Occupation: Customer Service Representative
Your Education/Background: Central High School Alumnus
How Long Have You Lived in Manchester? From 2012 to 2019 and back April of 2024
Hobbies/Fun Fact about you/other biographical info: Throughout my life I’ve been through very difficult circumstances. From my parents’ divorce at a young age and my mother moving us to a new place at the time, Manchester, to coming out to my family as a gay man, to surviving a near death experience in an auto accident, to learning how to make it on my own in an unforgiving world right after high school. Despite all that I’ve navigated all those adversities and have managed to make a life for myself that I can call my own. Please go to NewMancehster.org to read more about my life.
Why should someone vote for you?
If you want an Alderman that will fight everyday for the issues that matter to you then vote for me, Avery E. Cyr. In every meeting I’ll work with the board to aggressively come up with new solutions to city problems. And I won’t allow private interest groups or out-of-city politicians dictate how the city is run.
If elected, what steps would you endorse to address the issue of homelessness in the city?
The city needs to create more programs to help homeless people find temporary housing by looking at every option available. And more social workers should go out and encourage homeless people to utilize available resources and get them off the streets. The city should do this by either backing an existing non profit working in this area, such as Families in Transition or forming its own agency. The Board of Alderman should form a commission or another group of people to research and discuss this plan.
If elected, what steps would you endorse to address the issue of housing costs?
The city should find ways to get landlords to accept section 8 housing. As well as work with developers to create more housing at cheaper prices. Likely by reducing the total square footage of each living unit.
If elected/re-elected, what steps would you endorse to address the issue of attracting and retaining quality city employees?
All employers and especially the government needs to ensure employees have everything they need in life. This includes giving all employees a living wage which should be at least $20 an hour at 40 hours a week or $42,000 annually for salaried employees. Employers should also ensure employees have full health insurance coverage for them and their immediate families. Employees should also get 3 weeks of PTO in addition to paid holidays. And should have unlimited paid sick time, but should be required to provide a note from a medical professional saying they need time off for sick time of 3 days or more. This can be done easily via telehealth or a visit to urgent care. For sick time past 4 weeks, the employee should go on short term disability. Paid maternity leave should be provided for up to 1 year for new parents. In general employees should never need to seek government assistance or charitable assistance for their needs. All their needs should be provided for by their employer.
The city should also have events and activities that can boost employee morale. And provide tuition reimbursement. But those items should be discretionary from year to year as there will inevitably be times of economic down turn. And the city will need to make cuts somewhere.
What is your perspective on the city’s roads, transit system and parking? If you believe improvement is needed, how would you accomplish that?
When I was in high school and working part time I often used the city bus to get to work. But I always had to walk back because the bus, like most buses, only runs until about 6pm and got I off work at 10pm. The city should work to extend the hours of the bus system as much as possible and ensure all areas of the city are served.
A survey done by the City Planning and Community Development Department found that Ward 3 residents want more housing over more parking spaces. Therefore if elected I will prioritize enabling more housing to be built over making more parking spaces available in Ward 3.
The city should ensure all roads are properly maintained and repaired as needed so motorist can drive city roads safely and efficiently. The city should also strive to create dedicated lanes for bicyclist and pedestrians. Meaning there is a solid barrier between car, bicycle, and pedestrian lanes. This would make the roads much safer for everyone and reduce bike fatalities. And overall the city should make the roads more pedestrian friendly by creating more road crossings.
What is your opinion on the city’s parks, library and entertainment offerings/public events? If improvement is needed, what should be done?
The city should strive to create more event spaces to attract visitors to the city and more businesses. Arms Park for example could be expanded with a board walk into the river that could host bigger crowds for events. The City Planning and Community Development dept should investigate creating more or expanding event spaces.
Effective September 5th, 2025 the state has given municipalities the authority to create what are called “social districts” also known as “sip and stroll areas”. These social districts would be areas in the city where of drinking age people could carry open containers of alcohol. I think this would be great for restaurants and bars in the city and could boost economic growth.
The city should create a district that goes from the Brook St and Elm St intersection and go along Elm St to the Elm St Market Basket. This would cover many establishments in the down town area. Bars and restaurants in the district would be allowed to let people leave with open cups of alcoholic beverages. A district at Arms Parks should be created as well. The board should investigate other areas as well to establish these districts. These districts would not be in or near school zones. A cost to this would require more law enforcement to ensure people don’t take open alcohol outside these districts. But it would be well worth it. Vendors at events could more easily serve alcohol and could encourage more businesses to come to Manchester. NH and CT are the only states in New England that are allowing these districts. This will give Manchester a big advantage over other cities in New England if done.
What is your opinion on the city’s policies regarding property taxes and other fees (i.e. – pet licenses, parking meters, etc.)
Property taxes for residents as a percentage should remain the same as it is now and should not be raised. Raising taxes likely could discourage people from moving to the city. Manchester’s and New Hampshire’s low taxes as a whole are what attracts businesses and people to the city and state. We need to keep taxes low as not to stifle growth in the state. I do think we should raise taxes on businesses and have voluntary taxes for residents where state law allows the city to do so. But only in a way that doesn’t stifle economic growth.
What are your thoughts on the city’s business climate and how would you attract more businesses to come to Manchester or convince more people to start businesses in Manchester?
The city should create more transport connections into the city. If the city could encourage airlines to fly more routes into Manchester Airport, this would over time encourage people to visit the city. Low cost carriers flying into Manchester such as Southwest, Jetblue, Spirit, and others would make it cheaper and easier to reach the city. And therefore would encourage many more visitors to the city. Rail and bus connections from Massachusetts would also have the same effect by making it easier for people to visit Manchester. More visitors to Manchester would attract more businesses and create more jobs for residents. And would bring in more revenue for the city to fund city functions and initiatives.
If elected I would work to make it cheaper and easier for airlines to fly into MHT Airport. And I would work to encourage the state to bring rail connections to the state and thus to Manchester and other cities. I would also work to make more bus connections to and from Boston.
What is your opinion of the state of education in Manchester and what should the relationship be between the Board of School Committee and Board of Mayor and Aldermen?
Currently the Board of Mayor and Aldermen have the final say in the school district’s total budget and then the school board can determine how that money is allocated to each school and district project. I think that has served the city well and should continue that way.
However there is a question that if passed, would start a process that would make the school district a department of the city and therefore would give the Board of Mayor and Aldermen more power over how money is allocated within the school district. In conjunction with the school board. If that measure passes and becomes law I would happily work with the school board to ensure all schools have the resources they need to ensure every student gets the education they deserve and are entitled to.
As of 2022 the city spends $17,734 per pupil according to the National Center for Education Statistics. I would fight to bring that level to be more on par with the state average of $21,545 per pupil. I would also fight for more funding from the Federal and State governments. Particular the State should be spending more on schools as per state supreme court cases like ConVal. I would keep the pressure on Kelly Ayotte to find ways to allocate more funding to schools as per state surpreme court precedent and state constitutional guidelines.
Anything else you’d like to add not mentioned here and what is the best way voters can reach you if they have more questions?
There are many more issues I am passionate about. Including the rights of LGBTQ+ people, Immigration enforcement activities in the city, women’s access to healthcare, and so much more. But instead of writing a full essay on those topics here I encourage readers to check out my campaign website to read more about my platform and learn more about me as a person. Readers can also keep up in real time about what’s going on with my campaign there. That website is NewManchester.org Readers are invited to reach out to me with any questions or concerns about the city at my email avery@averycyr.org and I’m also happy to chat more in person or over the phone.
Ward 3 residents are also invited to take a 15 second anonymous poll to let my campaign know where the four candidates for Alderman of Ward 3 stand. Go to the link to take the poll, no personal info is required.