MANCHESTER, N.H. – Per Queen City tradition, following the conclusion of Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais’ inaugural address at the Palace Theatre, members of the newly sworn-in Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen and Manchester Board of School Committee walked a few hundred feet down Hanover Street toward City Hall for their biennial organizational meetings.
During the Aldermanic meeting, the board’s rules remained untouched from the previous two-year term, but for one exception: Rule 3. This rule surrounding public comment had been modified in 2024 after disruptions from protesters, with additional modifications in 2025.
One sentence of the rule, requiring anyone participating in public comment to register their name and topic on a sign-up sheet prior to 7 p.m. had been slated to be removed, which would allow anyone to comment whether they signed up on the sheet, or not. When Ward 7 Alderman Ross Terrio voiced his opposition to this change, he faced responses from Ward 1 Alderman Bryce Kaw-uh and Alderwoman At-Large June Trisciani.
Kaw-uh said he brought forth the change to allow members of the public a chance to speak, per the mayor’s discretion, even if they did not add their name to the sign-up sheet prior to 7 p.m. or did not add their name at all. He felt that this change would make it easier for members of the public to share their opinions during public comment portions of the board meeting. Trisciani built on this sentiment, stating that everyone has the right to give the board their opinion.
“Elected officials shouldn’t be choosing who gets to speak to us in the public forum,” said Trisciani. “This is the City of Manchester, and people should be allowed to speak to us on whatever topics they choose.”
Trisciani also noted that the sign-up sheet was primarily for the sake of meeting minutes, with Manchester City Clerk Matt Normand adding that he was not aware of any municipality in New Hampshire that did not have a public comment signup sheet at their local government board meetings.
A compromise was found that would require speakers to add their names to the signup sheet, but they could do so after they spoke if their name was not on the list by 7 p.m. Anyone wanting to speak after 7 p.m. would be allowed to address the board after the initial list of speakers had been exhausted, comparable to the rules of the Board of School Committee.
Kaw-uh was one of three new members on the board, joining Ward 5 Alderman Jason Bonilla and Ward 3 Alderman Dana Dexter. Trisciani also marked a return to the board after a two-year hiatus.
“I’m excited to get to work. My main priority over the next two years is to improve our quality of life here in Manchester. That starts with repairing our roads and sidewalks, building more housing, and seeking transparency on the city’s homelessness initiatives,” said Kaw-uh.
While the board is officially non-partisan, unofficially Democrats now hold a 9-5 majority on the board, with Kaw-uh and Trisciani replacing now former Aldermen Chris Morgan and Joseph Levasseur, respectively. Dexter and Bonilla retained unofficially Democratic seats held by now former Aldermen Pat Long and Tony Sapienza, respectively.
The only point of discussion for the Board of School Committee’s rules came from a request from newly-elected Ward 8 Board of School Committee Member Nicholas St. John, seeking to transform all standing committees of the board into temporary ad-hoc committees in the hope that membership and chairmanship of committees would be chosen by the board as a whole rather than the mayor. This came in the form of a proposed new rule designated as Rule 7b of the Board of School Committee
Ward 9 Board of School Committee Member Bob Baines noted that such a proposal would violate the Manchester City Charter (Section 2.10a), with St. John saying that the mayor appoints members of “standing” or permanent committees under that portion of the charter.
St. John added that although all board members can provide their input on any policy discussion before any committee, committee membership and chairmanship held a different voice than other board members. He added that there should be more separation from the mayor and the school board and Section 4.02 of the City Charter, which makes the mayor the chair of the school board, should be changed.
“I think being on a committee and especially being the chair of a committee is more important than just showing up as a school board member that is not on the committee,” he said. “Personally, my view is that the mayor has no business being (on the board) and position the school board with how he sees it.”
Following confusion whether the motion before the board was to approve the proposed rules with or without Rule 7b, a vote to approve the rules without 7b passed 10-3. St. John was joined by Ward 2 Board of School Committee member Sean Parr and Ward 4 Board of School Committee Member Leslie Want. Ward 3 Board of School Committee Member Sarah Georges abstained from the vote. Ward 6 Board of School Committee Member Dan Bergeron was absent.
St. John, Georges, Ward 5 Board of School Committee Member Jeff Taylor and At-Large Member Cindy Stewart join the board, with Ward 10 Member Gary Hamer returning after a two-year absence.
Like the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, the Board of School Committee is also officially non-partisan. However all members of the board were endorsed by the Manchester City Democrats with the exception of Ruais, who is a Republican.
At-Large Board of School Committee Member Jim O’Connell was re-elected as the vice chair of the Board of School Committee while Ward 10 Alderman Bill Barry was elected as the chair of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. Both O’Connell and Barry were elected unanimously.
