that shouldn’t be. I think we need to give people a second chance. Speak now or forever hold your peace, as they say.”

Other late filers

Another late filer was Rick Cibotti, who filed to run in Ward 3 a few minutes before 5 p.m. Cibotti ran unsuccessfully for an at-large race in 2009 but said it was time to run again.

“I have a vast amount of experience in construction,” Cibotti said, “I think that would really be an asset to the community, especially with the downtown project.”

Cibotti said he would be “pro-business” but would have no loyalties to any political parties or structure in the city. He added that he would like to keep tabs on property taxes.

“It’s time for some new blood, I think,” he said.

Also filing to run again was Ward 3 City Councilor Jan McClure, who will try to retain her seat against Cibotti and Ward 2 Councilor Jennifer Kretovic, who was redistricted into Ward 3.

In a statement, McClure said she was looking forward to two more years and was “pleased” to file for re-election.

“I am honored to have served the residents of Ward 3 for the past decade and have enjoyed overwhelming support,” McClure stated. “We have accomplished much as a Council, and I have worked hard to keep the tax rate down, promote economic development, protect important areas for conservation, improve Concord's quality of life and make Concord a great city to live in.”

Allan Herschlag, who lost Ward 2 to Kretovic by 11 votes two years ago, also filed to run again on Sept. 16, and will face off against Tim Bauman for the open seat being vacated by Kretovic.

Herschlag said the mayor and city councilors getting official email addresses would be one initiative he would work on, so that no city business would be sent to private emails. Herschlag said the process was more important than the decision of any one issue made by councilors.

“All too often, by the time an issue is brought before the council, the decision has already been made,” he said. “Even when the public is given an opportunity to weigh in, it’s a rare occasion when the councilors don’t follow the recommendation of the manager or staff.”

In Ward 4, another candidate, Byron Champlin, the program officer for Lincoln Financial Foundation in Concord, filed to run and will face off against Kevin Bloom and Michael DelloIacono.

Champlin, who also serves on the Economic Development Advisory Committee, said it was something that friends had been urging him to do for a long time and he felt running would be “the next logical step” after being so involved in the community for so long. He said he would like to see the Complete Streets Main Street project to fruition, from inside the process, as a councilor. Champlin said “fostering the creative economy” was something he would be working hard at as well as building and growing the economic base of the city.

“The creative economy is one tool we can use to leverage to attract businesses to locate or be created in Concord,” he said. “We have an aging population … we really need younger, entrepreneurial folks in order to have a vital and vibrant economy that we need to sustain the city and create a revenue base.”

Champlin added that while the Complete Streets project was a priority, the city also needed to pay attention to the way the side streets were developed in order to have “a fully fleshed downtown with lots of things going on.” He said a comprehensive look at parking was also needed.

More jump into at-large race

Two more candidates filed to run at-large on Monday. Samantha Clattenburg and Josh VanBuskirk, both of Wyman Street and both opponents of the city’s decision to approve a Bearcat armored vehicle for the police department, filed to run.

Clattenburg pointed to the Sewalls Falls Road bridge project as a “paradox” when considering that the federal government was giving away Bearcats like Halloween candy but, “we have to wait for the Department of Transportation to replace a bridge that could kill somebody.” She said the council was “spending a lot of money and a lot of time focusing on things that are not a priority.”

The Complete Streets Main Street project was also a sticking point for Clattenburg who questioned whether cosmetic improvements and appeasing special interests would increase economic development.

“How’s it going to increase the types of businesses down there?,” she asked. “Most of the clientele to boutiques shops aren’t walking traffic. I’m going to drive there, just like everyone else.”

Both Clattenburg and VanBuskirk join Amanda Grady Sexton and Fred Keach, both incumbent ward councilors running at-large, and Scott Welch and Timothy Willis who filed last week.

New filings in Ward 8

Two candidates filed to run in Ward 8 in the wake of the decision by incumbent Councilor Dick Patten to not run: Gail Matson and Dennis Soucy.

Matson said that she had been interested in community service for a while and after reading on Patch that the Ward didn’t have any candidates yet, decided to file. She said she wanted to make sure that “people in our neighborhoods and in our wards are heard.” Matson said public safety, nice parks, and places for people to be out and about were priorities.

“I think we have a great community and I want to make sure we keep going that way,” she said.

Other races

Barring last minute, successful write-in campaigns, the following Ward Councilors have won by default: Rob Werner of Ward 5, J. Allen Bennett of Ward 6, Keith Nyhan of Ward 7, and Candace Bouchard of Ward 9. Dan St. Hilaire will also be the new councilor from Ward 10.

In Ward 1, Adam Czarkowski, Cassandra Rasmussen, and Brent Todd are all running for the open seat being vacated by Councilor Liz Blanchard.

School board races

George “Rusty” Cofrin, a former Concord High School teacher who nearly won a seat in 2012, has filed to run again in the new District C Board seat which encompasses Wards 8, 9, and 10, on the east side of the city. He will face off against George Jack for the new seat.

Also running on Melissa Donovan in the District A seat (Wards 1, 2, 3, and 4), and Jennifer Patterson in the District B seat (Wards 5, 6, and 7).