Politics & Government

Concord Mayor Bouley to Seek Re-election [VIDEO]

Says he decided to run for third term after talking with his family over the weekend.

Mayor Jim Bouley has decided to run for re-election seeking a third term as Concord’s top political leader. He had been leaning towards running for a third term but made a final decision after talking with his family over the weekend.

“It’s been a challenging four years,” he said. “My predecessors enjoyed different economic times and were able to accomplish a whole lot more that people can look at, see, touch ... But I would argue that this council and myself have been able to do as much, although you might not see it, physically.”

Bouley said the council had been able to maintain a stable, fiscal budget while still being able to offer high quality services. And officials were able to do this while not using any reserves, something he called “a huge accomplishment.”

Find out what's happening in Concordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“We’ve truly lived within our means,” he said.

Bouley said this fiscal responsibility has allowed the city to improve its bond rating and remove itself from a watch list. Currently, the city’s ratings are AA for Standard and Poor’s and AA1 by Moody’s. The fiscal health of the city was – and will be – a main focus of a Bouley third term.

Find out what's happening in Concordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Consolidation and restructuring current city staffing has been something officials have worked on during the last four budgets. About 34 FTEs (full-time equivalents) or about 8 percent the city’s workforce have been removed from the public payrolls while grants and other things have helped to add four police officers. The city’s finance department has also been restructured, employing fewer bodies with lower costs while delivering more finance/budget management information to officials. Bouley said this was a change that was badly needed. The recreation department also now has the grounds aspect of general services added to its responsibility.

“It is much more streamlined and much more efficient, with greater cooperation of effort,” he said.

While councilors have tried to maintain road and sidewalk repair and paving projects, the city has also cut capital expenditures to hold down spending. The city has also used different state laws - like tax increment financing - to get some of the city's recent projects off the ground. The Capitol Commons and Smile projects, buildings that were financed with TIFs, will help to expand the tax base by more than $24 million in areas of the city where there is already infrastructure. Bouley pointed to the Horseshoe Pond development which will be completely paid for in fiscal 2015 bringing in tax revenue that would not be there today without the creative financing.  

Bouley said there was still a lot to do but his future priorities would be up to the community. One thing he would like to see worked on is a multigenerational community center to be used by kids and senior citizens. Currently, seniors use the West Street Ward House for services but the facility is quite small. Bouley would like the city to take over the Dame Elementary School on the Heights and convert it into a community center. Another is acquisition of open space, to preserve some of Concord’s wooded areas, while at the same time expanding development in the city centers

On the crime front, the Concord Police Dept. has been able to do very good preventative police work, Bouley said. He said the things it does may be small but they’ve been productive. The small changes have assisted in bringing more alcohol establishments into sales compliance compared to previous years.

The council will also be eyeing a new ethics ordinance in the coming months. He said he didn’t think there were ethics problems on the council adding that the council has become a lot more transparent in recent years. A new deputy solicitor has been hired and more legal work has been brought in-house, saving the city hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to Bouley. It has also helped the council abide by open meeting laws. Customer service changes, like making sure bill collections stayed open at city hall until 4:30 p.m., have also been changed. Bouley said these things, as well as making sure people feel comfortable at council meetings, have delivered a better government to residents.

“It’s a feeling and a sense of how you will be treated by government,” he said. “We do have the best interest of the community in mind. It doesn’t mean we’ll always agree.”

Bouley was elected mayor in 2007, after then-Mayor Mike Donovan decided to step down. He won the open seat in a somewhat aggressive race against his long-time friend and former Ward council colleague Kathy Rogers. Rogers later was elected to one term as Merrimack County Attorney. Bouley ran unopposed in 2009. Previously, he served for 10 years as the councilor from Ward 10.

“It’s another full-time job,” he said, about being mayor, “but I love it. I’m very fortunate to have the job. I wake up every day trying to make a difference in even one person’s life.”

There is no word yet on whether or not he will have a challenger this year but Bouley said he always runs as if he has one and assumes he will.

“I always run as if I’m two votes behind,” he said.

If he succeeds, Bouley would join an elite group of a handful of political leaders who have been elected to three terms. 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here