MANCHESTER, N.H. – A Sept. 10 special meeting of the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen has been cancelled following the shooting in Utah of conservative activist Charlie Kirk earlier in the day.
Instead, a phone-poll was taken prior to the 6 p.m. meeting start time, as to whether to postpone the meeting and the majority of the board voted to postpone by a vote of 7-6. Dan O’Neil could not be reached by the City Clerk. The meeting has been rescheduled for Sept. 17, the day after the municipal primary, in which Alderman Joe Levasseur is running for re-election for his At-Large seat.
While the meeting’s agenda only mentioned a motion to go into non-public session “for consideration of matters which, if discussed in public, would likely affect adversely the reputation of any person, other than a member of this board,” it had become an open secret that motion was intended to discuss recent comments made by Levasseur toward Manchester Health Department Director Anna Thomas and potentially return to public in order to remove Levasseur as the board’s chair.
Levasseur made the comments after the Health Department sent a cease-and-desist letter to Manchester resident Daniel Mowery following an incident where Mowery was charged with violating the city’s food safety ordinances by distributing homemade pickles to the public.
The special meeting was only scheduled on Tuesday, which Levasseur said was not enough time to find an attorney to represent him during the non-public meeting.
Levasseur said he felt that the sentiments behind the meeting and any opposition to his comments criticizing Thomas came from his fellow aldermen’s frustration over their inability to muzzle him when he speaks frankly to those in government holding power.
“For the last 26 years, I’ve been fighting for the people that don’t have a voice. And I’ve been consistent about it. It’s just that simple,” he said.
That sentiment was not universal on the board, as some of Levasseur’s colleagues such as Alderman At-Large Dan O’Neil, said he has grown weary of Levasseur’s frequent and often volatile commentary against those he disagrees with, including many other city employees such as Thomas.
“I’m not active on social media, but from what I know he’s hammered away at Anna Thomas and the Health Department and other staff members,” said O’Neil, who said he would have voted to remove Levasseur as chair if a vote had been taken. “It’s been continuous. He’s made his point. He should have stopped and I think it’s gone overboard.”
While O’Neil said he felt that the death of Kirk was a tragedy, he was uncertain why it warranted the cancellation of the meetings since there are shootings closer to home on a regular basis and he believes an Aldermanic meeting was not cancelled following the shooting of Manchester Police Department Officer Michael Briggs in 2006.
O’Neil also expressed frustration that the cancellation was announced only approximately an hour before the meeting was scheduled to begin. Despite the meeting cancellation, a group of Levasseur’s supporters that had organized an impromptu rally outside of City Hall before the meeting decided to stay there even after it was cancelled.
One of those supporters was Ward 6 Alderman Crissy Kantor, who said she was glad that the meeting was cancelled.
Kantor said any discussion should be held in public and that any concerns of damaging reputations rang hollow given the damage to she felt was dealt to her own reputation when she was accused of stealing a binder from the Beech Street Shelter.
“Damaging things are said every single day, whether they’re true or not,” she said.
Former school board member Ken Tassey was another person present at the rally. For Tassey, the event had evolved into a memorial and prayer session for Kirk as well as a way to show support for Levasseur.
“Joe stuck up for (Dan Mowery). When there was an attempt to shut him down during the last meeting, he stood his ground and it really upset a few people on the Board of Mayor and Aldermen,” said Tassey. “This is how they behave. They just shame and criticize and cancel and we’re not going to take it.”