The Concord Monitor is apparently doing a piece on City Council candidates that are specifically running due to opposition of The BEARCAT. This is my written response to them in it's entirety.
"I got your message. I am very sick this morning and can hardly talk. I understand you are writing a piece on the candidates who are specifically running for City Council to protest the BEARCAT. I would hope you would not lump me into that group, as I am not a Free Stater nor from any other specific group. I was born in Concord Hospital, and I have lived here all but 1 out of 40 years of my life. My opposition to the BEARCAT embodies a multitude of reasons, not the least of which would be an absurd usage of federal funds. I fail to understand a grant that is specifically designed to keep any company in business, in this case LENCO, instead of allowing a local police department or the city to utilize such funds at their discretion. If I were to apply for a home improvement grant because my roof was leaking, but could only utilize the services of a specific landscaping company with such grant, how does that help me? This may sound too simplistic, and indeed I am sure there are different grants for different problems, my point is that the process conforms to an intentional fear of terrorism. In order to acquire said BEARCAT, Chief Duval, Thomas Aspell, and Brian LeBrun felt obligated to assert the possibility of terrorism of a homegrown nature on the grant, whether in its original form which names specific organizations, or its modified version which omits those names, instead of just being forthright that the BEARCAT would replace The Peacekeeper for the S.O.U. At the August City Council public hearing, Chief Duval was asked to site examples of the utilization of the Peacekeeper. One third of the examples that he gave from 2007 until present day were for warrant service, and none involved possible terrorism. I am disappointed in any governmental official who feels it is necessary to obscure the truth for the purpose of acquiring any grant. It should also be said that Chief Duval admitted that he would not seek a BEARCAT if the funds came out of his own budget. This is the problem with the decline of the American dollar, the attitude that federal money is free money.
I am also concerned about the downtown project being another waste of city funds, and an absolute nightmare for commuters. Does no one remember how long it took for North State Street to be completed, and that was an actual necessity, which still isn’t completed. Businesses on North State Street and Fisherville Road suffered tremendous inconvenience and Penacook will soon realize the same issue. In an effort to beautify our downtown sidewalks, we run the risk of crucifying the vendors during the process, when the intention was supposed to jumpstart downtown business. All for a cool $18 million, contingent on a better bid. Meanwhile we are waiting for the U.S. Department of Transportation to finish their historical analysis to replace the Sewells Falls Bridge, which is deemed “fracture critical” by federal data obtained by the A.P. Does anyone else see the skewed priorities or is it just me?"
