Occupation: SNAP Program Specialist
How long have you lived in Manchester? Since 2016
Hobbies/Fun Fact about you/other biographical info: I’m a military brat; my family moved to NH in 2000, when I was a teenager. My husband was also in the Air Force, and while we were stationed in Hawaii I obtained my MSW from the University of Hawaii. I have three young children, Roxanne (5 years old), Quorra (2 years old), and Tucker (9 months old). I enjoy cooking, reading, and anything crafty. My favorite subjects in school were history, Spanish, and biology.
Please describe your plan to tackle the city’s shortage of housing:
The city needs to press forward with the zoning rewrite that was begun under prior administrations. That rewrite will enable builders to construct mixed use developments with apartments, small houses, and/or small business spaces. While we need to increase the amount of housing available, we also need to ensure it is affordable. Part of addressing affordability involves the city leveraging tax breaks effectively to ensure rents are maintained at reasonable rates.
How can the city address and solve the issue of homelessness in Manchester?
Homelessness is a multi-faceted issue. People find themselves in that situation for a variety of reasons – illness (physical or mental), substance misuse, domestic violence, or unemployment are just a few. We should proactively work towards addressing the core issues and ensure services are available for those in need. Having a central location for individuals to gather and receive support is key. It enables service providers to have consistent contact with individuals to address the root causes of their homelessness. We need to make the Beech Street Engagement Center a permanent fixture and reinstate the 20 beds that were just removed – if only for the winter.
Partnering with local entities to create warming or cooling stations around town will also be necessary to ensure this population does not suffer from extreme weather. Mostly, though, we need more supportive housing solutions, where people can be housed first and then focus on higher level needs. To do this, we need to invest in housing locally, along with expanding welfare and homeless initiatives to include a few social workers. Rather than selling plots of land, the city should be thoroughly investigating how they can be used/if they can be used to build housing.
For several years, the Manchester Police Department has not had a full roster as defined by FBI recommendations for a city the size of Manchester. What can be done to recruit and retain more police officers, or do you believe more police officers should not be hired?
Contracts are due to be renegotiated soon. It’s crucial that pay and benefits be competitive to bring in new officers. We need to create a culture and environment where police feel supported, but also where folks know they are going to be held to a high standard. MPD continues to need new gear to keep up with an ever-changing world. Our officers should have what they need to stay safe on the job.
There was a wide gap earlier this year between the Board of School Committee’s recommended FY’ 25 Manchester School District budget and the budget that was ultimately approved by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. What are your thoughts on this and what would be your approach during budget season in 2026?
The $8.5 million cut to the 2025-2026 school district budget is unacceptable. Our teachers and students deserve the resources they need to continue the progress we’ve made. Instead, positions aren’t being backfilled, supplies was cut in half, and middle school sports expansion was halted, among others. Asking for a tax cap compliant budget is not unreasonable. It is our cost of living adjustment to ourselves. It’s what is necessary to keep the doors open and the lights on. Our children and our educators and our staff deserve it.
Property taxes continue to rise in the city. Can this rise stop without sacrificing city services, or is it worth re-examining some city services to provide tax relief?
We should always be examining efficiency throughout city hall and city services. That being said, we are at a critical moment where cuts at the federal and state levels are threatening funding to some of those services. (We’ve seen this come to fruition at the school district with the lapse of federal funds for Gear Up-a program that helped students who would be the first in their families to attend college prepare for that opportunity.) We need to insulate ourselves as a community (for now) against some of this by preparing in advance as best we can.
Manchester-Boston Regional Airport plays a critical role in the city’s economic development and in recent years it has added several new airlines. However, the airport still provides far fewer destinations than Logan International Airport in Boston. How can the city convince New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts residents to use MHT more frequently as an alternative to Logan?
Manchester benefits from having a local, regional airport. To expand its growth though will require drawing in new airlines and new passengers. I’d like to revisit the plans for passenger rail, connecting the airport to the existing MBTA lines in order to make it a more convenient alternative for folks in Northern Massachusetts. Rail could also be used for commercial purposes and would increase economic opportunity.
Food safety has been a hot topic this year. Where do you stand on the city’s approach toward regulating the food safety of items intended for distribution to the general public that are made in home kitchens?
Ordinances need to be revisited every so often to examine if they still make sense for today’s world. We don’t want to create situations that discourage neighborliness, but we also need to ensure people who are selling food are doing so properly.