MANCHESTER, NH – On Oct. 16, candidates for the At-Large seats on the Board of Mayor and Aldermen and Board of School Committee were invited to a forum at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Manchester.
The event was co-sponsored by Granite State Organizing (GSOP), Youth Organizers United (Y.O.U.), and Manchester Neighbors Welcome (of 603 Forward).
Aldermanic candidate Dan O’Neil and Board of School Committee candidate Kathleen Kelley Arnold did not attend but sent letters explaining their viewpoints to the assembled audience.
Aldermanic candidate Joseph Levasseur and Board of School Committee candidate Elizabeth Moreau did not respond to invitations to participate in the forum, although Levasseur was present at a meeting about the future of the Sununu Youth Detention Center occurring at the same time.
Here is an overview of questions and subsequent answers provided by the candidates in attendance. It is notable that five questions for the school committee candidates were drafted and asked by current students in the Manchester School District. The fifth and remaining question for school board candidates was drafted and asked by a retired teacher.
Questions for At-Large Board of School Committee Candidates
What should be done about unsanitary bathrooms in Manchester schools?
Jim O’Connell, an incumbent, noted that Ward 1 Board of School Committee member Julie Turner and Ward 3 Board of School committee member Karen Soule have spoken frequently about this issue and frustration over the Manchester School District’s janitorial contractor: Aramark.
Representatives of Aramark had told the district that more money would be needed to provide APPA 1 standards, and O’Connell noted that $4 million had been provided to Aramark to approach those standards, which the board felt had not been achieved.
Currently there is a request for proposals to oversee the district’s janitorial services, but O’Connell said he supports hiring janitors directly as district employees.
Cindy Stewart, who is seeking her first term on the board, agreed with O’Connell’s views.
Thoughts on helping students who speak English as a secondary language
O’Connell said that the district has worked on helping these students, who he refers to as multi-language learners rather than English-language learners, seeing knowledge in two languages as a strength rather than a weakness.
He also noted the value of dual immersion programs in Spanish and French at Manchester schools, a new translation tool that allows teachers communicate with families in their native languages and that work still remained to prevent the return of perspectives from past decades that sought the elimination of multi-language programs.
Stewart agreed with these assessments, noting that 20 percent of Manchester’s public school students speak a language other than English.
Concerns over the district’s new grade policy
Stewart said she would defer until receiving more feedback from students and educators to obtain data that can determine what’s working and what’s not, noting that it’s an ongoing conversation and the policy can be tweaked if needed.
O’Connell said that this has been a contentious issue and it has had unintended consequences. However, prior to passage of the new policy, O’Connell said that some students would not turn in work in a timely manner and then hand in all of their work at the end of semester, making it difficult for teachers.
Like Stewart, O’Connell said he also wants to hear more from educators and student voices regarding the issue.
How can students get more engaged in class?
O’Connell noted that earlier in the week during the Board of School Committee meeting, there was a discussion on how just over half of students are classified as “chronically absent” or missing classes more than 10 percent of the time.
He said that more work is needed to determine why this is happening, believing that it may be due to students needing to provide additional help for their families or not enough subjects in schools that interest these students such as African studies and more vocational studies.
“It is important that we engage students where they are,” he said, adding competency-based learning is needed.
O’Connell then voiced frustration with school district budgets at $17 million below the tax cap over the past two years as well as reduced funding from the federal government and the state government. In particular, O’Connell was frustrated with the state due to increases in government funding allocated to families for private school tuition through the program known as the Education Freedom Accounts, which some have referred to as vouchers.
Stewart said that her kids learned in different ways, the same thing happens in the workplace, and it is an ongoing conversation that comes back to money.
Thoughts on voucher programs
Stewart said she is unequivocally opposed to the state voucher system. She said that she understands where it came from, the origin of it is segregation and for that alone she wants it gone. She stated that 93 percent of families that receive vouchers already had their students in private schools or home schools, making her ask why taxpayers should fund that tuition.
O’Connell also said he is opposed to vouchers, stating that it is an attack on public education and that they lacked accountability.
He also stated frustration that this was occurring while Manchester has the lowest per-capita funding for education in the state and New Hampshire has the lowest education funding in the country. Additionally, he noted new legislation impacting only Nashua and Manchester that will further reduce aid by $12.2 million in future years to Manchester.
There was more frustration from O’Connell regarding the modification of state standards replacing the word “shall” with “may” in certain areas, which he believed turned maximum class sizes into recommendations.
With this, O’Connell felt that when it comes to education is a fight between candidate that want to fight for public schools and those who want to destroy it.
“It’s a pretty stark choice, but that’s the choice you have,” he said.
Stewart built on O’Connell’s statement by bringing up a part of the recent State of the School District Address where Manchester School District Superintendent Dr. Jenn Chmiel asked the public not to see teachers as the enemy.
Questions for At-Large Board of Mayor and Aldermen candidates
What would you do if the Manchester Police Department is asked to work with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE)?
June Trisciani, who served one term as Alderman-at-Large in the past, said that there is no place for ICE in our community. If someone is in Manchester and has committed a crime, that has to be dealt with, but new Americans must be treated with respect and that all Americans are here because of immigration.
Will Infantine, a former state representative, stated that his father was from Sicily, his mother was from Montreal and has no problem with most immigrants, only those who come to America for guns, drugs or prostitution. He said that these people should be forced to leave the country.
“If you came here for the wrong reason, I don’t think you should stay,” he said.
Infantine does not want the National Guard deployed to Manchester, stating that the Manchester Police Department does a fine job.
How can affordable housing be increased in the city?
Infantine said that it’s a matter of supply and demand and the supply needs to be increased although some new housing has been slowly decreasing rent prices in the city. He added that more regulation has made it difficult to construct new homes and apartments and the cost of permits and local fees for school impacts have also become obstacles.
Infantine referenced North Conway as an example to follow regarding building more workforce housing.
Trisciani said that the problem won’t be fixed overnight. She asked members of the audience to ask the current Aldermen to pass the proposed zoning ordinance update. She also said that the city must be smarter with 79E requests and TIF Districts and that 79E requests, which give tax relief to downtown developers, should not be given for market rate housing proposals.
While the city has no ability to require affordable housing, Trisciani said that developers should always be asked to include it if possible.
One person asked about tenant rights after her landlord did nothing after she woke up and found a rat on her chest
Both candidates said that no one should have to deal with what that person dealt with.
Trisciani said that more tenants need to know that they have rights and talked about her work helping to start tenant boards.
Infantine said that the city inspector should be given more authority to punish irresponsible landlords.
How can the city maintain the progress in helping the city’s homeless population from programs at the 39 Beech Street Shelter after the shelter closes in 2026, without relying solely on charitable organizations and churches?
Infantine said that there are three different groups of homeless individuals: people experiencing short-term homelessness, the mentally ill and people facing substance abuse problems.
While the city and charitable organizations have done much to address homelessness, the approach has been haphazard given this complexity and there are some individuals that do not want to be helped, adding more complexity to the issue.
He said that the concept of someone acting as a coordinator on the issue is not a bad idea and that the two previous Directors of Homelessness Initiatives (Schonna Green and Adrienne Beloin) may not have been the best people for the position.
Trisciani agreed that the concept of a coordinator is a good idea, adding that Green and Beloin were not treated professionally.
She added that homeless people deserve difficulty and that outreach to homeless individuals may take multiple contacts given the mistrust that homeless people have obtained from the perception that they believe the community has of them.
She also said that a key thing to recognize is that many people suffering from substance abuse do so because they are trying to escape the bleak reality they live in.
Climate change has impacted the number of high heat days in the city, how can the city’s most vulnerable neighborhoods be protected?
Trisciani said that climate change is real, adding that new infrastructure for electric vehicles should be put in new construction.
She added that there are not enough trees in the center city and it was a mistake not to place a municipal swimming pool in the center city while opening up a new basketball court at Livingston Park.
Infantine said he does like basketball, but agreed that climate change is real and that the city’s splash pads are important and should be supplemented with more pools.
He agreed more trees are good and the city’s warming stations in the winter and cooling stations in the summer were important.
He also stated that climate change has created urgency to address stormwater management.
How can public transit be improved
Trisciani said that the best way residents can request change is by attending Manchester Transportation Authority Board meetings (110 Elm St., 5 p.m. on the last Tuesday of the month outside of July and December)
She hopes that more people take advantage of programs organized by the Southern New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission educating people about Manchester’s public transit system.
Infantine felt that Manchester’s bike lane plan should emulate the one found in Portsmouth. He also said that the city should focus on smaller buses rather than larger buses and that the city’s public transportation needs should be constantly evolving to meet the residents’ needs.
